THONY AIUPPY

Category: Fests

  • 5 Things Friday, March 6, 2026

    Hey, what’s up!

    Hope things are good in your neck of the woods. I’ve got 5 things for you before we turn those clocks back for Daylight Savings.

    (P.S. I hate the whole Daylight Savings thing.)

    1. The Aiuppy family just grew. We adopted a kitten last month and he is super cute, high energy, and quite curious. He goes by the name Klutho and is named after one of my favorite architects – Henry Klutho.

    Henry Kluto was a champion of the Prairie School of architecture and moved to Jacksonville, Florida right after the Great Fire of 1901 to help rebuild the city after the tragic blaze.
    He is also the subject of the graphic novel I am currently working on.

    2. Recently in my Drawing classes I exposed my students to an artist who taught me a lot about creating value in my own art practice. His name is Ethan Murrow and to me he is one of the best drafts-people living today. I shared a video of a project I got to assist him on 10 years ago (yes, 10 years ago!) at MOCA Jacksonville called PLETHORA – an expansive wall drawing that incorporated the use of approximately 800 sharpie markers and reached over 30 feet long. Here is a link to the video if you are interested:

    Here’s more from Ethan Murrow’s website: https://www.bigpaperairplane.com/murals/moca-jax

    3. Over the last several weeks I have been revamping my art studio to make more space so that I can teach private lessons and work on multiple art projects at the same time. I redid all my shelving, installing 2 5×5 cube shelving unites on the side walls so I can store my art supplies and reference materials (including comics, comic magazines, zines, and art books). I also set up my flat files in a more systematic way.

    Anyways, it took a long time, but now I have more space to move around and spread out as I’m working on paintings and comics. I even have a small cohort of 3 teenagers who fit comfortably in my studio for art lessons, which was quite surprising. I loved teaching in my previous space, but there’s nothing like having resources at your fingertips when you are teaching.

    4. On February 22nd I headed down to Orlando for the Original Art Expo. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was excited to see some art, connect with con buddies, and meet some artists. Thankfully nobody tripped over my jaw as it had dropped on the floor the moment I walked into the first convention floor. Admittedly, I was dragging it for the entire day.

    Some of the artists I watch as they working on sight include Simone Bianchi and Steve Rude. I just stood and watched them do their thing for about 20 minutes each.

    I got a chance to connect with Matthew Allison (Cankorr) and Nate Powell (the March series).

    The experience of going to OAX opened my eyes to how artists, collectors, and dealers value the original art that gets produces as comics, graphic novels, trading cards, magazines, and game art.

    If you’re interested in learning more about OAX visit their website: https://www.oax.art/

    5. I’m starting to flesh out my tabling schedule for the year. Here are some upcoming events that I know I will be participating in. I will be selling comics, zines, original art, and 2 limited edition screen prints.

    • March 19-22: MegaCon, Orlando, Florida
    • April 11: GAZE (Gainesville Arts and Zine Expo), Gainesville, Florida
    • April 18: SPICE (Savannah Pooler Independent Comics Expo), Savannah, GA
    • June 6: DCAZ (Duval Comic and Zine Fest), Jacksonville, FL
    • June 12-14: HeroesCon, Charlotte, NC
    • July 11: Indie Comics Creator Con, Jacksonville, FL

  • 5 Things Friday – January 9, 2026

    2026 is already rocking and rolling along. Here’s 5 things that’s been going on.

    1. I got to celebrate 20 years of marriage with my wife Melissa. We got to get away to South Florida where we went to the Perez Museum in Miami, visited the Everglades, ate Mahi tacos, and traveled down to the Florida Keys to see coral reefs.

    2. Teaching is picking up. Not only am I teaching at the University of North Florida this semester, but I will also be teaching at the Florida State College at Jacksonville (South Campus). I’m really excited and hope to share some student work soon.

    3. 2025 was my first real year of tabling. Ended the year with the Orlando Zine Fest (shout out to Black Bird Comics who puts on an extraordinary event!) I will be tabling at more zine and comic fests in 2026, including DCAZ 2026 in Jacksonville, Florida and Heroes Con in Charlotte, North Carolina. Some more announcements will be forthcoming. I did put in for the Fluke Athens fest in Georgia. Fingers crossed.

    4. I received an Art Ventures grant in December 2025 through the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida. You can read more about the Awards HERE. With the grant, I will be making a graphic novel about the architect Henry Klutho and his impact and contribution to the city of Jacksonville. I’m very excited about this project and I will officially start working on it in February. Part of the funds from the grant will go towards hiring an editor so that I can make this the best book possible!

    5. I will be having an art exhibit with James Green at The Unicat Gallery in Jacksonville. The show is called FULL BLEED. James and I are including original comics pages that we’ve made for our comics as well as new paintings and prints. You don’t want to miss it if you live in Jacksonville. The show’s opening reception is Saturday January 24th.

    Screenshot