This year, I submitted a collage of all of the television personalities from across the decades that I drew in 2024. This was an homage to Al Hirschfeld’s Television Personalities from 1955.

A few recent 2nd place wins!

This year, I had the great privilege to attend the 9th edition of the World Humor Awards which took place from September 6-8, 2024 in Tabiano, Italy. The invitation-only event has been hosted annually in the province of Parma, Italy since 2015. This year, prizes were awarded for three main categories: Humor in Literature, Cartoon and Caricature in addition to a few special prizes. I had the honor of receiving a Special Guest award for the Caricature Workshop.

I had an extra surprise of being featured in the local newspaper!

The weekend surrounding the award ceremony brought together about 50 cartoonists and caricature artists from around Italy as well as France, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and the United States. An exhibition featuring artwork from competition finalists, members of the jury and special guests was on display to the general public in the halls of the Respighi Spa in Tabiano.

Events kicked off on Friday evening near the spa with live caricature drawing for the local public alongside a display of classic cars, followed by the traditional pizza welcome dinner in the nearby town of Salsomaggiore.

Saturday began with a tour of the museum and archives of Giovannino Guareschi, an Italian journalist, cartoonist, and humorist from the province of Parma whose best known creation is the priest Don Camillo.

That afternoon, artists returned to Tabiano for another session of caricature drawing for the public accompanied by live music from a local band. The day concluded with the Awards Ceremony for Caricatures and Cartoons.

The WHA festivities wrapped up on Sunday after a group outing to a nearby medieval village and castle. Despite rainy weather, participants happily gathered inside to enjoy wine, snacks and shared merriment in drawing, singing and dancing together.

The last weekend of July 2024, I headed to Ellenville, NY for the 2nd annual Borscht Belt Fest, where I drew caricatures as part of their street fair. Here are some fun ones from the day!

In July 2024, I had a wonderful opportunity to travel to North Macedonia as part of the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program in partnership with the U.S. Embassy in North Macedonia. My trip began in the capital of Skopje, where I conducted a workshop at the Embassy with staff and local artists. I then continued on to the village of Vevchani, where I conducted caricature workshops with local youth ranging from ages 3-20. There, I was also part of an international artist colony hosted at Via Ignatia. During this time, I also gave a talk on my work at American Corner in the town of Struga.

The second week, I traveled to Bitola, where I gave an artist talk to the public and conducted a series of caricature workshops with youth ages 8-15 at American Corner Bitola. It was a wonderful two weeks of cultural exchange and I’m so grateful to have had this opportunity to share the art of caricature with young, aspiring artists.

On the last day of the FACES festival held in May 2024 in Pordenone, Italy, we got to draw the public. Here are some of my favorite live drawings from that day.

This past May (2024), I had the privilege of attending the FACES! International Caricature Experience in Pordenone, Italy, hosted at the PAFF! International Museum of Comic Art. It was three fun filled days of speakers and drawing in preparation for an exhibit currently on display at the museum, Very Italian: Beyond Stereotypes. Participants were tasked to draw caricatures of famous Italians to fit this them. Below are the five drawings I completed during my time there, each inspired by different elements (architectural, food or otherwise) that I spotted during my travels.

Happy to have placed first for the April 2024 contest!

Another year, another Caricature Resolution complete!