Maxeem Konrardy

I was most inspired to draw from watching classic animated shorts of the 1940s and 1950s. I went to MCAD intending to bring cartoon characters into new media, but comics drew my attention for being so accessible and democratic. There, I gained formal training in observational drawing, comic art, color, layout and file preparation. I graduated in 2005 with a major in Comic Art. My self-trained skills include high level development in a couple program languages (to build my early web site maxeem.com established in 2004), animation (using experimentation and the classic guidebook by Preston Blair) and finally, music (dabbling in Reaper about 20 years after choir, violin and piano lessons from a young age).

I first used animation as a teenager in game development and went on to put this to work as Director of Animation for cartoon firms Big Time Attic and Puny Entertainment.

Seeking greater fulfillment than commercial product pushing, I joined with writer Casey Van Heel to produce the independent comic "The Civil Four". After some years re-connecting to soil (farming, gardening and backpacking) my friend Kira introduced me to co-operatives. I joined the Students' Co-operative (studentscoop.org) as a bathroom cleaner, then received training as Maintenance Manager, Treasurer and Secretary.

In 2010 I finished the 10-year sci-fi comedy comic series 'Ex Novo Libris'. I paid off my student loans and, Inspired by intentional community, I focused and prayed on what to do with my deep interests in nature and community. The result became the seemingly channeled story 'Lor'Avvu' (2013 to present), a web comic with interstitial animated videos, scored by local bands.

After visiting various intentional communities in the USA and Australia, I continue to seek community through connection with others. I found my life partner in the Southwest desert of Turtle Island, where I presently reside with her, making art. We run her online shop and experiment with other media (such as ceramics and video games).

While my work remains too non-commercial for anything but self-publication (proven I suppose by multiple rejection notices from publishers and agency professionals) my art continues to facilitate optimism and deep interconnection. Please enjoy!