Hi Seth!

Seth Wolfshorndl, Joplin Missouri comic artist

Seth, you're one of Joplin High School's teachers... and honestly, teaching high school is enough of a resume to impress just about anyone, I think. But who ARE you, as a whole person?

Well, I like to think that I’m someone whose priorities are his faith, family, students, and art (in that order, although I sometimes mess that up). I actually grew up in the mountains of northwest Montana, but I ended up down here in the late 90’s to attend college at MSSU. While there I married my wife, Laura, and after graduating, we both found good jobs here in our careers where we still work to this day. There are so many people in this community that we love, and it’s been a great place to raise our daughter.

2: Let's start with your artistic journey, before jumping back to teaching. Where did art start for you? Why comics as your chosen format?

Like many artists, I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. My parents always encouraged creativity, which I appreciate so much. I used to draw lots of fan art of Ninja Turtles and Dick Tracy characters when I was young.

In middle school study hall, my friend Elton Gahr and I started making our own comics together. They were really rough, of course, but we had a blast making them and giving copies to friends and family. In high school, I got even more serious about comics and started reading more of them, especially Image Comics. These comics were creator-owned and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of self-publishing. After college, Elton and I started making comics together again along with a couple of other friends. We are still at it now, distributing them via area comic conventions and online. What I love about comics is the total freedom of expression it offers in storytelling… your only limits are time and your imagination!

3: What led you to teaching as a career choice?

At first it was purely a practical way to make a living in the world of art. I realized that as an art teacher I would have summers off to pursue my own artwork while still having a steady paycheck. My first year of teaching quickly showed me that you can’t teach purely for practicality, though. Managing a classroom of young people was much tougher than anything I had done up to that point. I started to figure some things out after a year or two and discovered that I truly did love teaching. Twenty years later, that has not changed… even after the craziness of traveling between campuses every day for my first seven years, teaching at the mall campus after the tornado, and even all the adjustments we had to make last year because of COVID.

4: Tell us more about the Cartoonist Club you lead on campus, and your other opportunities to encourage high schoolers to create. How do you motivate your students? What led you to set up experiences beyond what's expected in class?

Basically, I want to provide these students with an opportunity that I would have LOVED to have myself in school… to get to learn about and create comics with others. They learn different techniques to improve their skills, but mainly we use the collaborative and encouraging environment of the club to motivate them to create visual stories they never knew they could. For instance, every fall we run a “Clash of Champions” tournament where they all create teams of characters and each week we vote on who would win in a fight (after reading “smack talk” comics created by each team showing why they would win). This creative competition prompts a great amount of fun productivity, and the end result is a 350-page printed collection of all the comics they made together! In the spring, we publish another comics anthology of student-created work where they really refine their skills. Throughout the year, they get to share their work with the public at various events we participate in, such as the Joplin Collectors Expo.

As great as these experiences are, though, they are probably not the most important thing about the club. What students have repeatedly told me over the thirteen years that it has existed is that Cartoonist Club is somewhere where they feel accepted and supported. For many of these kids, art is their main “thing” and being in the club feels like they have found their people.

5: How do you balance teaching and creating... oh yeah, and family! That's a lot...

Honestly, I probably could do a better job of balancing it at times. I have a tendency to say “yes” to too many things at once which leads to a lot of deadline stress eventually. But I’m slowly getting better at it and learning how to ride the rhythms of the year. During the school year, teaching is obviously my focus and I work on personal art whenever I can. The summers give me much more time for art and comics, of course, including taking on some freelance work usually.

Luckily, my family is quite creative, too. My wife is a talented scrapbooker, and my daughter draws even more than I do. We regularly have creative nights where we are all working on our different projects at the kitchen table together. My daughter is starting high school this year and plans on joining the Cartoonist Club, so that will be a fun bit of overlap!

6: What's your favorite experience as a teacher?

There are so many to choose from. Of course, it is always satisfying when a student who comes into the introductory art class convinced that they have no art skill finds success on some project and realizes that they are more creative than they ever thought. There are the special events, like the trip I take a group of seniors on each fall to Kansas City Art Institute for National Portfolio Day. But if I had to pick one experience, it would have to be the lasting relationships that I have formed with so many of my favorite students. There are several of them that I still see regularly at local sketch nights and for little reunions at our house. It’s wonderful to keep that connection, even after the school years end.

7: Shifting to your artistic career. You've done some pretty awesome projects, including illustrating multiple children’s books, being Artist-In-Residence for Glacier National Park, and creating your comic series such as Random Ink, Duel, and Rook City. What are you most proud of, out of your creative portfolio?

From past projects, I am most proud of the work I did for Glacier National Park back in 2012. As part of the residency there, I was able to stay in a cabin on Lake McDonald for a month and create all the artwork for their Junior Park Ranger activity book. This was a dream come true, as I grew up 30 minutes from the park and my family was able to join me there. The book I illustrated is still distributed to thousands of kids every year, which is very satisfying.

As far as my current projects, I am most proud of the story I am currently working on for the next issue of our Random Ink comics anthology. It is inspired by the classic blues tune “Death Letter Blues” and is a bit of a mystery set in the Mississippi Delta in the 30’s. I’m trying out an entirely new art style on this one which is really stretching me out of my comfort zone.

8: How do you feel about analog vs digital tools? It's an interesting time for comic creators and all kinds of illustrators; have you made the digital jump, and would you encourage other artists to do the same?

I always worked with pen and ink on paper until about a year or two ago. I purchased an iPad and started working in the Procreate app. About 90% of my work since then has been done digitally. I still love to draw traditionally, but there are many advantages to the digital environment that have helped me streamline my workflow… mainly the ability to experiment without tons of erasing or wasting supplies.

It was good timing, actually, because last year I was able to start teaching a brand new Digital Art class at JHS using a class set of iPads with Apple Pencils and Procreate. The students are loving it, and we see tremendous interest growing in digital art every year.

I would encourage all artists to at least try it out. As I tell my students, neither traditional nor digital are necessarily better than the other… but one of them might be better for YOU. I know many professional artists who are using it primarily or at least for part of their process.

9: What's your favorite thing about Joplin?

The people. I know every community has its issues, and we are no different. But there are so many good people here. The most obvious example was after the tornado, but that is not the only time. My family has felt loved and supported by the people of this town, especially from our church. But it extends to our workplaces, too. My wife and I both love our coworkers and supervisors and feel supported and appreciated by them. By and large, Joplin is full of hardworking, good-hearted people who will do whatever they can to help you if you need it. I’m so grateful for that.

10: What would you love to see in Joplin in the future?

I have loved the growing support for the arts that has happened here in the last several years. From Connect2Culture to ProMusica to Third Thursday to ArtsFest to the Toad itself… it just feels like there is a lot of appreciation for creative work, and I would love to see it keep growing.

On another note, I would love to see Joplin develop more of a spirit of unity and understanding in the coming years. These last few years in particular have been so divisive for us (like much of America). We all have truths we believe in and want to stand up for, but I just hope the atmosphere can get back to one where we can have honest, civil discussions without automatically assuming the worst about each other

11: On a completely related note, what's your favorite Nic Cage movie?

Without a doubt, it is Raising Arizona! I enjoy a lot of Coen Brothers movies, and that’s one of my favorites. I think I’ll go watch it now.