John Deering has started drawing cartoon panels, and the comic pages of our newspapers may never be the same.
With the creation of "Strange Brew," Deering -- famous for his biting humor and political savvy as chief editorial cartoonist for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette -- now has an outlet for his creative sense of humor and quirky view of life.
"Being an editorial cartoonist today, you have to be tuned-in to pop culture as well as politics -- but there are some limits to what you can do," Deering says "In Strange Brew, everything's fair game. I get to cut loose and draw anything."
Anything and everything Deering draws will hit your funny bone, whether he's poking fun at suburban life or the animal kingdom. In fact, one of the principal sources of Deering's inspiration is in his own back yard -- in the form of his two pets, Trixie the cat and Suzie the dog.
"If you look closely, you can see a lot of Trixie and Suzie in some of the cartoons I draw. Spend enough time with them, and something bizarre is sure to happen."
As an editorial cartoonist, Deering has received numerous honors. Winner of the National Press Foundation's 1997 Berryman Award, Deering also gained top honors in the 1994 national John Fischetti Cartoon Competition and was the seven-time winner of the Arkansas Press Association's Best Editorial Cartoonist award.
Deering's work is collected in two books: "Deering's State of Mind" (1990) and "We Knew Bill Clinton ... Bill Clinton Was a Friend of Ours" (1993, with Vic Harville). He is a 14-year member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists.
Born in Little Rock in 1956, Deering has been drawing since his childhood fascination with science fiction and dinosaurs -- subjects he made into comic books. After studying art with Truman Alston, Deering focused on commercial and fine at the University of Arkansas.
At the Democrat-Gazette, Deering advanced from layout artist to editorial cartoonist in 1981-82. His promotion to chief editorial cartoonist in 1988 made his cartoons the state's best-known.
A house full of comic material, a lifetime of drawing and the discipline Deering has from producing five editorial cartoons every week ensures that Strange Brew is consistently hilarious. Pick up a couple of weeks of the strip, and see for yourself.
Deering and his wife, Kathy, have a daughter and two sons, and live in Little Rock.
