Gabriel Lehman & Conor Mahoney

A couple of guys from Wilmington, NC (old stomping grounds of mine) are doing some great work together and I thought -- because I'm a supremely nice guy, don't you know -- that I'd take a few minutes and promote some of their nascent work together.

The collaborators in question are Conor Mahoney, a budding writer I helped, out of the kindness of my heart (I'm a nice guy, remember?!?) with a school project a few years back, and Gabriel Lehman, an artist I've never met but displays some prodigious talent that is easily on display here.

The two creators are combining words and art in not a traditional comic book sense, but in a way more common to more traditional picture books - Mahoney is adding his poetry to Lehman's paintings, often interpreting and expanding on the physical image on the canvas.  So far they've come up with some exciting, creative things, and I'll be interested to see what happens next with their collaboration.

I'll post a few of Lehman's paintings (I wouldn't be surprised if these incorporated some mixed media as well), followed by a corresponding poem by Mahoney.  And we'll all enjoy them.  Let's begin!

That Old Man's Cap

There once was an Old man,
as quick as can be
who would go far away
and pick flowers for me

He would always be back
with a snap of his fingers
his cap on his head
and a smile that lingers

Flowers so gorgeous
to make any girl blush
If I asked he would wink
And tell me to hush

He's been gone a long while
But with my grandfather's cap
I can pick my own flowers
And won't ever look back

Each and Every Day


The Artist awakes each and every day
to find a canvas and a fresh paint tray.
Without thinking clearly he grabs brush
and begins to create such worlds
as only a boy can dream of.

Such beautiful colors and swirls,
pure ideas run rampant and fly,
Umbrella girls and cups in the sky.
If only he were to turn round,
He would see his personal muse,
His own Inspiration's guide.

The Flying Machine

Thadius Penley was according to most
incredibly odd and prone to large boasts.
So when the yearly winds crept in
and he got the ears of betting men
He made quite the outstanding wager

You see old Thadius Penley was no fool
He was a genius you see, a man of tools
An inventor of sorts but a gambler of course
so the hustlers came up with a real tour de force
and accepted Penley's incredible wager

You see Thadius was a real mean drinker
And always pretended to be a crazy old duffer
So he bet the men a million in cash
that he could get across the Ocean De' Gashe
In less than eight days, that was the wager

The gambling men laughed, easy as pie
No man could swim that, no point even to try
But they gave him his eight days and,
by six and a half Penley, showed them first hand
exactly how he would win his wager

The Flying Machine, he called it, laughing,
They joined in, joyously bragging
The old man was nuts, the money was theirs
Nothing like that could really ride the airs
And by the seventh day all the town spoke of the wager

And boy did he do it! Flying over the ocean!
Like a bird only sideways, by his own locomotion!
He soared across the sea, and came back before noon
He floated back to land, grinning like a loon.
Drunk off of his ass and ready to wager.

So there you have it, that's how it happened
Mankind can fly now cause of what good booze fashioned.
A gamble of such incredible scope and absurdity
But drawing quite some speculative uncertainty,
Old Thadius Penley never planned on losing his wager

Lehman has a website for his art that you can see here: http://www.gabrielart.com/.

The two should get a friggin' website for their collaborations already.  Blogger is free, fellas.  Best of luck to 'em both.