February | 2012 | The Art of Imagination

Tim Mayer doesn’t remember exactly when he began to draw. “Probably not too long after I learned to grasp a spoon,” he wrote me in a recent email message. “Writing was a little more complex than drawing for me. That didn’t really get started until I was nine or ten. I was always writing stories in my head, though. My favorite thing to do was to
draw characters and then create stories around them.”

Tim has been working for the past six months with one of our students, Amy Bennett, creating a series of comic books as a part of The Art of Imagination’s mentoring program. They meet once a week so Tim can review Amy’s work and suggest changes. Much of what he is providing her however is structure. Amy is a prolific comic drawer and writer. She produces many pages of work every week. Putting them together into a story is where she needs the help.

“My influences are extremely varied,” he told me. “They include, among others, Claes Oldenburg, Tim Burton, Chris Ware, Mike Mignola, Skottie Young, and most importantly Jim Henson.” Tim says that Henson was able to create something enormous. He grew characters and stories using all sorts of media “to entertain, teach, and promote
goodwill.” Tim has published two comic books and one other book, a collection of his work. He also works on commission projects and sells sketch cards at comic shops around Omaha.

The work that Amy has produced with Tim’s help is some of her best. Amy’s frustration level at trying to master the structure of a comic book has begun to dissipate the more she succeeds. This mentoring match has been very powerful for both of them. “Helping Amy to create her book has been incredibly rewarding for me,” he said. “Sharing one simple interest with another person can go a long way.” We thank Tim for sharing his artistic talents with Amy and for giving guidance to her comic book projects.