Love You Clunk & Jam

 

(Clunk & Jam second edition 2019).

Love You Clunk & Jam

When you’ve come from a place of hurt and brokenness and you have lost much and you have these stories and a whole bunch of imaginary friends who continually show up for you no matter what and help you put things back together and you prefer keeping to yourself because when you’ve been hurt or broken you fear the world like nothing else and all the things that could possibly go wrong (again) and you’re fragile and exquisitely sensitive and you want to protect that very precious breakable thing and hiding away feels majorly comfortable and showing yourself feels like being dropped out of a multi-story building but you take fear’s hand and in the other the most strength giving thing you have and together you venture beyond the hurt and brokenness and you’re mildly terrified and slightly excited but you have everything you need to take that brand new step as the one you’ve put back together again and no one can take that from you and you’ve made it and you know from now on you’ll keep on making it and you’ll never be alone again I love you Clunk & Jam .

Clunk & Jam’s Story …

Clunk & Jam evolved from an idea (back in 2008) to create a street newspaper, a printed way to share the art and stories from The Black Dog Project website.  This was with some good people who kindly created the Black Dog website – Mike Cairns, Che Douglas and Kareen.  Stormie Mills and Miso were some of the artists who kindly agreed to contribute artwork.

 

(Wingnut Version, 2010).

 

The print idea didn’t eventuate but was replaced with a concept to make all the posts on Black Dog website printable through attached PDF’s and to make it engaging by typing the stories on an old typewriter.  They became, ‘Clunk & Jam Notes’.   The website was then badly hacked and all notes and images erased (some 300 posts), which took months to recreate.  Rather than spending time reposting all of the Clunk & Jam Notes, the notes were made into a home printed book – bound using spray painted bolts and wing nuts and given to community groups.

 

 

Then came a handmade loose leaf version.  From this came the first self published edition of Clunk & Jam in 2012 (funded by Mum, as was Black Dog – created on a $500 budget).  Some of the books were gifted to community groups and young people through those groups.  The remainder sat in boxes for 6 years as I took time to care for Mum during her battle with cancer and process her loss in 2014 – and that of my Father a year after, then my Brother.  Black Dog and Clunk & Jam were put on hold.  

 

 

Ironically, one of the things that held me to the Project, was the cover image by Stormie Mills of Clunk & Jam.   Provided the encouragement to keep doing the small good thing of simply sharing art and stories freely with others.  Nothing big.  

 

 

In 2018,  I decided to revive Black Dog and simplify things by bringing all of the books, card collections and characters created throughout the 15 year period of doing The Black Dog Project, together in one book. 

 

 

In January 2019, I began working on Clunk & Jam second edition to include all series – Rose, Robin Small, Amelia Bloom, Rock The Boat troops, Flipper Girl and new Army of Ink characters. 

 

 

In August 2019 Clunk & Jam second edition went into production and came off the printing press in Perth, Western Australia in September, 2019.

 

 

I LOVE YOU CLUNK & JAM was written when finally getting the physical book in hand.