MUG CLUB FANZINE project, 2020

From LIT HUB, July 2020:

"Later, I come across a picture on Instagram: stacked zines the color of ochre, an illustration of a mug with sprawling leaves across each. The project in question is Mug Club Fanzine, an undertaking of Portland-based artist and illustrator Joan LeMay. Mug Club calls for its contributors to take a picture of their favorite mug and write a short text to accompany it. Joan then makes paintings of each mug and runs them with the corresponding story. When I asked Joan what drew her to mugs specifically, she said, 'People’s mugs are really personal and individuated objects, actually—it’s why you never set a dinner table for guests with your mugs, unless those mugs are a mass-produced, uniform set. … The humble mug seemed like a perfect jumping off point for storytelling (people have stories about their mugs!) and a perfect subject for starting this zine at this time.'

Anecdotal storytelling seems to be a core element of most quarantine projects, and Mug Club especially. Wherein each narrative—about being young and shoplifting a favorite mug, or finding out years later that a favorite mug is from Pottery Barn—reads like tender and casual conversation with a close friend."

MUG CLUB FANZINE ISSUE 1, May 2020

BRITTAIN ASHFORD, RACHEL BLUMBERG, LINDSEY BUCHANAN, JENNIFER CHARLES, EDEN DAWN, RACHEL DEMY, DEREK ERDMAN, ROBIN HARRIS, STEVE KANDELL, JANE KOTAPISH, JENNY KROIK, JOAN LeMAY, JODI LEO, TED LEO, AIMEE MANN, JIM McNAMEE, B. FRAYN MASTERS, DESI MOORE, PAUL MYERS, ALEX PAPPADEMAS, TAVIE PHILLIPS, CARYN ROSE, ASHOD SIMONIAN, BRANDON STOSUY, KATHLEEN TARRANT, JEN TURNER, JOHN VANDERSLICE, LANCE SCOTT WALKER

MUG CLUB FANZINE ISSUE 2, November 2020

AMY MARTIN, ANNIE BEEDY, BEN GIBBARD, BETH WAWERNA, BRIAN STACK, BRITTANY SPANOS, CASEY DIENEL, CHAD CLARK, CHARLES AARON, ERIC JOHNSON, JASON COHEN, JESSICA HOPPER, JOAN LeMAY, JOHN NORRIS, JON RAUHOUSE, JOSH MODELL, KELLY HOGAN, LAUREN HOFFMAN, LYNDA BARRY, MATT LeMAY, MATTHEW CAWS, MICHAEL TEDDER, MO TROPER, MOLLIE KOMINS, MORGAN MURPHY, SARA BENINCASA, SCOTT McCAUGHEY, SUSAN ELIZABETH SHEPARD, TORQUIL CAMPBELL, WILL SHEFF, ZACH BAROCAS, ZACHARY LIPEZ, ZOHRA ATASH