Ellen Forney (born March 8, 1968) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary an ...

, educator, and wellness coach. She is known for her autobiographic comics which include ''I was Seven in '75''; ''I Love Led Zepellin''; and ''Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo and Me''. She teaches at the

Cornish College of the Arts Cornish College of the Arts (CCA) is a private art college in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1914. History Cornish College of the Arts was founded in 1914 as the Cornish School of Music, by Nellie Cornish (1876–1956), a teacher of ...

. Her work covers mental illness, political activism, drugs, and the

riot grrrl Riot grrrl is an underground feminist punk movement that began during the early 1990s within the United States in Olympia, Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest and has expanded to at least 26 other countries. Riot grrrl is a sub ...

movement. Currently, she is based in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Washington.

Career

Forney received a B.A. degree from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the c ...

, where she majored in psychology. In the 1990s, she produced the autobiographical strip ''I Was Seven in '75'', which ran in Seattle's alternative-weekly paper '' The Stranger''. She self-published a collection in 1997 with a

Xeric Foundation The Xeric Foundation is a private, nonprofit corporation based in Northampton, Massachusetts, which for twenty years awarded self-publishing grants to comic book creators, as well as qualified charitable and nonprofit organizations. The Xeric Fo ...

grant. A complete collection was published as ''Monkey Food'' by Fantagraphics in 1999. In 2006 she published ''I Love Led Zeppelin'', which collected comics she had done for various newspapers and magazines, and included collaborations with

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American comedian, actress, LGBT social activist, and musician. She is known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially regarding race and se ...

, Kristin Gore,

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultur ...

, and

Dan Savage Daniel Keenan Savage (born October 7, 1964) is an American author, media pundit, journalist, and LGBT community activist. He writes '' Savage Love'', an internationally syndicated relationship and sex advice column. In 2010, Savage and his husb ...

. It was nominated for an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

as Best Reality-Based Comic. In 2007 she illustrated

Sherman Alexie Sherman Joseph Alexie Jr. (born October 7, 1966) is a Spokane- Coeur d'Alene-Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmmaker. His writings draw on his experiences as an Indigenous American with ancestry from se ...

's young-adult novel '' The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian'', which won the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The N ...

. In 2008 she published ''Lust'' which adapted personal ads from ''The Stranger'' into illustrated/comics form. Her graphic memoir ''Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me'' addressed her experiences with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. Specifically, the memoir deals with how Forney perceives her mental illness in relation to her art, as well as her fears about medication diminishing her creativity. Forney also notes the role mental illness has played in other artists lives, referring to a list of artists and writers with depression as "Club Van Gogh." It was published by

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.graphic medicine Graphics () are visual perception, visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustration, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of dat ...

exhibit that Forney curated for the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Forney's 2018 book ''Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from My Bipolar Life'' is a graphic self-help guide, published by

Fantagraphics Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was fou ...

. In it, Forney promotes her personal acronym for self-care: SMEDMERTS, which stands for Sleep, Meds, Eat, Doctor, Mindfulness, Exercise, Routine, Tools, Support System.

Other work

Ellen Forney is also the artist responsible for "Crossed Pinkies" and "Walking Fingers", two murals in the South Transit Capitol Hill light rail station at Seattle. She also is open for commissions such as portraits, wedding invitations, and tattoo designs. More recently, Forney started offering wellness coaching for those who suffer from bipolar disorder. She also connects with audiences about graphic medicine, health, and comics in frequent speaking engagements.

Personal life

Forney identifies herself as bisexual. She was diagnosed with

Bipolar 1 Disorder Bipolar I disorder (BD-I; pronounced "type one bipolar disorder") is a type of bipolar spectrum disorder characterized by the occurrence of at least one manic episode, with or without mixed or psychotic features. Most people also, at other time ...

in 1998.

Bibliography

* ''MONKEY FOOD: The Complete "I Was Seven in '75" Collection'', Fantagraphic Books (1999). * ''I Love Led Zeppelin: Panty-Dropping Comics'', Fantagraphics Books (2006). * ''Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle's The Stranger'', Fantagraphics Books (2008). * ''The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie'', Art by Ellen Forney, Little Brown (2007). * ''Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir'', Gotham/Penguin Books (2012). * ''Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice From My Bipolar Life'', Fantagraphics (2018).

Awards

* 2013:

Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual co ...

* 2013: National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis "Gradiva" winner in ''Art for Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir'' * 2012:

Stranger Genius Award The Stranger Genius Awards, given by Seattle alternative weekly newspaper An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, inves ...

winner for LiteratureThe Stranger Genius Awards: The Event
thestranger.com.'' Accessed online 2012-11-21.'' *2007: National Book Award winner and New York Times Book of the Year for her art in ''The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forney, Ellen American female comics artists American comics writers Female comics writers Living people 1968 births Wesleyan University alumni Artists from Seattle American women cartoonists Alternative cartoonists Underground cartoonists Cornish College of the Arts faculty People with bipolar disorder Educators from Seattle American LGBT artists LGBT people from Washington (state) LGBT comics creators Bisexual artists Bisexual women Inkpot Award winners American cartoonists American women academics 21st-century American women