Interview: Mike Edholm

Photo by Kristin Streff.


Cartoonist, educator and Chair of the North Central National Cartoonist Society Chapter Mike Edholm reflects on his work in In Retirement, It's Not Exactly Back to the Drawing Board by Peg Sheldrick, writing for the Lincoln Journal Star.

Mike is retiring from his post as publicity and public relations coordinator for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's School of Music. He'll be cartooning full-time.

Here are a few quotes:

On his second grade teacher's response:

By second grade, his artistic gifts had caught the attention of others beyond the family. When a citywide school art contest was announced, Edholm’s teacher suggested he "sit this one out to give the other kids a chance."

“At that point, I pretty much threw in the towel on art competitions,” Edholm said.

On Disney and sketchbooks:

In the 1980s, he interviewed with Disney studios. The executive told him they would love to hire him but could not, because Disney hires from sketchbooks, not portfolios.

“You what?!” Edholm remembers thinking. This was completely contrary to everything he’d ever been taught, he said. “At that point, I began to question education and started keeping sketchbooks.” 

To this day he encourages his art students to do likewise.

The entire story is here.