We were lucky to catch up with Meaghan Tosi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Meaghan, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’ve been very lucky, in that I’ve gotten to work on multiple projects that hold a lot of meaning for me. If I had to choose one, I would lean towards the graphic novel “Squashed”. The story was not only written by my dad, but shot as a short film during my childhood. It’s a story about some kids finding a very strange pumpkin in the woods (or what they think is a pumpkin). When they decide to take the pumpkin home, they get met with an unexpected supernatural force. I’ve always loved the story itself. It’s spooky, creative, and heart-warming. But what made it such a meaningful project for me to work on was the history behind it. The project itself originally began in 2003, when my dad got a new film camera and wanted to test it out. He wrote the story and then set to filming it, mostly after school. The two kids starring in the film are my brother, Lincoln, and myself. Not only was it part of the humble beginnings of creative family collaborations, but it was a lot of fun. My dad got to make a film and my brother and I got to run around in the woods after school. Now, over ten years later, I worked on the project again, collaborating with my parents, to take the short film and translate it into a published graphic novel. Illustrating it stirred up a lot of fond memories for me and others who were around for the making of the original film.

Meaghan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Meaghan Tosi (she/they), but I also use the handle “Megnolia Illustration” on most social media platforms or at events. I’m an illustrator / graphic novelist based in Portland, OR. I was born and raised in a small town in New Hampshire, left the east coast to study at Laguna College of Art and Design in Southern California, and then later decided to move to the thriving art community here in the PNW. I got into book illustration relatively slowly and through a few side projects. I had actually studied animation at school, leaning heavily into stop-motion, and later decided that I wanted to push my career towards illustration. While working mostly in coffee, I started by trying to build a more illustration-focused portfolio. Thankfully, my dad is still a writer, and needed some illustrations for his middle grade novel “Six Thousand Doughnuts”. Through collaborating on that book with him, I was offered representation by an agent. Since then, we’ve published the graphic novels “Squashed”, “Dweedy: The Imagined Adventures of my Deceased Cat”, and “Dweedy and The Bush Cats”. We also just released the second book from the same world as “Six Thousand Doughnuts” called, “The Curse of the Crummy Mummy”. Currently, I am working on both another graphic novel (as the writer and illustrator), and have started collaborating on a comic series with my partner/writer, Andrew. The comic story follows a spicy elderly woman in a fantasy setting inspired by 1950’s europe. As Mia is faced with murder and other dark dilemmas, she must solve various mysteries, aided by her magical, witchy wit and war ravaged peers. “Nonna Mia” is more of a personal project at the moment, with the intention to bring it to kickstarter in the near future. If you want to learn more or help support the comic project, please check out @nonnamiacomic on instagram and follow along for updates leading up to the kickstarter.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

In my opinion and experience, just sharing their work with others can be incredibly helpful. Online platforms have reached a point where algorithms are making it incredibly difficult to be seen, even with established followers. Over the past year I have experimented with doing a lot more local markets and events to sell books and get my work seen. It’s been a lot of fun and I’ve had some success, but it is also a lot of work and very tiring to try to promote myself on top of creating the work that needs marketing to be seen. Obviously, it’s great to buy the products we make as creators. That is the most direct form of support and helps pay the bills, but if you’ve already bought what you wanted or don’t have the expendable income: share! Tell your friends and family or followers if you’re online. Every creator I know, including myself, is so thankful and motivated by the support of literally anyone. I think most every artist creates with the intention of their work being seen and shared, so every share or purchase is a nice little serotonin boost and allows us to keep creating.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Tying into the previous question (what can society do to best support artists?), the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is sharing my work with people. For example, my book series “Dweedy” is based on my real childhood cat. The idea formed from me sketching her as a ghost after she passed away. It was just my way of processing her death. Soon, sketches turned into a short story about what this little ghost cat might be doing in her afterlife. I actually had no intention of publishing the original Dweedy story when I was creating it, but the people I did share it with had such a positive response to it. After publishing the original short story, the reviews/comments I was receiving about it made me realize just how many people strongly relate to the subject. I’ve heard so many heartwarming stories about pets who have passed but were so loved. Now, after continuing the idea for three more issues, the story often serves as a gateway for connection to others through love of our lost pets. It’s a topic that I feel is often shied away from, but is also something that a ton of people, even some kids, relate to pretty heavily. If I hadn’t created the Dweedy story and shared it, I wouldn’t be having a mother approach me at a coffee shop to tell me that Dweedy is her daughter’s favorite book and has helped her child through grieving the loss of her own cat. Being supported by others and getting to do what I love is something I’m incredibly thankful for, but the personal connection I’ve experienced with people who have seen and related to my work is beyond rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tosiproductions.com/meaghan/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megnolia.illustration/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@megnolia.illustration
• Other: “Nonna Mia” Comic project on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nonnamiacomic/

Image Credits
Andrew Scot Frink