Welcome to Phil lepel's County Fare

Hi everyone my name is Philip Lepel and this is County Fare.  When I was a kid I did a lot of plays in school for years I wanted to be an actor, but life got in the way. Something about working like a dog for ten years and living out of motel rooms waiting to be discovered never sat well with me. Maybe it was cowardice. I chose to believe it just wasn't my calling.

I liked family life. Thought not sure what type of Father I would be I came to like the idea of settling down on my own little piece of this earth, sinking nice deep roots and and becoming a small part of the bigger picture.  I bought an old farm house and tried, with mixed success to make life a little simpler. I got a factory job that paid well and after a while when back to school for Illustration.

   I'd always had a creative side and I expressed it in art. Well, in cartooning. I had many a professor in school that explained that cartoons aren't really art. Yet when you look back at many of the earliest cartoonist they rose from the ranks of fine Illustrators and Painters.

The cartoon was a very unique art and communicative tool. First started in Europe but perfected here in United States, when publishers like Hurst and Pulitzer came to recognize that cartoons were read and more easily understood by America's teaming immigrant masses of the late 19th and early 20th century.

  In high school I did a cartoon for the school newspaper and I in fact doodled and drew my way through factory work getting my self hired to do T-shirt designs and eventually a cartoons and illustrations for my plant and Union newspapers. I'd done cartoons for retirement papers (Retirement is:), a college newspaper
(Adult Ed) and finally for county newspapers where I lived.

The great thing about cartoons is that you get to write, draw and at times be the characters themselves. In fact its a little like acting because you become the character and a little of the character becomes a part of you. Cartoons let you touch on delicate issues either directly or using characters that allow people too look at a situation they might otherwise find distasteful.

Years ago a great cartoonist named Walter Kelly made some incredible social commentary by using a possum and his strange and wonderful friends to comment on many of the aspects of America in the 50's, 60's and into the 70's before his death. Sometimes his subjects were so controversial that editors would refuse to publish his strip. Walt got around this with a group of cute little baby bunnies. Whenever he touched on a subject matter he thought editors might not publish he would give them a bunny cartoon. But in fact the bunnies were always invariably making fun of the editors that Walt felt were to sensitive or cowardly to publish his cartoon.

I became inspired by men like Kelly and many others. I attempted to make my cartoons also about the life and times around me. I was also inspired by the wonderful and silly works of Larson( Far Side) and Watterson (Calvin and Hobbs). Two great cartoonist along with several others that got syndicated and  made it big while I was struggling along, raising a family and going to work everyday.

I dreamed that someday  I'd make it big too. But being a full time Dad, having a full time job AND trying to start a career can be a daunting task. I believed in being an active parent and the bills had to be paid so the dreams were put on the shelf until later. Like after retirement, like now.

Life sometimes gets in the way of dreams,with retirement also came the end of a 30 year marriage and all the adjustments that ensue.  That's done and with a new home and a new life  its time to chase my dreams.
This blog which most days will be in the form of a cartoon will be part of it. My first children's book that I am in the process of finishing the Illustrations for called "The Open Road" will be next and offered for sale here first.

Yes I'm but a tiny voice amongst millions but that's okay. It is here I hope to build a fan base slowly. It will get bigger if I do well, if I touch a heart string or two or put a smile on someone face . I have many friends around this country and I hope to entertain them . I'm open to your ideas comments and criticism to a point and hope you will make them often.Some of  my characters will be based on my town, my friends and those who inspire me. Others will just be silly concoctions of my own making just to be silly.

I'm really doing this for my own pleasure but I hope that you ,dear reader will enjoy it just as much. So here in an encore performance is the very first County Fare. I hope you enjoy it the many to follow!