Jeannie Mecorney

she/her

https://substack.com/@chickenscratchcomics

I wanted to draw comics and be a cartoonist since I was 5. However I grew up to be a single mom so I translated my art degree into graphic art- which was kinda painful. Now that I am retired I am drawing for myself which means finally translating the chicken in my head into a single panel comic that I post online called ChickenScratch! This keeps me sane while I also draw my personal story as a graphic memoir growing up with a father diagnosed with a mental illness and a co-dependent mom.

Comics site: https://seesawcomics.org/series/chicken-scratch/

I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in Studio Art with no idea what the world was like, what reality was. After graduation I spent many years faking adulthood; stepping into abusive relationships, fearful of men, authority figures, sabotaging opportunities for success and happiness and avoiding my past trauma.

Here is a preview of my memoir on my website: https://www.mecorney.com/memoirmecorney.mov

There is a whole genre of graphic memoirs and novels called graphic medicine that deals with mental illnesses [Bipolar, Schizophrenia, ADHD, Depression, OCD, PTSD, etc.] A great introduction to comics and mental illness: https://graphicmedicine.org.

Most recently I spoke at the June 2024 National Alliance on Mental Illness [NAMI, https://www.nami.org]. My presentation, “Telling Your Story Through Drawing Comics: A Guided Workshop” showcased some of my drawings and my belief in the importance of story and the way in which comics are both empathetic and engaging as a storytelling genre is transformative and so important in de-stigmatizing mental illness.