Stormy’s Gallery

WELCOME, ART PATRON.

My name is Matt Shafer, operating on the internet under the pen name of ‘Stormy’ Adler, sometimes with the faux-title ‘Phoenix of Grunvale*’. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Science – Digital Media from the Florida State College at Jacksonville, and in the journey to achieve the degree, have picked up many skills in the creative fields, including screenwriting, HTML coding, photography, video editing, and graphic design, skills I continue utilize and practice in my creative endeavors to this day.

However, above all these skills, I consider myself to be a cartoonist. I’m best known on the internet for my webcomic, “The Oddball Tetrad of Grunvale, New Pork”, a slice-of-life series about anthropomorphic animals focusing on the titular friend group consisting of Gilda Grime (a nerdy, retro-pop culture-loving raccoon, depicted giving a thumbs-up behind me in my portrait to the right), April Lowry (a girly-girl skunk with a thick brogue), Margo Hynde (a tomboyish rabbit and the goofiest of the bunch), and Wendy Wyler (a rebellious squirrel with surprising intelligence and an emo aesthetic). The series is inspired by my childhood in upstate New York, my German ancestry, and my experiences as an autistic person in a largely unaccommodating world.

Highlights of my work, both the cartoons and the transcript-style fiction I affectionately name ‘ficlets’, can be viewed at The Exhibition. You can also view the pages of my webcomic at their own dedicated gallery bearing the series’ title. The comics are all listed in chronological order for your convenience.

* – gru:nveɪl