Tatiana Ortiz
Tampa Bay Times
Plant City artist Morgan Davis has created a second edition of his strawberry-themed calendars to celebrate the Florida Strawberry Festival. The calendars, known as “Strawberry Short Stories,” include comics with strawberry characters for each month, along with coupons from local businesses.
Davis and his brother, graphic artist Jesse Starr, teamed up again to create the art for the calendar. The idea of the calendar originated a couple of years ago from some sketches Davis came up with. Starr took those sketches and formed them into digitalized pieces of work.
“My brother does a lot of the computer work like shading and making sure everything is finalized for production,” Davis said.
“Strawberry Short Stories” is not your typical yearly calendar because of its one-of-a-kind comics. The 12-month calendar has a
different theme each month, such as Powered Sugar on Me, The Spring Ripe Race and much more. The comics are also filled with fun facts about strawberries for people of all ages.
The calendar has 24 sponsors from small and local businesses in the area and many have provided coupons that don’t expire for a year. Some of the businesses include Nick’s Pizza, Valerie’s Attic, The Corner Store and Blue Thumb Computer Repair.
“The calendar is a three-dimensional, multipurpose tool because it has something for children and parents,” Davis said.
After the Florida Strawberry Festival, Davis plans on expanding to make coloring books.
Davis is also a musician, writer and traveler. He has been to 44 states and has visited more than 10 cities.
“Overall, my goal is to travel around the country and sell my product,” Davis said.
Calendars can be purchased for $10 near festival gates and Taco Loco on Lemon Street. He also plans on handing out 50 free calendars during the parades. Davis will be at the Youth Parade Day on Saturday, March 5, and the Grand Parade Day Monday, March 7.