Not Hibernating Yet!

November and December have been more than a little hectic ( all the usual junk plus then some). So that people don't think I was swallowed up by some Lovecraftian elder creature I thought I'd better throw something onto my blog. So here is my very belated report on the World Fantasy Convention.

Becky and I roomed with our friends Alan Clark and Jill Bauman. Jill and Alan are always a blast to hang out with.

The art show run by Bonnie and Ted Atwood was amazing. The panel bays were in groups of three panels. Within the bay I occupied I had two panels, while the third ( or first depending on which direction you started) had the intricate work of Japanese artist Hicaru Tanaka. Facing my bay and looking to the right found the beautiful work of John Picacio, while across from me were the beautiful watercolors of Charles Vess, to the right of him the wonderful work of Todd Lockwood, and to his left the always delightfully disturbing work of Alan. The entire show consisted of this high level of talent in one form or another.

Displaying my work at WFC is always somewhat daunting. I'm only finishing up my fourth year in the publishing business while the majority of the artists are 20+ years in the field. But my luck is still holding true and I was fortunate to receive a lot of good feedback on my paintings.

I screwed up my courage to introduce myself to Todd Lockwood, Steven Hickman, and Danoto Ginacola (not all at the same time mind you), and to top things off I was able to see original paintings by Jeffery Jones through a special showing of his work.

Other high points of the convention included meeting the lovely Ellen Datlow, Ramsey Campbell signing a copy of his book Cold Print that Becky bought for me in the dealers room, meeting magic-realism author Bruce Taylor , Alan and Jill introducing us to Jane and Walter Frank, and of course getting to meet up with the folks that make the conventions such a special time for us. Among this group are William & Deborah Jones, Gary & Nancy Frank, Beth Gwinn, William O'Conner, John Picacio, Brad & Ann Hutchings, Mike Willmoth, and Richard & Mickey Sardinha.

Here are some shots from the convention and an article that Jill was interviewed for about WFC.

And In The Local News...

Recently I was interviewed by reporter Larry Thomas for a segment in my hometown newspaper The Evening News. You can read an online version here.
The photo that accompanies the article is by staff photographer Chuck Branham.

To my delight the article was on the front page of this Saturday's edition!

Thanks again Larry and Chuck.




Staff photo by C.E. Branham

Some Good October News

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror Twentieth Annual Collection edited by Ellen Datlow and Kelly Link & Gavin J. Grant is out.

Stephen Graham Jones' narrative "Raphael" was among the stories included. I did the accompanying illustration for it when it appeared in Cemetery Dance #55 (which also sported a cover done by yours truly).
(Cover for #55)

Mentioned in the Summation 2006: Horror, is Chaosium's "Arkham Tales" which I did the cover for.


In the back are the honorable mentions. Among the listed stories that I did illustrations for are:

Scott Nicholson's "She Climbs A Winding Stair", Dark Wisdom #9 ( which I also did the cover for).
(Cover for#9)

J. T. Petty's "Grapefruit Spoons", Cemetery Dance #55.


And Glen Hirshberg's "Transitway", Cemetery Dance #56.


Ellen Datlow's nod to the artists of the small press is again an impressive list, including such peers of personal acquaintance as Allen Koszowski, Keith Minnion, Augie Wiedemann, Debbie Hughes, Russell Dickerson, Chad Savage, and Teresa Tunaley.

And once again I also have the great honor of being included on the list!

Thank you very much Ms. Datlow.

Cthulhu Ahoy!

William Jones invited me to post on his blog a short essay about my creation of the cover for High Seas Cthulhu. It can be found in the replies section for the High Seas Cthulhu entry (William's Ramblings).

My professional history with William brings up something which I have stated before, but always bears repeating.

It could be said that my career took off in the spring of 2004. That was when I garnered my first assignment for William and Deborah Jones' magazine The Book of Dark Wisdom (now known as Dark Wisdom).

The exposure I received from having my work appear in Dark Wisdom that year (coupled with my membership at Chad Savage and Alan Clark's spookyART.com) could definitely be considered a launching point for my vocation.

And of course I would not have a Chesley Nomination to my credit if not for my cover illustration for Dark Wisdom issue #8.

So thanks again William, Deborah, Chad, and Alan.

Just for the fun of it, here is my first illustration for Dark Wisdom and below that one of my most recent ones.


2004

2007

Site Update

I finally put up my bio page at my website. The sordid details of my career as told by one of my childhood friends can be found here -Steve' bio.

It still needs some fine tuning, but at least the darn thing is finally posted.

Enjoy!

The Chesley Awards!

No, I did not win the Chesley Award for Best Magazine Cover for 2006, but I'm still thrilled that I was actually nominated. I never thought it would have happened. And my work has actually been shown in Japan!

My fellow nominees were the fantastically talented artists John Picacio, R. K. Post, and Renee LeCompte, with Renee's lovely cover for Fantasy Magazine taking the win.

In related news our friend Frank Wu won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist. Congratulations Frank!

I've Been Nominated!

I actually garnered a Chesley Nomination for Best Magazine Cover of 2006. I was elated at being included on the suggestion list, but words cannot describe my feelings over this honor.

Thank you everyone who voted for me!

Camp Necon

We returned home from Necon late monday night. The drive is a bit exhausting,but the convention is well worth the journey, first to Queens New York for an overnight stop to pick up Jill Bauman, then on to Roger Williams University in Rhode Island. The convention was great as always. We were delighted to see old friends and had the pleasure of making new ones.

Rick Sardinha's art show was top notch as always. New this year was the talent of Deena Warner and Keith Minnion.

I was quite pleased with the setup this year. Here is a shot of my panels.

Totally Unexpected.

I received some surprising news from fellow artist Judi Davidson this morning. I've been included on the Chesley Award Suggestion List for 2007 for my Dark Wisdom #8 cover. A very nice end to a very stressful week. Thanks Judi!

And among a most impressive tally of artists are three that I am fortunate enough to be aquatinted with. Congratulations to John Picacio, Alex McVey , and Scott Webb.

Here is the painting that was suggested.

New Work for 2007

I've posted some new work for 2007 in my gallery. I still need to fill in the details for each piece, but the images are there so please feel free to browse.

The Work of Michael Morris

The work of my friend Michael Morris will be on display in The Gallery at The Kentucky center from now through July 13.

From the Kentucky Center Website:

"The Gallery at The Kentucky Center
Storyboard for a Disparate Life
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL MORRIS
Exhibit runs through July 13 In conjunction with the 2007 Louisville Photo Biennial
Join us Friday, June 1, from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., for our First Friday Gallery Hop reception in honor of Michael Morris."

You can find out more about the show at The Kentucky Center and see Michael's work at michaelrmorris.com

My Art in Louisville!

This weekend I will have some of my artwork on display in the Art Sanctuary Amuse Les Sens VIII from 7pm-2am at the Mellwood Arts & Entertainment Center.

Book Plugs-Part Two

Below are the two book covers I had the honor of illustrating for my friend and mentor Alan M. Clark. They were written by Alan, Stephen C. Merritt, and Lorelei Shannon.



Being asked by Alan to create the cover paintings for his novels is a distinction beyond words and one of the highlights for me of 2006.

I first saw Alan's artwork at RiverCon 20 in the summer of 1995. It was my first convention art show and I was amazed (and quite intimidated) by the work of the four guest artists: Kevin Ward, Mark Maxwell, Debbie Hughes, and Alan. Growing up on a literary diet of science fiction and fantasy provided a point of reference for me in regards to the work of Kevin, Mark and Debbie. But Alan's delightfully macabre illustrations provided a new and wonderful visual experience. The paintings he exhibited were predominantly from the book The Pain Doctors of Suture Self General by the Bovine Smoke Society.

The following January I participated in my first ChattaCon art show in which Alan was also an attending artist. Having been too shy to approach any of the artists ( in particular Alan ) at the RiverCon show, I was not about to let the chance to talk with him slip by again. The polar opposite of his subject matter ( as most horror artists are ), Alan was the model of southern hospitality. He complimented me on my paintings of dinosaurs, fossils and dragons and was more than happy to reveal how he achieved various effects in his own work.

Later when he looked through an illustrated Halloween party invitation that Louisville graphic artist Michael Morris had created and I had co-illustrated, his words were something to the effect of " you should consider going darker with your work".

So I did.

Alan has been a tremendous source of help and information to me in both art technique and publishing, and without his help I would not be where I am today in the field of horror illustration.

For more information on the Blood of Father Time series please go here

Book Plugs-Part One

Just wrapping up some final news from 2006. These are two books from Elder Signs Press which sport covers illustrated by yours truly and are now available thru the ESP site.

Elder Signs Press is owned and operated by Deborah and William Jones. A growing force in the small press industry, ESP was recently nominated for an International Horror Guild Award for Best Periodical of 2005. And the just released issue #10 of ESP's magazine Dark Wisdom is sporting a new full color format that is creating quite a stir.

My work appearing in William and Deborah's publications has been and continues to be a strong element in my burgeoning career as an illustrator.

On the left is the cover for A. A. Attanasio's collection Twice Dead Things, and on the right is the cover for C. J. Henderson's novel The Things That Are Not There.