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.