Happy Halloween! Thanks for bearing with me last month when I was on sabbatical and talking about John Singer Sargent’s watercolors (because JSS’s Venice watercolors are amazing). I got home a few days before New York Comic Con, which is always a hectic time for a SFF publisher based in New York.I didn’t have a lot of official duties, but we had a lot of authors come thru and visit the offices, and I tried to see some artists that were in town. Then had a few days to catch my breath and off to IlluXcon!

Unfortunately Lightbox & IlluXcon are on the same weekend (why can they not be at least a week apart, I’d love to go to both) so due to the fact that I see a lot of artists I work with at IX, and hell, I was still jet lagged, of course I went to IX. And I’m very glad I did. I feel like this was the first con I went to that felt like it was out from under the dark specter double whammy of the pandemic and AI. Is Covid still a threat and is AI still a problem? Of course, but it was the first time I felt like I got to have conversations with artists at a con that weren’t centered on doom and gloom and fatalism, and it felt really healing and nice.

 

Donato art, Kristina Carroll for scale

I’m still picking up my brain cells from all the travel and cons, but I wanted to share the positivity. The con was packed with amazing art, folks were having fun and selling, the late night convos were refreshingly low on gossip, and it just felt great to be part of a healthy community again. I really hope it stays that way.

Jeremy Wilson (for an Orbit cover)

I think getting off on the right foot helped, so thanks to Mark Zug who hosted an artists’s jam for anyone who had musical talents, which included a lot of folks from this very blog, including Scott Fischer and Winona Nelson and Tony Palumbo. I got sleepy and had to head to bed, so I know I am missing names, but feel free to out yourself in the comments. It was a great way to kick off the weekend.

And the Showcase at the hotel Friday & Saturday night was great. That’s where I spy all the new talent and check up on folks I’ve given portfolio reviews to in years past, and I was so thrilled to see so much new art from them, and how far the newer talents have come!

Last but not least it was Every Day Original‘s 10th Anniversary! I can’t believe it was 10 years ago during the ride back from IlluXcon that Marc Scheff told me about his idea to build an online gallery and we started brainstorming. Marc has always been the main force behind EDO, and I have been so proud to be a part of it. I can’t believe my logo has lasted 10 years! (Should we do a rebrand for the 10th anniversary of the launch in December?) And in the past few years Marian Pham has been keeping everything on track and she and Marc organized a great little get together for all the EDO artists on Friday night (early enough so folks could get back to their Showcase tables, of course). EDO has been a launchpad for so many artists to make the jump from digital to traditional, it’s given people their first few gallery sales that have springboard them to brick and mortar galleries, and it’s given a place for established artists to experiment with new mediums and new styles. Happy 10th Birthday, Every Day Original!

 

Finally, the shot of all the cards, promos, and prints I took back to Orbit Books HQ. Thank you to everyone who I got to review, chat with, hang out with, and shared their art with me!