White Cloud Worlds

Hey Folks - on the 1st of November White Cloud Worlds goes on sale. This book is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy art by artists from – or who are currently residing in – Aotearoa New Zealand, and is the brain-child of the tenaciously talented Paul Tobin.

I received an advance copy of it recently, and I have to say it's a gorgeous book – I feel very privileged to be one of the contributing artists. There's a whole bunch of extremely talented people featured besides me, and we were incredibly fortunate to have a foreword written by Guillermo Del Toro, an introduction by Richard Taylor, and afterwords by none other than fantasy art legends Alan Lee and John Howe!

Paul and Kate Jorgensen have done a superb job of bringing this book together, and their commitment to the project shows in the quality of the final product.

Go check out the book's website www.whitecloudworlds.com for a list of the featured artists, and some previews of the outstanding art that it showcases.

There are some book signings coming up to celebrate the White Cloud World's release, the first being at the Weta Stand at Armageddon in Auckland on Saturday October 23 and Sunday October 24. Then in Wellington at Unity Books at 5 pm on Saturday October 30, and again in Wellington at the Weta Cave at 1 pm, Sunday November 14. So if you're in the area, drop on by and say hi.

There will also be a White Cloud Worlds exhibition, featuring art from the book, coming up in December! Details are on the website.

You should really probably buy a copy of this book – if not for yourself, then for someone you love (or deeply admire at the very least). It would make a great Christmas present! Especially the special slipcase edition that includes a limited edition, signed art print by Christian Pearce, Gino Acevedo, Gus Hunter, or me :)

Cheers!

So, anyway...

...it's been quite a year really.

Unfortunately, time for personal art and blogging has taken a distant back seat to the frantic craziness that is my family life, these past few months.

Earlier in the year, my little boy turned one year old, and the day before his birthday, we got some pretty upsetting medical news about him – news that's going to have a continuing impact on him throughout his life. Initially this sent us into something of a tail-spin... it took some time to absorb the enormity of the information, and really, I guess we're still in that process.

At about the same time, a rather large freelance illustration job came my way, which has kept me pretty busy for a few months. While my amazing partner has taken on the lion's share of attending the many therapist's and doctor's visits related to my son's condition, still there has been little time left for anything other than hunkering down and concentrating all of our energies on the small but engrossing circle that is our family.

While thoughts of my graphic novel surface every now and then – proof that perhaps there is some spare creativity bubbling quietly away in the depths of my subconscious – I have had little chance to get anything down on paper, or in pixels. In truth, I guess the importance of the project has faded in comparison to the other aspects of my life, for the time being at least.

Hopefully I will be able to show you some work from the aforementioned freelance job in the next few months. In the meantime, here's a picture of one of the biggest projects of them all:

My beautiful son, and in the background my equally beautiful daughter with their granddad Barkie on a warm April evening on the shore of Lake Taupo.