Petar Meseldzija Blog

I wanted to share how excited I am about Petar Meseldzija starting a blog. I mentioned in my last post that I had the opportunity to meet him at Illuxcon this year. It was truly a pleasure seeing his work in person and crossing paths with him and his wife. Many thanks to the amazing and inspiring James Gurney for directing me to the blog! It's been a great source of insight and inspiration so far! I assure you that the future will only unfold more for your soul. Above is a painting I was lucky enough to see at the first Spectrum show in NY. Needless to say, it blew my mind. Thanks to Dragan Bibin and Vanja Todoric for convincing him to begin a blog. I wish Petar the best in his endeavors!

Illuxcon has come and gone, Eternal in my soul

Back home with family, still processing my recent experience at Illuxcon. It was an amazing journey to say the least. Many thanks to the founders, Pat and Jeannie Wilshire for making it all possible! For several months I prepared for the event. Little did I know how much of an impact it would have on my life. I saw the greatest collection of mind blowing Sci-Fi Fantasy art in the World! Simply breathtaking! I was fortunate enough to have my work displayed along with established pros. I finally had the chance to meet Jon Schindehette from D&D, had portfolio reviews with Jordu Schell and Jeremy Jarvis, attended fantastic lectures and just had the best time laughing and hanging with old friends and everyone I met there.

On top of that, I played and sang Voodoo Child by Hendrix after an award ceremony and we were met with a standing O. What more could I ask for? I was a bit rusty and it was the first time everyone played together but it was definitely fun. I'll have a youtube video up soon! If you want to see beautiful work. If you'd like to make connections and long lasting friends and memories. If you're looking for inspiration and growth then get your butt in gear and go to Illuxcon! Below are just a few of the many photos taken during the event. Enjoy!
Jordu Schell working away on a sculpture. He designed the aliens for Avatar and worked on a ton of other cool movies. That's just bad ass! I was lucky enough to meet, sit down with him and receive his advice. Thanks Jordu!
Vincent Villafranca by his very cool sculpture. Bruce Jensen painting. Greg Hildebrandt painting and accepting a lifetime achievement award. Wow, wow and....ah wow!
Donato Giancola giving an interesting, informative and hilarious lecture on Abstraction and Realism to a packed room and listening to some live tunes at Le Bistro. This guy is a Beast of an Artist!
Michael Whelan pretending to be interested in my work :-) and Raoul Vitale These dudes are Awesome!
Petar Meseldzija stopping by my table with his wife, Anita. Petar is one of my favorites out there today. Simply an amazing artist! I couldn't believe it when I read he was going to be at the event.



Mark Zug (another amazing artist and great musician) jamming and Parker tearing it up the keys. Jim Donovan of Rusted Root was kind enough to loan a drum kit. How cool is that! Had a blast jamming with Mark and everyone! Thanks to Mark and everybody involved! Everyone I met was so kind and generous. I'm pretty damn happy right now.

Varnishing

4 of the 9 pieces that will be with me at Illuxcon. Completed wiring and varnishing. I applied gloss varnish to the two pieces on the left and the one in my hands. I decided to go with a matte finish with the painting on the right.

Brush on and spray on varnish both work fine after a couple layers. the spray definitely saves time. No cleaning brushes!

Framed

I just finished framing this one. Although it's a small painting and one of my older experimental pieces, I thought it would be nice to take it to Illuxcon http://www.illuxcon.com/. Unfortunately The fantastic artist, Stephen Hickman, will not be able to attend the Main Show this year. You can view his beautiful work here I have been offered the opportunity to move from the Showcase Show to fill the vacancy. It is truly an honor and I'm extremely grateful, for I'll be in the midst of masters in the field. I feel unworthy but I'll do my best to satisfy the position. Please stop by and say hello if you plan on attending.