Golden Memories

In the early 2000s I inherited the editorship of a magazine called "Golden-APA" from its previous editor. Golden-APA was a privately published writer-participant publication once known as an "Amateur Press Association," hence the acronym APA. These private magazines, usually printing no more than 10 or 15 copies, originated long before the modern internet era. Everyone who wanted a copy would contribute their own sheaf of writing or art, photocopied to as many copies as the group had members. The editor's job was not really to edit or change anything in the texts but to put the sheafs together in order so that there would be identical copies. Then the editor would put a cover on it, staple them together with heavy-duty staples, put the copies in envelopes and mail them out. The APA members were supposed to send in some money to cover the copying process and the postal fees. 

The APA was, therefore, a do-it-yourself magazine and one fun thing about it was that you could publish your comments on whatever you read in the previous issue. Something that takes a second now on Facebook took a month or two back in the era of paper and print. I remember waiting eagerly for my copy so that I could see what my print-friends had to say about my deathless prose. I always put art into my entry, too, so the friends could see what I was working on.

"Golden-APA" got its name from "Golden Apple," a theme which was featured in the satirical "Illuminatus Trilogy" (first published in 1975) by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. This somewhat forgotten text  inspired a movement in science fiction fan circles in which chaos, fetishistic sex, drug use, and uproar were cultivated as virtues. (Easier said than done!) The original Golden-APAns were closer to this movement and kept the Shea and Wilson text as the prime topic, but by the time I inherited it, Golden had lost much of its uproarious quality and had become an intellectual journal of diaries and literary criticism. As I recall, I edited it from 2000 to 2003 at which point I was no longer willing to persuade people to participate in the paper process. All of the participants migrated to the Internet and newsgroups and forums. There may still be one or two of these APAs still in operation, but why would anyone want to go through the old-fashioned process when you can post a rant on Facebook and have it read by your friends in a minute.

I did this cover for a Golden in the early 2000s. It shows a literary lady picking printed apples from a mystic tree. Behind her is the Pyramid which was one of the favorite symbols of the "Illuminatus" fans. The lady is loosely based on Nancy Lebovitz, famous for her aphoristic and humorous badges, who had been at one time the editor of Golden-APA.

Black ink on illustration board, 8 1/2" x 11", early 2000s. Click for a larger view.

Happy Pirate and Cat

Around the middle of the 1990s I did a lot of fan art for the Baltimore World Science Fiction Convention, scheduled for 1998. The theme of the Worldcon was "Pirates of Baltimore," and so all the promotional art I did for them had some sort of fantasy pirate in it. This one above was for a holiday card that was sent out to the development and executive staff. The model for the pirate was a real guy who posed for me in the costume. The cat is not a model, but the hat on the cat was one of my collectibles at the time. I know this is for the holidays so the pirate guy is cheerful and smiling but you think that someone whose job is to attack, pillage, and kill would be more serious about it all. But then, pirates in the movies, stage, and screen are seen singing and dancing to "Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum," which was made up by adventure author and literary hero Robert Louis Stephenson.

Black ink on illustration board, about 5" x 7", November 1995.

Storm over a Vineyard

There's hardly anything I like to look at more than a vineyard in summer. Add storm clouds and it's my favorite Earthly Paradise thing. This is a small watercolor study for a somewhat larger painting in progress in my studio. Stay tuned, landscape lovers.

Watercolor and a bit of colored pencil on thick paper, about 7" x 5", April 12, 2016.

Vashti, Rejected Queen of Persia

The story of Vashti, the rejected (and rejecting) Queen of Persia is told in the Biblical book of Esther. (My mother was named Esther, so I have some connection to her, sort of.) In the tale, Vashti's husband King Xerxes of Persia demands her presence at a week-long royal court party. She refuses to come to it, for reasons the book doesn't explain, but it is likely that she would be shown off and humiliated in front of a crowd of drunken lewd men. Because of her refusal, she was removed as Queen and replaced, after a beauty contest, by the Jewish heroine Esther. Queen Esther eventually persuades the King to call off persecutions of Jews. The story, and a Jewish analysis of it, can be found at this helpful Jewish cultural website. Esther's story and success is celebrated in the joyful feast of Purim, which happens in early spring.

What you see here is an illustration for a “midrash” poem by a friend of mine who writes stories about the lives and feelings of Biblical characters. He has created a musical show from his Bible tales. Vashti is one of the characters in the song cycle and he commissioned me to depict her in a Persian costume and setting.

The piece was featured on the cover of  STRANGERS AT THE GATE, a collection of these Biblical “midrash” poems privately published in 1997.

Original art is ink on illustration board, 11" x 14", February 1996.

Dominion of the Ghosts

This image of an overwrought Victorian mansion was a wraparound cover for a book of spooky stories edited by one of the story writers, S.G. Johnson who was later known as "Gary Bowen." The publishing entity was "Obelesk" Books (yes, spelled that way) and I did a few covers for them in the mid-90s. The house depicted does not exist, I made it up using historical mansion designs that weren't so different. I just added more stuff to the design. The white area to the left is where the blurb, description, and commercial graphics were. I still have my copy, somewhere on the dusty shelves.

Black ink on illustration board,  with computer-printed lettering, 11" x 8 1/2", fall 1994.

Cocoa Vienna Roofline

This is the roof of an old building in Vienna, Virginia which now houses a luxury chocolatier, "Cocoa Vienna," strategically located across the street from the artsy Cafe Amouri. This area provides plenty of ways for people to indulge their tastes. You can go elsewhere for your kale and quinoa vegan raw salad. Vienna, an affluent suburb of Washington, DC, still has a number of old buildings interspersed with the usual strip malls and commercial chains. 

I drew this sketch on a bench outside while waiting for my coffee companions. I would have drawn the lower part of the building with its nice porch windows and lanterns, but people kept parking their giant vehicles in front of it in the tiny parking lot. An interesting fact about this drawing is that I drew it while wearing gloves. I have a nice soft pair of yellow leather work gloves that are flexible enough to wear in the chill while drawing. I always wondered whether I could do that. It's still cold for outdoor art.

Black tech pen ink on sketchbook page, about 5" x 3 1/2", April 8, 2016.

Newbie at Wheel

In early 1994, when the larger world's Internet was just getting started, I did a number of illustrations for a long-gone magazine called "Internet World." These pictures are now full of recent nostalgia for the dawning age of what we now can't live without. This one is a kind of "anticipated nostalgia" for an era which in those days wasn't that far away. A '55 Chevy loaded with newbie and friends, driving on the southeast expressway in Boston at twilight. Signs advertising new-fangled internet things like IRC and Usenet. The billboard says: Information indigestion? Try DIGEX for fast relief. Digital Express Access, Internet public access: Digex was my internet provider. My first Internet address was hmgs@access.digex.net, from 1993.

Ink and watercolor with computer-printed type, original size 9" x 12", January 1994.