The Speculative, the Fantastic and the Visual Imagination – Eastercon’s Art Show

When we talk about SF, most of us initially think of books, TV and film. This is how the majority of us engage with the arcane, the adventurous, the otherworldly, whether those world are unseen realms alongside our own or distant planets. If we take that step from enjoying SF to attempting to create something ourselves, these are the paths which most of us are able to venture down, to some degree at least. Far fewer of us can ever hope to translate what we see in our mind’s eye into a drawing, a painting or some three-dimensional artwork. The rest of us stand in awe of those with such talents.

This artistic aspect is a priceless asset for our genre, and not just because so many writers will cite a particular picture or illustration as an inspiration, any number of times. You only have to look at the best of the artwork adorning our books. We also have graphic novels; a marvellous and evolving story-telling medium in its own right. Add to that, we have the drawings and paintings inspired by pure imagination, to hang on our walls, to offer us a daily reminder of all there is to be found beyond the routine and the mundane. Our Artist Guest of Honour, Anne Sudworth, is internationally renowned for just such glorious and absorbing artwork.

Anne will be exhibiting a selection of her work at EightSquaredCon, along with range of other talented artists working in a broad range of different styles. There will be work for sale, with the Art Auction held on Sunday morning. There’ll also be an opportunity to meet the artists, to learn more about what inspires them and how they work.

So make sure you make the time to visit the Art Show. It will be open from 12 noon to 6 pm on Friday. 9 am to 9 pm on Saturday and 9 am to 11 am on Sunday. After closing for the auction, it will re-open for pick ups and after auction sales at 4 pm. The show will finally close at 6 pm but will still allow pick ups while everything is being dismantled, just no sales will be possible.

If you’d like to know more about getting involved as an artist yourself, or indeed, to help the tireless team of Robbie, Dave and John without whom none of this would be possible, please email robbiebourget@aol.com.