Towers of Dawn
I have occasion to research odds and ends on the internet and I often find myself in places that I did not expect, particularly when it comes to information about me. I do not have a large social media signature, I have always kept it small and under my control, I certainly do not post a lot about what I am doing. However, I do find some interesting things once in a while. The other day for instance, I came across a reference that pointed me to a painting that I did back in 1980, that was for sale on e-bay. This painting was one that I had absolutely no memory of or record of doing. Back in the day, my wife, Lynne and I were regularly traveling around the country attending science fiction conventions. There we would sell our art and books in order to pay for our travels, and we had a great time doing it.
Before traveling to a new convention we would prepare our art by photographing and recording it carefully in ledgers. This particular painting had no reference or photographs in my files. But this piece was very typical of my style of that period in both technique and subject. It was also signed and dated with a business card and hand written name and address, (no longer valid, since we had moved quite some time ago). But, there it was, unmistakably one of my old paintings. Memory is quite a tricky thing, especially one from 44 years ago. I must say that I was at once delighted at seeing something I did from so long ago and also chagrined that I had absolutely no memory of having done it. And to add insult to injury, I quickly found another painting on another site for sale that I also did not recall having done.
Another eye-opening aspect was that both smallish paintings were listed for some $400 or so each. I certainly did not sell them originally for that price, but of course that was back in 1980 and costs of many things were somewhat more reasonable and wages were also very much lower as well. I guess I should be pleased that my work still commands a decent amount of money. However, I have only attended a couple of conventions in the last six years and hardly sold any art. Things are never going to be like they were 40 years ago. Modern conventions have changed considerably from what I experienced then and I now find them to be largely disappointing and completely unsatisfying in all aspects. Modern science fiction fandom has greatly changed and I have failed to keep up.
(This painting is called ‘Towers of Dawn’ for obvious reasons, and I kinda, sorta, maybe think it is not too bad for one of my paintings way back then.)
