New Steampunk painting workshop.....
http://www.airbrushparadise.com/Steam_punk_workshop.pdf

Well, the cat's out of the bag.....I am working with Janet Iannantuono to bring to North Charleston, SC a new Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror/Gaming Convention that promises already to be epic! It's called AtomaCON and will be in November of next year! Here is the facebook link:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/495919907105633/

The website will be called www.Atomacon.org.

CARNIVALESQUE

Today I'm going to write about two people that I have been blessed to have met recently and have gotten to know. They are Evelyn DeVere and J Honea of Carnivalesque! WWW.CARNIVALESQUESHOWS.COM. In the past few years, there has been an exciting revitalization in America and throughout the world of The Classic Vintage Carnival Era shows that honor the Great Burlesque Performers with their master of seduction and the art of the tease that simply glorify the beauty, majesty and mystery of a woman. Lead by a mysterious Ringmaster with their unique ability to capture the imagination and wonder of the audience with his seductive speech that lures the audience into a world of beauty, mystery, danger and awe featuring very gifted and unique performers unlike anything you've seen live. The performers they have in their troupe are talented artisans that have dedicated their life to years of delicate training to accomplish amazing feats that as they say in the business, “You Should NEVER try this at home!” You never know quite what you will see from sword swallowing, fire dancing to aerial acrobatics and much more; but to see it in person will always stun an otherwise jaded audience as the stunts performed are real and really dangerous. There are no “special effects”, no computer animation, no tricks of any kind; just authentic and raw performances that blow the audience's mind one seen live and in person usually from just a few feat away.

Evelyn DeVere is the Founder and Director of Carnivalesque_TM and is a stunningly beautiful and accomplished burlesque performer, belly dancer, and aerialist. She is also a very elegant and striking looking woman whose style is that of the great Hollywood glamor stars of the film noir era right out of the 40's. She is also a skilled seamstress and makes most of her own costumes which are quite stunning! Here is her website for more information www.evelyndevere.com

 

All rights reserved by Jane Photography

http://stjanephotography.wix.com/st-jane-photography

All rights reserved by Gentle King

 

J Honea is the Ringmaster and sideshow director with years of experience and training in sideshow performance. His remarkable and dashing looks sporting a vintage handlebar mustache and beard along with Tophat and cane gives him the unique persona of the darkly mysterious.. His ability to speak with a commanding voice allows him to seduce the audience into daring to enter the world of the carnival sideshow. As their website states; “Years of studying subjects from human anatomy to primitive body rituals have lead this carnal cavalier to develop certain singular skills. Combining these with his gift for the dramatic and a cadre of beautiful women, he has aided in developing a stage spectacular which now wows audiences near and far.”

There are other wonderful performers as well to see like Drew Reynolds – The Strong Man and Juggler ; Wonderson – a duo made up of Jordan Anderson and Clayton Woodson that are master acrobalance aerialist that will defy gravity and physics. Last, but not least, Zahrah will dazzle and delight with her belly dance performances combined with veils, wings and swords to add to the spectacular show.

So, If you are looking for a night of wonder, mystery and edgy action-packed dares, this is the show you would love to attend and see. You'll be talking about it for years to your friends and do it now, for you never know, The Carnival Only Comes Into Town at Night and Only for a Limited Time.....

Something you do not want to miss!

And now for something new for Halloween.  My latest creation.  Just for fun....It's a painting of an abandoned castle from my memories of long since past.  There's something dark and romantic about a painting without color.  What do you think?

I have a new update to my website! New images under Art By Year....
Slowly getting there......building takes time...

www.JamesHillGallery.com

My latest works are venturing into the void of space and time.  I've started painting the glorious and magnificent gaseous clouds known as Nebulae.  They basically are gigantic star factories where various gases form to create over millions of years using gravity to create stars.  To learn more, watch some great shows like "How the Universe Works" or Steven Hawking's Universe series.  Here are three of my latest oil paintings of stellar masterpieces.

Copyright 2012 - James Christopher Hill - All Rights Reserved by Artist

You can see more on my new website www.jameshillgallery.com

Today I spoke with a friend of mine that lives in Park Circle in Charleston, SC.  He is a glass fusion specialist that creates exciting, fun and even practical pieces for sale.  He has everything from necklaces, pot holders to even socket protection plugs that are decorative.  Check his work out at....

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Warm-Glass-By-Keller/297828204815

I had a good night last night at my gallery - I sold a very large painting and a couple of people were thinking seriously of coming back today and purchase some others.  It's always a good and validating feeling when someone is willing to shell out hard earned money the price of a small car for a painting.  I am always humbled by my gift and truly thankful to God for what I have, but admittingly, I still have a lot to learn.  I really, really want to attend Illuxcon in Pennsylvania in November to hang out with some of the great artists I admire so well.  We'll have to see.  Meanwhile, I'm spending a beautiful day on Saturday in October working hard on my website which is a long and tedious process!

Talented and Driven Kids!

Over the past few months a good friend of mine's daughters, both little geniuses in my opinion, have been working hard on their own fashion blog - called www.THEWEEKLYSTYLER.com. It's a fairly impressive blog if you're looking for fashion types especially if you happen to be a fan of vintage clothing.  Astrid seems to be attracted to anything of the past including various patterns and designs.  It's worth checking out and you get some good ideas on what to wear.  The blog is well-written as she is an accomplished writer as well.  The photography is by her younger sister Nadja who also happens to be very gifted.  Check it out.  Here are a few highlight photos from her fashion blog.

Let's start this blog talking about an amazing friend of mine and a beautiful girl as well! Her name is Allegra and she is rather famous in the Cosplay/fandom world of comic and fantasy/sci-fi conventions.  Her alias is "The Chainmail Chick" and if you've ever been to DragonCon, MegaCon or ConCarolinas, you probably have seen her.  Not only is she beautiful on the outside, she is a wonderful person on the inside with a great heart.  Here is her blog and if you read it, you can find out a lot about various southeastern conventions.  Check it out! http://thechainmailchick.blogspot.com/.

Here's a really cool link to a fantastic website for the comic/sci-fi fan! http://scifianimeheroes.com/
and some really great links to other sites as well!
http://scifianimeheroes.com/links-to-the-best-around-the-internet

Today, I will discuss the stunning and brilliant design works of one of the greatest visual futurist of all time - Mr. Syd Mead. Syd is an industrial designer who has worked for Ford Motor Company, U.S. Steel, and Philips Electronics and then found himself lending his vast concept design and artistic creative talents to the movie industry.  He is directly responsible for creating the amazing visual style for Ridley Scott's Bladerunner, Disney's original TRON movie and Star Trek - The Motion Picture.  He also created the brilliantly designed and fully functional robot for Short Circuit (No. 5) and the set designs for 2010, A Space Odyssey.  His works have influenced so many future concept and design artists including myself for many years and he continues to create dazzling worlds.  I can only hope he is called upon again for BladeRunner II (Coming Soon) and possibly a remake for Logan's Run.  I feel he would be one of the key ingredients for creating a fantastic future world needed in Logan's Run, if they ever remake it and remake it well.  I've always admired his work along with thousands of other artists in the concept design industry.  Here are some of examples of his work and notice not only the amazing color palette he tends to use with iridescent lighting but his highly practical design features that bring an air of believable functionality to each design.  You can see and purchase his works at www.SydMead.com.  All works below are copy written and protected by Syd Mead.   All rights reserved by Syd Mead.

DRAGONCON 2012!

DragonCon 2012 was an amazing success for me and my art.  I had my exhibitor booth in the Marriott Marquis ballroom - booth number 304 and we got to see our friends and meet many more wonderful people this year! My collectors came and bought more prints and original paintings.  I also unveiled my first painting of a dragon this year which to my delight received a lot of good reviews and we even sold a large amount of prints of it.  Needless to say, I'll be working on more to hone my skills as a fantasy artist.  I also got to see a lot of my friends that are established fantasy artists and met some new amazing ones as well! I'll be writing about them in my next blog.  I'm also currently and frantically working on my new website as we gave out over 1000 business cards all linking to my existing website which is frightfully outdated.  You can see my latest works at www.facebook.com/jameshillgallery (fanpage) which links one to my Fine Art America site.

Anyway, here are some of the photos from this year's DCON! Enjoy! :)

 The wonderful Allegra at my booth dressed as the Goddess Kali

 My Beautiful wife regrouping after a busy run on my art before the doors open again.

 R2 came by and said hi!

I created a new "STEAMPUNK" Raygun....Check it out on my You-tube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/JAMESCHILLARTWORK 

Here is the Raygun link....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZFDv20j0SQ&list=PL86BA0DD364D8B31E&index=2&feature=plpp_video

I'm going to take the time to talk about a great artist that I am very proud to call my great friend as well.  As a formally trained artist with a large background in Art History, I consider Tom Durham to be one of the greatest American Sculptures of the 21st Century!  His sculptures and drawings combine classical elements of figure combined with mythological elements that challenge and provoke the viewer as his creations are not banal, sterile pieces but usually intense works with serious subject matter.  While most of the uneducated audience look for something that "Looks good with the living room sofa"; sophisticated connoisseurs would be naturally drawn to his works as Tom lays down the gauntlet of what art is supposed to do in the end; make you think about the world you live in.  Heavily influenced by the great master's style, techniques and subject matter, Tom creates modern works while referencing subjects like mythology, theology, anthropology and philosophy and applies these influences to his works creating real content in his stunning and powerfully unique works.  His use of shadow and form combined with a superior sketch "Line" help to define his technical abilities and true understanding of the masters' figure studies.  These sketches either become a finished piece with layering or become the basis for a fine sculpture for which he is highly respected.  His sculptures are reminiscent of the Rodin, Carpeaux, Bernini, Donatello and of course, Michelangelo.  His work is owned around the globe by discerning collectors and he has won numerous fine art awards including the coveted DiMetchi award from the Florence Biennale in 2003.  If you would like to see more of his work, visit his website at http://www.tomdurhamsculpture.com/index.html.

Here are some examples of his work.