Artist Guest of Honor in Des Moines 2008
Bentley is the Artist Guest of Honor at DemiCon 19, in Des Moines, IA coming up on the weekend of May 2-4, 2008.
The cover art Bentley made for the upcoming convention is pictured here at right.
It has been several years since Bentley has been to DemiCon. Both Cathie and Mitch are looking forward to the trip. The Des Moines crowd of fans has always been a wonderful group and always puts on an exciting and humorous play by the Trans Iowa Canal Company. Bentley was quite honored by their interpretive performance of "Man of La Mancha," which featured (among others) one bozo-flake artist formerly of the Oklahoma contingent...
No telling what shenanigans will be afoot this year, so come on out for the fun!
What... no 2007 conventions?
Actually, we did several conventions in 2007... and will be doing several in 2008. Conventions have been a bit limited of late though. Aside from conventions we participated in a conference in Nicaragua as part of the International Association of Astronomical Artists yearly workshops (see the News Page); attended both ConQuest in Kansas City and Archon in St. Louis, which was also the North American Science Fiction Convention (N.A.S.Fi.C. - AKA TuckerCon); went to a destination wedding in Jackson Hole, WY, with the Bentley/Ricks families; created a variety of projects for clients and taught several college courses at Penn State. Whew! Sound busy enough?
For 2008 McCormick will continue to teach communication courses at Penn State while Bentley turns his attention to video with SKS Video Productions. Stay tuned, as we continue to learn new skills and develop new products...
AGoH in Kansas City, MO in May, 2006
Mitch was Artist Guest of Honor at Conquest 37 in Kansas City, MO, over Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28th, 2006.
We had a great time and much fun was had by all! Their cochairs this year were Ben Thomas & Sherri Dean, and the theme was "In Space, no one can hear you scream... for Ice Cream!" and for this crowd, that was all it took! Talk about "Take it and run with it..." WOW! Ice Cream socials, Ice Cream Wars... well, just look at the cover we did for them and you will get the idea...
We have attended Conquest as a regular for many years and it remains one of our all-time favorites. Thanks to everyone in Kansas City, you all really know how to throw a convention! Mitch gave a presentation from his Masters Thesis on a historical overview of Astronomical Art through the ages and a discussion on Photoshop techniques. He also served as auctioneer for both the Art Auction and the Charity Auction.
A special thanks to Cheryl Russell, who ran a great art show and of course, her entire crew of volunteers... and especially my friend and client, Dr. Jean Stuntz, who always lends a hand. Your painting is in progress and will be on its way for Conquest 2007! See you there...
AGoH in Springfield, MO in Feb 2006
Mitch was Artist Guest of Honor at VisionCon 2006 in Springfield, MO, on the weekend of Feb. 17-19. We had a great time and want to thank Joyce Reedy and David as well a slew of other great folks for a wonderful convention.
VisionCon is a family oriented, SF/F&Gaming convention that has been running for just over two decades and we highly recommend this one for everyone. The con-com and staff are wonderful and efficient. Mitch gave a presentation on Photoshop and his art, served as auctioneer and even won the Best Science Fiction award in the art show. Our thanks to Aaron Woody, who ran the art show, and all of the volunteers who helped.
We would also like to thank Christopher Allen who saw to it that there was a significant amount of newspaper coverage... Mitch's piece Ethereal Beach II was featured on the cover of the Springfield News-Leader as both a teaser at the top, and as the front page cover for their Weekend Magazine section.