In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing,fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-Lt. Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)

image: Howard Chandler Christy

One week has passed since Spectrum Fantastic Art Live in Kansas City. This was the first convention I had attended in over three years, and as it turned out I couldn't have chosen a better opportunity to poke my head out of the darkened studio and be social for a couple of days. I was not to be found behind a table displaying my own art as is usually the case with these shows, but rather as an overly excited attendee prepared to be bowled over by what I hoped would be an obscene amount of amazing artwork and artists.

I was not disappointed in either case.
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No artist is without their influences. Every one of us can point to at least a handful of artists that have in some way shaped our own work, or otherwise inspired us to strive for excellence in our chosen field. For most of us, that handful is more like a truckload. Some of these artists provide brief flashes of inspiration that excite us with possibilities, while others will incite a lifelong love so broad is their influence upon our own work and imagination

I also have my influences, and every attempt to break my favorites into manageable groups to try and narrow the field is an exercise in futility as I long ago recognized that there is quite literally no end to the artists that I have admired, studied, or who have otherwise shaped the aesthetics in my own work. It is in this spirit I will begin an ongoing series of posts that highlight some of these artists and celebrate some of what, for me at least, have been their most evocative works.
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