It was with a feeling of great reluctance that I removed my 3-Day Member badge from the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live event when I arrived home, excited and exhausted, last Sunday evening. It was as if the lifting of the lanyard over my head would break the spell, extinguishing all the magic that had surrounded me for the past three days. It stayed around my neck as I drove across Kansas City to my home in Blue Springs and I know that I uttered more than one contented sigh as I conversed with myself, internally and aloud, about the sheer wonder of this experience.
And a wonder it was.
It will be impossible to accurately convey the immense satisfaction, the inspiration, the camaraderie, and the joy that filled these three days.
I will try, and I will fail.
I had HIGH expectations. Sky High! And by the end of Friday evening’s brief four-hour opening, those expectations were so far exceeded that I could only stand there amazed, wondering why I had set my sites so low. Take every excited word I will write, filter it through your hyperbole detector, and then magnify it to the 10th power and you might start to come close to just how special this event was. There were geek-out moments in abundance. I am, after all, an admitted fan of Fantastic Art. But once the initial shock of “oh-my-gosh-I’ve-just-met-Michael-Whelan” and “I’ve-just-stood-inches-away-from-original-Donato-Giancola-oil-paintings” passed–sort of–what I was left with was a number of genuine personal interactions with artists I have admired for years and others that I had just discovered. I was left with an impression of just how generous this community is to each other and to the fans who admire them so deeply. I was left with a feeling of awe that something of this caliber happened in Kansas City.
I was left with an unforgettable experience.
(some of my Spectrum Fantastic Art Live swag)
For the past 19 years Cathy and Arnie Fenner have played a pivotal role in the creation of what is arguably the highest quality contemporary fantastic art book series ever published: Spectrum. Their passion and professionalism are evident on every page. Through these volumes thousands of fans of Fantastic art illustration and three-dimensional works have had a chance to view stunning, high resolution works of art from favorite artists and have discovered artists they were not previously aware of. Each year a group of selected judges arrives in Kansas City to judge the submitted works of art, open to anyone who would like to make a submission. And for years I have lived with the knowledge that artists and editors and publishing personnel that I admire are here in Kansas City looking at really cool art and I couldn’t see it until the book was released later in the year! Well, this year Cathy and Arnie Fenner set out to make this a fan-interactive experience and the result was the inaugural (I hope) Spectrum Fantastic Art Live weekend.
Thank you Cathy and Arnie Fenner!
No, seriously.
THANK YOU!!!!
For three days fans and artists alike were able to mingle, socialize, learn and be inspired through an event that allowed attendees to see original works of art, attend panel discussions hosted by some of the most notable members of this artistic community, get their personal portfolios critiqued, and revel in the vast creative energy that permeated every facet of the experience. I am not going to try to recreate the weekend in just one post. I intend on doing a series of posts which will include (fingers crossed) artist interviews with some of the people who I interacted with over the weekend. I will also share more of those “Oh, Wow!!!” moments from my own personal experience that made this so unforgettable.
One of those experiences was the Spectrum Awards Show that was held at the historic Midland Theater in Kansas City. Each year a Gold and Silver Award are given in eight different categories and a Grand Master is also chosen. In past years these are announced immediately after the votes are tallied, but this year the Fenners chose to throw a lavish awards ceremony and they pulled out all the stops. The venue was gorgeous. The Midland Theater has been lovingly restored by the AMC Theater company and after the show we joined the crowd in wandering the building, taking in all the art and the architectural details.
The show was far from being a simple “come up and get your award” affair. Musical/art/dance performances by Android Jones and his wife Phaedra (as Phadroid) and also by Quixotic Fusion held the crowd spellbound. I highly recommend checking out the links and sampling the videos. Just know they don’t come anywhere close to replicating the live performance. Wow!
The announcements of the winners was also a very well done, Oscar-style affair with beautiful young ladies distributing awards and ushering winners backstage after their acceptance speeches. The list of nominees and winners in each category can be found here. As a fan, rather than an artist, it was touching to see how warmly this community embraced each other. The eruptions of joyous applause for nominees and winners was both spontaneous and genuine and the winners were gracious and humble in the shock and surprise of their wins. Especially emotional was the speech by French sculptress Virginie Ropars who won the Gold Award in the Dimensional category for her creation of Jack, based on a character created by the artist Brom. She had participated in a panel earlier in the day on the Artist as Brand and she stole hearts there and her joy at receiving this award was contagious. It was also great to see artist James Gurney win the Grand Master Award. Mr. Gurney is most well know for his creation, Dinotopia. He is so deserving and it was a pleasure to see him win the award (especially since we were sitting in the same row!).
As I close this first post-event report, I’d like to point you to this spectacular photo-essay of Spectrum Fantastic Art Live. Scroll down past the news feeds to begin.
My heartfelt thanks goes out to all those artists and exhibitors who came out to make this event so awesome. I hope the experience was as energizing and inspirational for you as it was for the fans. Thanks again to Cathy and Arnie Fenner and the crew they put together to make this happen. It was a massive event and the preparation and planning that went into it had to be monumental. From this fan’s perspective, it was pulled off with the smooth precision of an event that has happened for years. I sincerely hope this is the first of many of these shows in Kansas City. I’m already thinking about what I can do to better get the word out in our city if it were to happen next year.
The badge is laying on my desk at home, but I am still wearing it proudly in spirit. I am sad that the event is over. It is a high that is hard to come down from and melancholy feelings mix with the excitement of the memories. You’ll have to forgive me for the barrage of Spectrum Fantastic Art Live posts that are about to come your way over the next few weeks. I promise they will be enthusiastic, full of fun, and mercifully for you they won’t all be from me! 🙂
Boy am I envious. I’ve bought many of the annual Spectrum volumes and loved them. I never imagined them doing a live art show. Duh! It’s so obvious a great thing to do.
It was amazing Jim. It really was. Barring my first interview coming in, tomorrow I will share some of my personal experiences with artists I interacted with. It will be fun.
oh Carl… i know those “highs” and I miss them more than words can say…
Michael Whelan eh?.. I may have to come out to touch you just because you were near him lol.. did you see Boris and Julie Bell also???
I am so envious right now that you had one of “those weekends” that now I only have in my dreams…
As a preview, I had three different 1:1 conversations with Mr. Whelan in addition to being included in on at least one other one. And yes, I saw Boris and Julie as well as their two sons. They are all uniquely skilled. Julie Bell had this gorgeous dragon print that I know you would love too. Unfortunately it was only available in a pricey limited edition and so it did not come home with me.
I know you can understand EXACTLY what I am feeling like right now because you’ve had some of these incredible weekends in your convention life.
I’m so jealous!
If it is possible to be jealous of my past self, then I am too. It was that cool of an experience. And it was delivered to us on a platter here in Kansas City and far too many didn’t take advantage of it. Which made it fun on one had having more access but made us nervous about its viability in the future.
OMG Brom was there!! I bought both his books just for his drawings lol.. but the books were good reading too..he’s doubly talented…
but no one will take the place of Michaels White Dragon..*sigh
Yes, it was cool to see him. His wife is an AMAZINGLY talented artist as well and she was showcasing her work with him. Here is a link to her site:
http://www.laurieleebrom.com/gallery.html
LOL I see his influence on her paintings! (many “dark”)
True. Except Moonflower, which is quite lovely. Even more so in person seeing the actual piece.
Oh Carl! What a magnificent time you had! So envious. And I must say that is the best conference swag I’ve ever seen!
That was the majority of what I bought, though there are a few other items and a TON of free postcards and business cards that I picked up that are works of art in and of themselves.
sounds so awesome! looking forward to future posts/interviews. checking out the links now.
I really need to start minding area events of interest, this sort of thing sounds like an excellent way to spend a weekend.
It was an almost overwhelmingly wonderful way to spend the weekend, it truly was. There was so much stimulation that we felt like we were walking around in awe, angels singing, all weekend long.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It was such a great event, and I sure hope it’s a reoccurring conference.
Me too, Denman. Me too.
This sounds like a lot of fun, Carl!
It was amazing, Kailana. So amazing.
Thank you for such a nice write up. We are glad we were able to live up to your expectations.
You are welcome. And you destroyed those expectations, believe me. I think you mentioned on facebook that it was like we were all six year old kids again meeting our idols. That is so true. Thank you so much for something so special.
Great write-up. I couldn’t agree more! I went with the intent of documenting much of the weekend, but spent most of Friday so amazed at it all I could hardly remember that I owned a camera! I do so hope it can be a reoccurring event.
Thanks, I’m heading over to check yours out as well. I knew I would be too caught up in everything to actually take pictures which was why I didn’t bother taking a camera. I of course regret not having my own images, but then there are a bunch online that I can look at to stir the imaginings.
Beautifully written, well done-
“Registration Girl”..
Thanks Julie! I like your photography. I hope you got to have your share of fun at the event this weekend.
I still can’t believe what an incredible weekend we had. I’m still in shock of what we’ve always dreamed of getting to experience we actually were able to and in our own home town. Just unbelievable. I can remember after Friday both of us looking at each other in amazement and saying how can Saturday beat the experiences we already had on Friday and then Saturday’s experiences blew Friday away.
The show was so big that even after two days Carl and I hadn’t even made it to everyone’s booth yet. Yes! That is a true story. I won’t go into all of our experiences either for fear of spoiling Carl’s posts but I will say one thing now. The arts community have great ambassador’s in Michael Whelan and Gregory Manchess. Not to take anything away from any of the other wonderful people I met this weekend but those two gentlemen have a passion to be admired for the arts that is second to none.
Let me also add a huge THANK YOU!!! as well to Arnie and Cathy Fenner along with their team of volunteers. It’s hard to put into words the electricity which was shared among the artists and fans but without their efforts this past weekend that never would have happened. I can’t thank you enough for the sacrifices you’ve made to make this past weekend possible for all of us. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
I’ll say ditto to it all! We were definitely thinking Friday couldn’t be beat, and man were we proved wrong. We got such intimate talk time with folks Friday night that I believe we were thinking it would not be that way Saturday and instead it was more of that plus other great experiences, topped off with the awards ceremony.
You neglected to mention just how exhausted we were on Sunday. We had a good kind of con fatigue, yet still had a great deal of fun revisiting folks, catching the last few booths we had missed, and showing your daughter just how cool the convention was.
What a thrill! Can’t wait to talk more about it.
You’re right sharing the experience with Ashley on Sunday was special. A day with her I’ll never forget. I’m such a sap.
As for being tired on Sunday. Heck we’re both still tired now and we each can’t keep from looking up artists instead of getting some rest. 🙂
Isn’t that the truth! Time for bed!
I saw this was up yesterday, but “saved it” to read today. Wonderful post conveying your enthusiasm. Then I looked at the pictures you posted the link to. Whoa, I would have spent hundreds, maybe more. All those books. prints, stuff. My gosh, I was almost on overload just reading your post and then seeing those pics. I have to go cry now because I wasn’t there… sob, sob…
It was an easy place to drop loads of money Richard, believe me. 200 artists and very few had art that didn’t excite me in some way or other, and even those folks were really talented.
“Overload” was the theme of the weekend. Jeff and I were not the only ones walking around in a daze, many of the artists were doing the same thing.
The multiple award winning artist John Picacio is going to be doing a “what was Spectrum like for you” interview that will be posted here hopefully next week and I think you’ll see from his perspective that this is an event that rocked the art community in its massiveness.
Wish you could have been here, you would have had a delightful time.
Yeah, I wonder how much it would have cost to rent to UPS truck to bring the goodies back to Portland? Did you take any pictures, or was that not allowed? I know when I used to go to Comic Con some vendors said it was okay and others preferred not. Though these days with cameras in every phone it would be hard to prevent it, I guess.
Pictures were allowed (I assume, others took them) but I did not take any. I didn’t want to schlep a camera around this time. I am determined to do so next time, however.
I’m very glad we had vehicles there even for the small stuff we bought, 🙂
Some amazing examples right there in your swag pile of excellent art … oh, the imagination and skill involved in stepping out and creating new creatures, forms, and machines that capture others’ imagination or convey and author’s verbal descriptions! Bet you were in heaven …
Very much so Susan. “Bliss” is exactly what it was. Each day we felt that the day couldn’t be topped, and then the next day would happen. I’m still buzzing from the experience.
As for Laurie Lee Brom’s work, it’s not to my taste, but I’ve seen the work of other artists with somewhat similr style that you also liked so I’m not surprised at your reaction to it. I haven’t seen a single shot of Mark Schultz or his booth, work, etc. Rats.
Schultz is coming in one of my upcoming posts. I have at least two, possibly more, posts that I am doing that will be pure Fanboy posts and there are too many artist interactions to talk about to just cram it all in to one post. So stay tuned. I also have two artists who are doing interviews here so far, so there is a lot of spectrum-related stuff coming up on the site over the next several weeks.
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!
🙂
Oh wow Carl!! That is so freaking awesome!!! I know this must have been a huge freaking treat for you! I’ve loved the Spectrum books so much because of you…I would’ve never known about them if you hadn’t introduced me to them six years ago. Wow..six years now! Glad you got to enjoy this 🙂
It really was Chris. Here I sit a week to the day since it started and I’m as over the moon about it as I was when I was right there. I have been all over the ‘net reading other artist’s views on the event and they were as blown away as I was, if not more so. I’m glad to have passed the Spectrum bug along, they are volumes that I wish everyone would pick up every year because they get better each and every year and they are filled with astounding art.
Hard to believe its been that long, Chris. I’m in my 8th year of blogging right now. 8! I can hardly believe that.
Hi Carl.
This sounds like an amazing experience and your enthusiasm is totally infectious. I love great artwork and think in a way it’s undervalued, or maybe not undervalued but taken for granted.
You’ve come away with some great pieces too – ah, dragons *le sigh*.
Lynn 😀