Charles Vess and Neil Gaiman (photo by Beth Gwinn)
Internationally-known fantasy artist and illustrator Charles Vess holds a book signing and calendar release Oct. 17 at The Spring House, Abingdon, Virginia from 2-5 p.m. The Wolf Hills Jazz Band performs, and Tumbling Creek Cider is on tap.
His latest “The Art of Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess’ Stardust: An Informal History” will be available as well as “Honeycomb” by Joannie M. Harris illustrated by Vess and his 2022 calendar “Landscapes of Fairies.” He will also offer a selection of books, art and prints for sale.
“The Art of Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess’ Stardust” is being released Oct 12 so this is the first time the public will see it.
The calendar, “Landscapes of Faerie” produced by Deni Peterson of Blue Door Garden and locally printed by Triple A is being released at this event.
“Honeycomb” written by Joanne Harris features 12 color plates and 30 black and white illustrations by Vess, and this will be his first local signing of it.
“This event is going to be a wonderful culmination of dream projects that I’ve wanted to clutch in my hands for so many years: a splendidly produced calendar displaying my art, an illustrated novel by one of my favorite authors and a lavish, just-released art book featuring the process behind the making of ‘The Art of Stardust’ as well as the pleasure of being able to see people after months and months of isolation. Come on down, we’ll have a swell time together,” he says.
Drawing with crayons on the wall was Charles Vess’s first creative effort. ”As soon as I could grab a crayon in my chubby little fingers, I crawled to the nearest wall and began to draw. And still today, creating an image on a sheet of paper continues to make me very happy indeed. I don’t use crayons very often any more though,” Vess says.
His long list of accomplishments include cover and interior art for Marvel, DC, Tor and Subterranean Press as well as many illustrated books and graphic novels for which he has won two Hugo, four World Fantasy, three Chesley, two Locus, a Mythopoeic and two Will Eisner awards.
His art has been featured in many gallery and museum exhibitions across the nation, including “Spectrum: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art” at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators and “Enchanted, A History of Fantasy Illustration” at the Norman Rockwell Museum. His work has also been shown in Paris, Spain, Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom.
His four-year collaboration with Ursula K. Le Guin resulted in a fully illustrated edition of all her Earthsea stories. Published by Saga Press, “The Books of Earthsea” garnered many awards. 2021 saw the release of “Honeycomb” written by Joanne M. Harris with many color and black and white illustrations and “The Art of Stardust,” an informal history written by Vess with an introduction by Neil Gaiman.
He lives in a house down on the North Fork River in southwestern Virginia where he works diligently from his studio, Green Man Press.
For more information about Vess, visit www.greenmanpress.com.
