The 2011 Windycon Science Fiction Convention

Madame Machine
Madame Machine digital painting

November means that it's time for the Windycon Science Fiction Convention. In addition to participating in the con's programming, I will also have some art in the convention's art show. Even though the art show set up is tomorrow, I have yet to decide which pieces I will show. Off the table is my astronaut art, which is available for purchase locally only through Paper Crown Art Gallery.

Friday night (11/11/11) at 9:00pm I'll be attending the Art Show Wine and Cheese Reception. This is a great opportunity for convention goers to nibble on various cheeses, drink some wine, and talk with the artists whose art is in the show. Note that this is the only time that food and drink are allowed in the art show.

On Saturday at 11:00am I'll be moderating the panel Online Portfolios. The panel is described in the program book as follows:

Should you use a photo hosting site like Flickr? Or would an artistic community like Deviant Art be better? Are there benefits for using a paid service over a free service? Join us while we discuss the pros and cons of the different options.

Joining me will be co-panelists Lucy Ayyat and Deb Kosiba. Anyone interested in exhibiting their art or photography online should attend this panel.

At 3:00 I'll be doing a space exploration panel. My co-panelists for the Not Dead Yet: NASA's Upcoming Missions, Despite Public Belief There Will Be No More will be friend Christian Ready, friend and fellow National Space Society director Jeffrey Liss, friend and fellow member of the Chicago Society for Space Studies Bill Higgins. This promises to be a very interesting panel and one that I am really looking forward to. There is sure to be lively debate on the future of NASA given the budget deficit and national debt crisis.

At 5:00pm on Saturday I'll be doing a combination presentation and tutorial. Titled Processing for Artists and Photographers, I'll be explaining what Processing is (an open source digital creativity platform designed to be a programming platform friendly to non-programmers) and demonstrating a number of different programs that I've written.

The Illustration

The artwork that I am using to illustrate this post is a tightly cropped version of Madame Machine (the original is 11 by 14 inches). If you're familiar with the classic science fiction film Metropolis, you will know that in the movie the Man-Machine assumes the guise of the fair Maria. Thus, outwardly, the Man-Machine becomes a She-Machine. This is one of the works of art that I will be bringing to the Windycon Art Show, most appropriate for a science fiction convention. Unfortunately I have not added this art to my web site yet.

Reference Links

See you at the con. Jim

| Return to the Blog Index | This entry was posted on Thursday, November 10th, 2011 at 10:49 am and is filed under Art Shows, Presentations, SF Cons.