Celebrating Father's Day
Remember the face of your father today...and this Whelan Wednesday!
Crashing the Party
When I brought my family out to Connecticut for the first time, Michael was on the floor stacking “ice cream” scoops with my daughter. He’s fantastic with kids, and it meant so much seeing him share a joyful moment with Aly.
Just five at the time and ever a force of nature, Aly was all about knocking that stack down. When Michael crashed a space shuttle into her ice cream tower, naturally she thought it was riotous fun.
Michael gets it. He’s still a kid at heart. It’s one of the many things I admire about him.
I’m sure his playful side comes across in his art, and so does his love for his family. Today in honor of Father’s Day, I wanted to give you a glimpse of the man behind the art and what really matters to him.
Years ago, we had a conversation about fatherhood that floored me. He confided that kids weren’t part of the plan for a young Michael Whelan. He always intended to devote his life exclusively to art.
Meeting Audrey changed that, of course, opening his heart to a different path.
Thankfully he found room for both art and family because I don’t think Michael would have reached the amazing heights he has without his wife and children enriching his life.
He’s clearly an exceptional artist. He’s also a wonderful father and grandfather.
Alexa and Adrian have often been subjects in Michael’s personal work. Audrey selected a few pieces that highlight his relationship with them, paintings that she knew he would love to see today.
Cheers to you, Michael, from one proud papa to another!
Michael Everett
I was the Artist Guest of Honor of the Australian National Science Fiction Convention in Sydney in 1992. After the convention, my family and I spent some time traveling around the country.
My 11 year-old daughter and I took a special side trip to visit the magical Ayers Rock. We flew to Alice Springs, took a bus, and climbed the rock with other tourists. Throughout the trip I realized how much Alexa had matured and how fast she would change from that point on.
Up on top someone dropped a white handkerchief, which the strong wind immediately carried away, sailing off against the blue sky and then falling against the vermilion rock faces.
What I experienced was a sublime vision perfectly timed with my thoughts and emotions. I felt like Alexa and I were poised in time between her childhood and her stepping off into the rest of her life.
Later, with this painting I attempted to pull it all together in one image.
When my son Adrian was 3 or 4 years old, we used to go to an abandoned construction site where there were huge slabs of concrete embedded with iron reinforcing rods.
When we struck the rebar with a stone or another piece of metal they would ring like bells. It was interesting to hear such beautiful tones coming from such ugliness and he really enjoyed it.
We always seemed to be there late in the day, when the sun’s rays were low and slanting, and I liked the way the shadows from the rebar would stretch across the concrete forms.
I didn’t get to do the painting until many years later and the wooden door and grass and flowers are from my own imagination.
Adrian is contemplating pulling a weed out of the small eden in front of him. Should he leave it be or should he try to “improve” on nature?
Weekly Art Recap
Sailor on the Seas of Fate - Elric cover for Grand Master Michael Moorcock
The Inexorable Equation - a beautiful but threatening view from a place of illusory refuge
Flight to Madness - study for At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft
The Ultimate Sandbox - a whimsical portrait of Alexa…in spaaaace!
Llana of Gathol - a cheeky cover in Barsoomian tradition for Edgar Rice Burroughs
Stormwarning - a fairy from the 2022 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins gallery
Coming Soon…
Remember the face of your father and join us for another Whelan Wednesday as we reveal a new Dark Tower painting for the 2025 Leftovers & Palette gremlins gallery.
An exclusive preview of the original art for this week will be available to our paid subscribers on Substack before the art is released in our shop on Wednesday, June 18 at 11am ET.
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Great stories! A very Happy Father's Day to both Michael Everett and Michael Whelan. Children enrich our lives in ways we could never imagine
Happy Father's Day, Michael!!