About the Artist.
In 1962 in the bucolic region of
Southern Indiana, a peculiar child was born and given the name of
Steven Charles Gilberts. Being the only Indiana bred person
in a family of Wisconsin origin, this led to the unfortunate child
being labeled "hoosier" by his extended family; a group
collectively known as "badgers", "cheese heads", and perhaps most
frightening of all, Norwegians.
The first seven years of Steve's
life were spent living at the River Ridge housing complex located on
the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant property. When not being
subjected to clandestine government experiments, Steven roamed the
karst landscape overlooking the Ohio River. There, he collected
toads and turtles, Devonian fossils, dodged coyotes and copperhead
snakes, and lived in constant fear of the brown recluse spiders that
were said to scuttle about the forest. It was during these
formative years that the artistic "bug" began to take hold of the
unsuspecting lad.
In later years while attending
Jeffersonville High School Steve began to hone his artistic
skills. After high school he attended The Louisville School
of Art from fall of 1981 until the spring of 1983 when the IRS
closed
down the college. This brought him back across the river to
attend Indiana University Southeast's fine arts program, which he
participated in until the pesky need for money forced him to join the
workforce full time. This eventually led Steve to the seamy
underworld of the printing industry.
After spending one year too many
watching his dreams get mangled between the rollers of offset presses
or dissolve in pools of carcinogenic acetone, he realized a change was
needed. This led him to pursue a degree in Elementary Education.
After discovering that children
were far too clever and dangerous for his fragile mind, Steve finally
settled on a new course of action. Go back to the original plan
and pursue a career in art. But to do this he would have to marry
a beautiful woman with a good job. The unsuspecting wife was
procured and with this accomplished, he began to produce surreal art at
a feverish rate. He knew people would clamor to own a Gilberts
original.
When people did not clamor to
own a Gilberts original, Steve
wondered if it was time
to go back to the drudgery of the printing industry or get used to
asking " Would you like fries with that?". But taking one last
chance he displayed some work at Rivercon 20. His work was well
received and with this sorely needed boost to his career (not to
mention ego), Steve's journey into the world of fantasy and horror
illustration was off to a start.
From 1995 to 2003 Steve focused on producing work solely for convention
art shows. In the summer of 2003 Steve gathered up his courage
and made the foray into publishing, starting with an inquiry to Space
and Time Magazine. To his shock, Steve was given an
assignment. Now what what would he do? Of course he did the
right thing and accepted the job.
Steven and his lovely wife Becky
now live in a spooky Queen Ann cottage within a small Dunwich-esk
village of southern Indiana, near the now abandoned ammo plant of his
youth. While hiding from the townsfolk, Steven concocts odd
illustrations for the small press industry.
About his art.
While his years in college were
instrumental in learning the fundamentals of composition and design,
the techniques Steve uses are self taught.
Originally he used the airbrush almost exclusively with detail added
via pen and ink or colored pencil. Around the year 2000 he began
to experiment with dry brush techniques and later incorporated the use
of acrylic washes. His current work tends to be an amalgam of
different applications blended to achieve a desired effect.
Steve's illustrations are primarily on hardboard (such as
Masonite®) and to a lesser degree on illustration board.
Credentials
EDUCATION
Indiana University Southeast
New Albany, IN 47150
Major: Fine Arts
and Elementary Education
Dates of
Attendance: Fall, 1983 to Spring 1992
Louisville School of Art
(program absorbed by University of Louisville 1983)
Louisville, Ky, 40205
Major: Fine Arts
Dates of Attendance:
Fall, 1981 to Spring, 1983
EXHIBITION RECORD
Art Sanctuary Shows
10th Soiree at
the Felice Vineyards
Soiree IX: The
Yard Sale Edition held at the American Legion Lodge Post
201 on Bardstown Road
Jeniccas
"Seven Deadly Sins"
Peter Jones Gallery
1806 West Cuyler
Chicago IL 60613
2005 Halloween Art Exhibit
Convention Art Shows
World Fantasy Convention Art Show (juried) 2005, '06, '07
World Horror Convention Art Show (juried) 2005, '06
GenCon Art Show 2006, '07, '08
Northeast Horror Writers Convention (Necon) Art show 2005, '06, '07, '08
InConJunction Art Show 2007, '08
Hypericon Art Show 2007, '08
MidSouthCon Art Show 2007, '08
ConGlomeration Art Show 2001, 02, 03, 04, 05, 07, 08
ChattaCon Art Show 1996, '97, '98, 2004, 07
LibertyCon Art Show 1996, 1999
RiverCon Art Show 1995, '96, '99, 2000
Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center
Solo show 1998
Artisan Gallery
116 E. Market Street
New Albany, IN 47150
One of five featured artists
in the 1994 August through November Showing
Floyd County Museum
201 E. Spring Street
New Albany, IN 47150
July Juried/Ohio Valley
Annual Exhibitions: 1988, '89, '91, '92, '99, 2000
Kentucky State Fair Art Show
1990, 1991, 2001
PUBLICATIONS
Apex Digest
B/w interior for issue #5.
Color cover and b/w interior for issue #6
Three b/w interiors for issue #8
Bad Moon Publishing
Color cover, foil embossment, and b/w interior for Kealan Patrick
Burke's "You In?"
Color cover, foil embossment, and two b/w interiors for Gene O'Neill's
"The Confessions of St. Zach"
Black Petals
Color cover and b/w interior for issue #28, b/w interior for issue #29
Cemetery Dance Publications
Two b/w interiors for issue #54, Color cover and two b/w interiors for
issue #55, two b/w interiors for issue #56, two b/w interiors for issue
#58
Color cover for Norman Prentiss' "Invisible Fences"
Color cover, two b/w endpapers, two b/w signature sheets, eight
full page b/w illustrations, and six b/w spot illustrations for Simon
Clark's "Butterfly"
Chaosium Inc.
B/w interiors for "The Stars Are Right" game book
Color cover and b/w interiors for "The Secrets of New York" game book
Color cover for "Arkham Tales"
Color cover for "Frontier Cthulhu"
Color cover for "The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson"
Color cover for William Jones' "Voodoo Virus"
Color cover for "The Necronomicon"
Color cover for Robert Bloch's "Mysteries of the Worm"
Corpse Magazine
B/w interiors for issues #1, 2. Color back cover for issues #1
Cthulhu Sex Magazine
One of five featured artists for issue #21 Vol ll, one of the
spookyART.com artists featured in issue #23 vol ll, color cover for
issue #25 vol ll
Dark Wisdom Magazine
Two b/w interiors for issue #4, Two b/w interiors for issue #5, One b/w
interior for issue #6, One b/w interior for issue #7, Color cover and
b/w interior for issue #8, Color cover and b/w interior for issue #9,
one color interior for issue #10, two color interiors for issue #11
Elder Signs Press
Color cover for Richard Lupoff's "Terrors"
Color cover for C. J. Henderson's "The Things That Are Not There"
Color cover for A. A. Attanasio's "Twice Dead Things"
Color cover for "High Seas Cthulhu" edited by William Jones
Fantasy Flight Games
Three cards for "Call of Cthulhu" collectable card game
Five Star Press
Color cover for Alan M Clark's "The Blood of Father Time" books one and
two
Color cover for Edo Van Belkom's "Battle Dragon"
Color cover for Richard Park's "The Long Look"
LBF Books
Color cover and eight b/w interiors for David Lee Summers' "Vampires of
the Scarlet Order"
Marietta Publishing
Color cover for C. J. Henderson's "Lai Wan: Tales of the Dreamwalker"
Naked Snake Press
Cover for William Jones' "Professor Pearson"
Necessary Evil Press
Color cover, color signature page, and four b/w interiors for Kealan
Patrick Burke's "The Master of the Moors"
Padwolf Publishing
Cover for "Crypto Critters" edited by Bruce Gehweiler
PS Publishing
Color cover for Postscripts issue #16
Rainfall Books
Cover for David Conyer's "Cthulhu Australis"
Shroud Publishing
Color cover for issue #6
Space & Time Magazine
B/w interiors for issues 98, 100, 102, 104, 105
Wicked Karnival
Three b/w interiors for issue #7
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