Author: John Fleskes

Randall Dahlk will be having his inaugural gallery show on April 17th at the Mill District Arts Gallery in downtown Minneapolis.

For those of you who do not know Randy, he’s the guy who designed William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals, Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic, and the Mark Schultz Various Drawings series for us. He also does all of those great miniatures and promotional items you can find at our Flesk booth at WonderCon and Comic-Con International in San Diego. Besides being a designer, Randy is an artist, does sculpture, and enjoys attending church on Sunday’s.

Below is Randy’s official press release.

Howdy Pardner,

I’m having my first ever gallery art show. The big opening will take place on Friday, April 17th, from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. at the Mill District Arts Gallery. This will be a collection of over 30 pieces of my cowboy (& cowgirl) artwork. I’ll have paintings, sculptures, collage, furniture, wooden boxes, journals, pull toys, etc. For you folks who can’t make it to the opening, the show will stay up until May 23rd. The gallery is located in downtown Minneapolis, at 1023 Washington Ave So. The regular hours, are Thursday – Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Why not make an evening of it, and enjoy a meal before or after, at Old Spaghetti Factory, Wasabi, Sawatdee, or Grumpy’s? I’ll have some Ritz crackers and beef jerky available, but I’m sure most of you are more sophisticated than that, and would prefer to dine elsewhere.

I’m so looking forward to seeing you there, western attire is optional!

Yer pal,
Randy

Also, you can learn more about Randy at his blog, Retro Randy.

Enjoy,

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

Hello,

Stuart Ng just sent out the following news item detailing the upcoming William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals book signing. The event will be on Saturday, April 18, from 2:00 to 4:00pm.

Stuart Ng writes: We are pleased to announce:

William Stout will be signing his new book in our showroom and for our patrons worldwide.

Bill will be at our showroom on Saturday, April 18, from 2:00 to 4:00pm to sign his new book William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals.  As an added bonus, Bill has kindly agreed to draw your favorite dinosaur or prehistoric animal in your copy of the book.

William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals collects all his paintings for The San Diego Natural History Museum, Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom, and The Houston Museum of Natural Science.  He also describes his approach and methods, illustrated with numerous preliminary drawings and small-scale paintings.

Bill is one of America’s foremost dinosaur muralists and illustrators as well as a multi-talented artist, conceptualist, and designer for film (animation and live action), theme parks, comics, books, and more.

He is also one of our favorite artists and this new book is fantastic, so we are very pleased to offer it to our patrons.  In these paintings, Bill captures the excitement, dynamism, and sense of wonder we all felt as kids about dinosaurs and the prehistoric world.

Incorporating the latest paleontological information, these recreations are educational as well as accessible making this is the perfect art book for dinosaur enthusiasts of all ages.  An inscribed copy with a drawing would make a great gift.  (I’m getting a bunch of these myself for that purpose.)

If this book was available when I was a kid, I would have been all over it.  Looking at this book takes me back to childhood memories of poring over dinosaur books illustrated by Charles Knight or Zdenek Burian.

Here are two murals that are in the book: http://www.williamstout.com/gallery/murals/

And additional information on the book: http://www.fleskpublications.com/publications/william-stout/

Our showroom is located at 22910 Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance.  We are open Saturdays from 12:00 to 4:00pm.  For directions and further info, visit http://www.stuartngbooks.com/showroom.html

If you can’t come to the signing or are outside the Los Angeles area, you can pre-order your copy and have it shipped to you anywhere in the world.  Be sure to tell us what dinosaur or animal you would like Bill to draw in your book!

The Hardcover Edition is [SN25610X] $40

The Deluxe Hardcover Edition is limited to 600 Signed & Numbered copies, has an extra pen & ink illustration of a Tyrannosaurus rex on the limitation page, and is [SN25611X] $50

S&H within the U.S. is $6.  (S&H for additional copies within the U.S. is $1 per copy.)

Priority Mail S&H for one copy to the U.K. or Europe is $38.  (Priority Mail S&H for 2-4 copies to the U.K. or Europe is $46.)

To place an order, go to our order page http://www.stuartngbooks.com/order.html

Please help us spread the word about this signing.  Feel free to post this message to your blog or appropriate message boards.

Thanks for your interest and support!

Stuart

Stuart Ng Books
www.stuartngbooks.com

The San Diego Natural History Museum is hosting a special presentation and book signing by William Stout. Come celebrate the release of his new book, William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals on Saturday, March 21. Stout’s presentation begins at noon at the main theater, followed immediately by the book signing in front of the museum store.

The William Stout program and lecture are free with Museum admission, either General Admission or with tickets to the BODY WORLDS exhibition which includes General Admission.  Admission tickets may be purchased in advance online at www.sdnhm.org or at the Museum.

The primary focus of a new art book, William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals, is on the California painter’s recent creation of the twelve murals for the San Diego Natural History Museum’s Fossil Mysteries exhibit. The book also includes his mural work for the Houston Museum of Natural Science and Walt Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

This lavishly illustrated new art book features paintings that reconstruct life from its earliest appearances on this planet on up to 2000 years ago.

“I believe that murals are one of the scientists’ conduits to the public,” said Stout. “Artists can translate difficult scientific concepts into powerful, easy-to-grasp visuals for the public. They can function as a great teaching tool.”

In addition to featuring the finished murals unobstructed by their exhibit settings, Stout’s roughs and color studies illuminate in fine detail the thought processes and visual steps that went into the creation of each finished mural.

“I want the public to embrace each mural that I paint with a sense of regional pride,” said Stout. “One of the ways in which I accomplish this is by including well known local landmarks in the paintings whenever and wherever possible. My goal is to have my depictions change the way people see their familiar surroundings.”

As an example, Stout pointed out that some of the Fossil Mysteries murals include Cuyamaca Peak.

The highly readable text is surprisingly personal; Stout even makes mention of the cancer that delayed his completion of the San Diego murals. Stout generously credits all the scientists, artists, sculptors, craftspeople, museum personnel, photographers, institutions and family who helped him out with the murals; there are several reproductions of drawings by SDNHM staffer Jim Melli.

“I wanted to make it patently obvious that large murals depicting prehistoric life are never the work of just one person,” said Stout.

The museum is proud to present and support William Stout: Prehistoric Murals as the perfect book for budding (or even professional) artists, people with an interest in prehistoric life and dinosaurs, as well as folks with an interest and pride in the San Diego area’s rich biological legacy.

Stout, William William Stout: Prehistoric Life Murals Santa Cruz: Flesk Publications, 2009, 144 pp., $39.95. Introduction by Ray Harryhausen.
The copies of the book for sale at the San Diego Natural History Museum include an extra full color book plate signed by the author. It was created especially and solely for the museum by Mr. Stout.

We had a great time at Lee’s comics on February 21. William Stout was kind enough to draw people’s favorite dinosaur in their copy of Prehistoric Life Murals. Take a look at young Joshua’s personal copy pictured below.

I was pleased to see many familiar faces show up. I’ve been shopping at Lee’s since the mid-eighties, and even worked at his Palo Alto location back in the mid-nineties. I always enjoy Lee’s generosity and beautiful shop. Thanks to everyone who showed up!

If you missed the Stout signing, you have a few more chances to meet him this month. He’ll be signing at Stellercon on March 13-15, and at the San Diego Natural History Museum on March 21, then at Dark Delicacies on March 22. For a full list of Stout appearances click here.

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications

William Stout will be signing at Sac-Con this Sunday, March 8. The show is located in Sacramento, CA, at the Scottish Rite Center across from Sacramento State. For more details and directions to the show, click here.

William will have his new book Prehistoric Life Murals for sale. For a complete list of Stout appearances, you can visit his website here. We’ve just added a signing at Stuart Ng Books in Torrance, CA on April 18.

Our big Murals book signing event at the San Diego Natural History Museum will be on March 21. You won’t want t miss this one!

John

John Fleskes
Flesk Publications