A Season of Change

I've had some time to settle in, to establish new routines. Change is good - we lived 16 years and established strong ties to our previous community. But we also felt restless - new opportunities and living in a larger community were a big draw. My family is changing quickly - my oldest son is getting ready to go to University and my youngest is always looking for new sports to get involved with. They have been thriving, going to a good school and getting involved, volunteering and making new friends. 

I also gave up my studio, which I designed and built myself. It was a beautiful space, but over the years was burdened by clutter. Putting things into their right place is a good process to go through, even if it means filling a dumpster or two. I now feel motivated to make new things and explore new directions.

I've had an incredibly busy fall, with two book projects on the go and some fantastic editorial work (more on this later). 

Here's an inside view of the studio. North and South facing windows. Nice, bright and open space to work. I have a lot of art to frame and hang, but the essentials are there - the light table, computer desk and flat files.

Here's a view of my cluttered desk.

And a few knicknacks and books from my well-curated collection.

 Time to get to work!

Life on Mars

Growing up I dreamed of being an astronaut. They always send up scientists and engineers. Why not an artist? Someone who could observe and document the experience on a personal level? Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield has been taking a series of amazing photos from the space station, capturing some of the amazing vistas of earth that can only be seen from space. An inspirational document of our planet.

Watching the unmanned rovers poking and probing the surface of Mars looking for signs of life has been amazing. I find the images of snow and ice and from the satellites circling the planet to be beautiful and captivating. When you get down to the surface of the planet, however, it gets very cold and bleak and barren. Imagine waking up on that cold and distant planet every day. So remote and inhospitable. Like the moon with an atmosphere. Could humans survive on Mars? If we go, chances are those who do will never come back. Could you live there for a year, or a decade? Or for several generations?

I loved working on this story, it asked those questions and came up with a lot of surprising answers, and unusual twists. Take the time and see for yourself.

I have had the priviledge of working on several other covers for Tor.com. Irene Gallo is always a treat to work with, these stories always take my work in new directions.