Newsletter January 2026

John Harris – Down to Earth?

John lives in beautiful surroundings on the edge of Dartmoor, a beast of a national park in Devon, where the weather can change in an instant. He chose a good day to paint this one, when there was sunshine and shifting clouds. And it's now for sale.

There are many other landscape paintings of John's on the website too, with John's view of countries all around the world, from South Africa to the US to southern Italy - but they're disappearing fast.

Fred Gambino, prolific artist and writer

We're delighted that Fred's second book, Reality Rift, is now available. After a lifetime of reading science fiction by many of the major writers in order to be able to illustrate the covers, it turns out that he's actually very good at writing his own.

You can see more about Fred's work for film and books on his website. And you can order a copy of the book on Amazon or on the publisher's website, Newcon.

Simon Bartram and The Weight of Being

Simon Bartram grew up in the north-east of England at a time when mining and shipbuilding were massively productive. That all changed as time went by, and now his 'North Sea Man' has been chosen for an exhibition in London which is very apt.

Two Temple Place, originally the grand English home of the Astor family, is now a public gallery, and the exhibition, curated by Angela Thomas, is 'Vulnerability, Resilience and Mental Health in Art'.

Simon's skill as a draughtsman and storyteller has given him a successful career as a producer of children's books although he now concentrates on portraits – both realistic and with a degree of licence.

We sell prints of some of them, and original work appears on the website when Simon has the time.

Farewell to Bob Layzell

When I first worked at Young Artists, as the agency was then known, packages of paintings would turn up from Bob and we added them to the collection of science fiction imagery which was then the basis for books and covers.

His work formed a large part of the first collection of SF put together by Stewart Cowley, a series which came to be known as the Terran Trade Authority and has never stopped growing. Many other collections followed, and Bob was always at the heart of it. I'm so sorry to hear that he's passed away but his work has inspired many people along the way. Thank you, Bob, for all those packages, each one a gem.

And finally

For something more cheerful when the world out there is looking a bit cold and unfathomable, here is a short film about Mr Watt and the Abyss, a tale of despondency and metalwork. Jon Mills is a friend of Ian Miller's – welder, artist and film-maker. I wish this was the sort of thing you could find on children's TV. Move over AI, and bring back welding.