Jackie Morris 1961 | British Watercolour painter and Book Illustrator

I was born in Birmingham and lived there until at the age of four my parents moved away to Evesham. Here I grew up and remember little of those times. I do know that from at least the age of six I wanted to be an artist. I watched my dad drawing a picture of a lapwing, making a bird appear on a piece of paper using only a pencil, and I thought it was some magic that made this happen. So there and then I decided to learn how to conjure birds from paper and colour.

I went to school in Evesham to Prince Henry's High School and I remember walking to school past shop fronts above which elegant buildings grew. I used to get told off at school for drawing and dreaming. Now I get paid to do both.

Josephine Wall 1947 | English Mystical Fantasy painter

Wall's paintings are mainly influenced and inspired by Arthur Rackham, with lesser influences from surrealist artists such as Magritte and Dalí, and the romanticism of the pre-Raphaelites. A number of her works were exhibited in Teheran and Tokyo during 1974 and her first solo exhibition took place the following year in Swindon. Josephine and her paintings were the subject of a special feature on Southern Television in 1990. Following a visit to the Spring Fair in Birmingham in 1993 she signed contracts with firms in Britain and Switzerland to publish her work as prints, posters and cards for worldwide distribution. Her originals and limited edition prints by are often sold through Courtenay's Fine Art and Courtyard of Romance.

In addition to a range of Limited Edition Prints, Josephine Wall continues to work with her exclusive licensing agents Art Impressions in California who began licensing her work around the world in 1996. They are responsible for finding the contacts and setting up licensing deals. Apparently there is a rush to see who will get new images as they appear! It has been used for greeting cards, calendars, posters, stained glass, craft transfers (“T” shirts), journals, stationery, cheques and cheque covers, mugs, magnets, suncatchers, treasure boxes, wall murals, scrapbook paper sets, fabric squares, figurines, and puzzles.

Boris Vallejo 1941 | Peruvian-born American Fantasy painter

Vallejo commenced painting at the age of thirteen and had his first illustration job at the age of sixteen. After emigrating to the United States in 1964, he quickly garnered a fan following from his illustrations of Tarzan, Conan the Barbarian, Doc Savage and various other fantasy characters (often done for paperback fiction works featuring the characters). This led to commissions for movie poster illustration, advertisement illustration, and artwork for various collectibles - including Franklin Mint paraphernalia, trading cards and sculpture. Along with Bell, Vallejo presents his artwork in an annual calendar and various books. Vallejo's work is often compared to the work of Frank Frazetta, not only because it is similar stylistically but also since Frazetta painted covers for paperbacks of some of the same characters.

John Pitre 1942 | American Surrealist painter

Born in 1942 and educated in the fine arts at the prestigious Art Students League in New York City, John Pitre evolved to become a master of fantasy and surrealism. Pitre has been a significant influence in the art world for over thirty years, and carries the distinction of being one of the most widely published artists in modern history. One of John Pitre's best known paintings is A New Dawn, a 1965 work which shows a modern human reduced to the status of a caveman in the midst of smoldering urban ruins. This painting, in the weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks more than thirty five years later, was seen by some as a foreshadowing of what came to be known as the Ground Zero of those events. In 2004, the owner of the original painting, which was valued in 1997 at $1.7 million, offered A New Dawn in trade for a £1 million house on the London real estate market.

Mike Worrall 1942 | Surrealist and absurdist english painter

Born 1942 in Matlock Derbyshire, UK Mike Worrall is an english painter and designer, inspired by historical themes. I have been painting since the early 1960's and am almost entirely self taught. I still retain the basic technique and style developed in these early years. I am committed to exploring the subconscious and I like Paul Delvaux and Max Ernst amongst others. I've worked in the feature film industry as an Ideas Artist. I was told by Roman Polanski that a painting of mine he had, gave him the idea of making the film Macbeth. He based the second scene on the painting. I have works in the collections of Victor Lownes, Alan Price of the Animals, Roman Polanski, Nicholas Roeg, Vincent Ward, Alex Proyas and many others.

Edward Pustovoitov 1964 | Russian fantasy and surrealist painter

Dennis Lewan 1943 | American romantic realist & fantasy painter

Mr. Lewan has developed a style with unique qualities and has become the modern day master of realism, romanticism and fantasy. He says, "I concentrate on picking up where the "Old Masters" left off, by adding camouflaged images in many of my paintings. I like to have a painting tell a story and stimulate the imagination of everyone who views it. I like to create in each painting a special place that people want to 'walk into and visit". Art collectors are also attracted by the great depth and detail of each painting and other artists have been inspired to emulate his style. Dennis's paintings have made their way into many countries and into the collections of many celebrities, corporations and banking institutions. Among the awards he has received, the one he seems most proud of is the 1997 Collector's Edition Award of Excellence in the fine art print category. His winning painting titled "The Bearister's Mansion" was chosen by popular vote from the many readers of Collector's Edition Magazine all over North America.

Carol Cavalaris | Colorado | Fantasy Art

Carol Cavalaris lives in the middle of a forest in the high country of Colorado. It is the wild beauty of her surroundings that inspires her digital paintings of wildlife and nature. Carol currently exhibits her work in several Colorado galleries, including the Grace Gallery in the famous Santa Fe Avenue Art District in Denver. She is a freelance artist for The Mountain, and creates custom art, specializing wildlife, floral, and pet paintings.

Christophe Vacher 1996 | French fantasy painter

Vacher is a french artist who has provided Backgrounds, Visual Development and Art Direction for Disney, Dreamworks, Universal Studios and the animation industry since 1989. He worked in many small animation studios before joining Disney's Paris-based animation unit for three years, where he painted backgrounds for such animated films as "The Hunchback of Notre Dame", "Runaway Brain" and served as head of background for the 1995 feature, "A Goofy Movie". Relocating to California in 1996, he continued his association with Disney, where his credits have included painting backgrounds and concept artwork for "Dinosaur", "Hercules," "Tarzan", the Stravinsky Firebird finale for "Fantasia 2000" and "Treasure Planet". He also worked on Dreamworks' "Shark Tale" doing concept Artwork and paintings. In 2004, he became Art Director, first on a CG animated short movie for Studio Arts in Los Angeles, then for the animated segment of Disney's live action movie "Enchanted", and eventually for the CG feature film "9", produced by Tim Burton and directed by Shane Acker, for which he got a 2010 Annie Awards Nomination (the equivalent of the Academy Awards for Animation) in the category "Best Production Design for a Feature Production". He worked for a few months as production designer on the upcoming movie "Heroes and Monsters" and as a visual development artist for Universal Studios on "Despicable Me". He is currently working at Hasbro studios on the CG animated TV series "Transformers Prime" for which he won an Emmy Award in 2011.

Yannick Bouchard 1982 | Québec, Canada

I am not claiming myself as a "surrealist artist", but my art is undeniably marked by their influence. I was also very impressed by some notable fantasy artists, as well as erotic artists; the way they depict beauty and sensuality, and how they bring grandiose imaginary worlds to life. Overall, my paintings are more or less a mixture of all those types; surrealism, fantasy, erotic, with a touch of symbolism and even sometimes macabre. But most of all, my paintings are images resulting of my inner thoughts and feelings; they are the expression of my love for the human body, the inspiring curves of femininity, as well as the superphysical side of the human mind, the mystical and the magical, or just very simple little things, like textures, colors and nature. They are not intellectual pieces. They don't depict sophisticated and complicated opinions and cryptic theories. Their essence is to stimulate the imagination and guide viewers where only they want to go. Mostly, I paint for myself; I paint what I want, I paint what I like, what moves me, what I feel and what I am.

Michael Parkes 1944 | Fantasy painting and drawing

Dante

Michael Parkes studied graphic art and painting at the University of Kansas and then travelled for three years throughout Asia and Europe. In 1975 he settled definitively in Spain, where he still lives. Numerous international exhibitions underline the importance of Parkes’ work. What is unusual about Parkes is that in his paintings and lithographs, metaphysical and spiritual elements are joined to reality. His work evokes a mysterious atmosphere which can often only be deciphered with the help of ancient mythology and eastern philosophy.

Beatrice