"Welcome to the official site of fantasy and carousel restoration artist Theresa Mather.."

You can check out a list of which cons Theresa's art will be showing at in the near future in the Calendar section.
Theresa's Ebay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/Theresa-Mather-Fantasy-Art
Zazzle http://www.zazzle.com/theresamather*
Offworld Designs http://offworlddesigns.com/

Monday, May 26^th, 2008

2 new pieces added to the gallery. One in the Painting area Diamondback, the other in the Humour area: Choose Your Poison.

Sunday, May 11^th, 2008

New Con dates for June through August 2008 are up ( Calendar ) along with mentions of which cons Theresa shall attend during this mid year period. Annnddd.... a new rock painting added to the gallery: Forest Haven.

Friday, March 12^th, 2008

New Con dates for March to May are up ( Calendar ).

Friday, February 1^st, 2008

New Con dates for February are up ( Calendar ).

Saturday, December 29^th, 2007

New Con dates for January 2008 are up ( Calendar ). Also, Theresa has announced a new licensing deal of her Eastern Dragons art (for starters) through Add An Accent Inc. These will be available after January in 2008.

Monday, October 8^th, 2007

Three new additions to the Gallery section (1 feather, & 2 rock). Do We Have a Deal, Dragon's Rest, and Eastern Silver.

Also, check out the Store button... new merchandise is available through Zazzle.

Sunday, August 26^th, 2007

Four new additions to the Gallery section (1 humour, 2 rocks, & 1 feather). Tastes Like Chicken, The Rose Thieves, Imperial Dragons, and Castle Guardians. Con Dates for September, October and November are up now too ( Calendar ).

Friday, June 8^th, 2007

Eight new additions to the Gallery section (2 feathers, 2 humour, 3 paintings & 1 rock). Sunset Gold, Forest Dragon Flies, Unfashionably Late, Railfan, Eastern Fire, Eastern Sea, Eastern Sky, and White Knight. Con Dates for July and August are up now too ( Calendar ).

 

So what's your story?
Born in Illinois in 1966, but grew up in southern California and lived there until early 2004, when Barry and I packed up and moved to beautiful southwest Utah. Went to several schools, including the University of California at Santa Cruz and the California College of Arts and Crafts, an experience that mostly taught me that I didn't like being in school. The latter school in particular tried to get me to stop painting identifiable things and switch my medium to house paint and butcher paper. I'd really like my money back.

Utah? You moved to UTAH??
Yes. We like it here. I can be in a National Park (Zion) in half an hour, another (Bryce) in about an hour, and a third (Capitol Reef) in about 2 hours. There are ghost towns nearby, and here in Cedar City we have Southern Utah University and the Tony-award winning Utah Shakespearean Festival - and a lot more. Where I used to live in southern California, we had smog, water that tasted like Clorox and congested traffic. It's not a bad tradeoff. Barry also pointed out that here in Utah he could get me a sister wife to do all the housework, but I'm not completely sold on that yet.

Cool! So how exactly do you paint all that small stuff?
I use a really tiny brush.

Uh, OK. Well, let's get to the nitty gritty, where can I see your stuff, and how can I meet you?
I exhibit my art at 50 to 60 conventions each year. There's a calendar here on my website that we update monthly with all the shows my art will be at for the next month. I also announce there which cons I'll be attending - typically it's Comic Con International in San Diego, World Con when it's in the US, and whichever cons I may be an invited guest at. Three or four cons per year is about all I can allow into my schedule, but we usually try to throw in at least one extra just for fun. If you want to ask a question, you can always email me here.

Can I commission you to do a piece for me?
Generally, I'm not crazy about taking commissions. Because I show at so many conventions per year, I don't have a lot of time left to take on additional work - and I have so many more things I want to paint than I have time for as it is that I really don't have a lot of interest in taking assignments. Which isn't to say that I will never take a commission, just that you'll have to capture my imagination to get me to agree to one.

Are you going to be doing any book covers?
Steve Austin carved a leather book cover that I painted and that we sold at DragonCon in 2003 - does that count? Seriously, I'm not particularly interested in publication work - I can't really stand the idea of working with an 'art director'. All that frustration to get my art reproduced the size of a postage stamp on the cover of a book I might not even like? For what the publishers pay for book covers? No thanks. If somebody wants to buy use rights to an existing painting, feel free to contact my manager

Really, I just like the freedom I have to paint whatever I want to paint, whenever I want to paint it. I'm not looking for a 'job'.

So tell me about some of your favorite artists, writers, books, movies … ?
In genre, my favorite contemporary artist is probably Brian Froud. Artists who have influenced me include the Russian fantasist Ivan Bilibin, Gustave Doré, and a whole bunch of anonymous artists who created fairground art in the nineteenth and early 20th centuries. The carousel carvers like Charles Looff, Marcus Illions, and Gustave Dentzel. I draw a lot of influence from the use of color in medieval book illumination. I really try not to pay much attention to contemporary illustration - so many artists are drawing their influences from a relatively small group of predecessors that I just feel better by drawing my experiences from elsewhere. I also try to spend a reasonable amount of time getting out of the house, away from the books, and getting my experience from the world around me instead of through someone else's filter.

In books, I like my fantasy with a large dose of humor. My favorite fantasy work is Orlando Furioso by Ariosto. I read mostly classic literature, and not much contemporary SF or fantasy. I also like comics, including the current Vertigo series Fables, and Tony Millionaire's Sock Monkey. I'm addicted to Twisted Toyfare Theater, too. My favorite current TV series are Reno 911, Sealab 2021, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Barry has gotten me hooked on The Daily Show. My favorite movie of the past several years is O Brother, Where Art Thou? My favorite classic movies include Sullivan's Travels and The Lady Eve, with My Fair Lady as my favorite musical.

If I buy one of your prints, what do I get?
You get a reproduction of my original work as close to the original as we can get it. If you have one of my older prints, you have a laserprint - and that is the case with a number of my current print runs that are still going to cons. My new prints are done in archival inkjet format, at high resolution with seven colors of ink. This paper and ink combination is estimated to last from 70 to 100 years with reasonable care (don't leave it in direct sunlight, don't hang it in your sauna). This is a process and quality that was developed a few years ago for what were then known as Giclees and Iris prints - both processes which were quite expensive. New printing technology allows me to offer these high grade prints at a much lower price than would have been available. Of course, some people using the process I use are inaccurately calling them Giclees - that's not really correct, so I'm sticking with Archival Inkjet Print until someone comes up with a better term. Besides, Giclee sounds like some sort of frozen French dessert to me. Mmmmmm, chocolate giclee, with chopped nuts!

Can I get a print of one of your feathers and/or stone pieces?
No. My feathers and stones are available only as one of a kind originals - no prints, ever. I'm not sure why anyone would want a print of a feather - that's sort of like petting a picture of a cat. If I'm making a print from an image, it's an image done in traditional 2 dimensional media.

I make PSP picture tubes for sale, and I really love your work! Can I use it?
As long as you pay the licensing fee, sure. Initial use fee is $100,000.00, with an additional $25,000.00 royalty fee for each copy that is sold or otherwise distributed, whether you've paid for it or not. Use of any of my images in a tube constitutes acceptance of these terms. And I have very good lawyers. (Why $100,000 and not $100,000,000? For $100,000,000, violators just declare bankruptcy. For $100,000, we get their house. )

In order to avoid any problems, no tubing. Period.

Ohmigod ohmigod ohmigod! What about me - I just make signature tags!
Use of the images on this website in signature tags is acceptable, under the following conditions: 1) The artwork may not be significantly altered in any way. 2) The "© Theresa Mather" copyright notice must be included in all uses. 3) For any use greater than one inch in width, the full URL to this site - http://www.RockFeatherScissors.com - must be included, and the content should be hot linked under any circumstances. 4) Sales of tags and/or avatars is strictly forbidden. If you wish to sell work based upon my work, we need a licensing contract. Contact my manager. 5) Email me and tell me what you're doing - and show me your work! If you don't contact me, I have to assume you don't want me to know what you're doing. That makes my lawyers angry. You wouldn't like them when they're angry.

Any other rules?
Do not link directly to any of the images on this site. Links are always appreciated, but please copy the banner to your site and link from there.