Illuxcon 6: Imaginative Realism Exhibition 2013

I travelled to Illuxcon 6 a few weeks ago and had a great time. The exhibition and convention was held at the Allentown Art Museum. The museum is a great location to showcase the top artists of the imaginative realism style. Downstairs the museum houses a permanent collection of old master paintings and colonial American painters and upstairs they present themed exhibitions. The oil and acrylic paintings presented as part of the imaginative realism exhibition were of a very high standard. The paintings show off superb technique as well as the artist’s wild imaginations.

Illuxcon 6: Outside the Allentown Art Museum

The convention had it all: a 5 day pass to the exhibition, demonstrations and lectures at the art school across the road, portfolio reviews with top art directors and a range of smaller exhibitions of up and coming artists which I took part in. It is a very intimate event of like minded artists, collectors and students . I ended up chatting to total strangers for hours as I had so much in common with alot of the other artists. I met many artists whose work fueled my passion for oil painting when I was younger. Below, I am photographed with Boris Vallejo and Jeff Easley. Not only are they both masters of fantasy art they are also great people.

Mark and Boris at Illuxcon 6

Mark and Jeff at Illuxcon 6

After 5 days of great art I flew to the Canadian Rockies where I was surrounded by giant snow capped peaks, glaciers and aqua coloured lakes but that is a story for another time. Needless to say my trip was both inspiring and great fun!