In the spring of 1980, I walked into an art show at a small convention near Kansas City and discovered there the paintings of a new artist, David Cherry. At that long ago show, his first, David was showing pictures he'd done to illustrate a book called Ealdwood. He won second place in the art show for a black-and- white piece, and people were asking him for an autograph! To quote David, 'Wowee! Zowee!'

At the time, David was a lawyer and his art was just a hobby. But by 1982, he had shut down the law business and was teaching himself how to paint for real. In the summer of 1984, he was discouraged and ready to look for a new line of work when he met James Christensen, professor of art and fantasy master extraordinary. Just a couple of days talking with Christensen revolutionized his approach to painting and his next piece not only took best of show, but sold for $2500. David knew then he could make a living doing this and has never looked back.

In the 20 years since that auspicious event, I have watched David change and grow as an artist and as a human being. And human beings don't get much better than this: he's kind, loyal, thoughtful, sweet, and has always managed to steam up my glasses when we danced. I'm ever so glad he's my friend.

David has had 11 Hugo nominations (but, alas, no win yet), and has won 8 Chesley Awards, the award given by the artists themselves through ASFA. He has published a book of his artwork which was also nominated for a Hugo, and even a short story in a collection edited by Bill Fawcett and David Drake. Although he still does book covers from time to time, during the 90's most of David's work has been gaming art in one form or another. The future? Look for David's work in the upcoming products from Ensemble Studios, developers of Microsoft's multi award winning PC strategy game 'Age Of Empires.' David is proud to announce that he has just agreed to become Ensemble's Senior Concept Artist.

And ConJosé' is proud and honored to have him as our Artist Guest of Honor.

- Mary Kay Kare 

To see some examples of David's stunning artwork click here. For David's personal home page click here.

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