Thumbnails: 30 Second InterviewsJohn Harris has been one of my personal favorites ever since I began work at Tor. I love his work for many of the same reasons I love Martiniere's -- they resonate a sense of awe and scope, a kind of "big picture" science fiction. His futures seem simultaneously possible and dream-like. The paintings are never labored, they invite the viewer to participate in them, to contemplate the future and its repercussions in their own mind. His art book, Mass, is a must have.
Favorite painting you did in the past year?
A Jack Vance cover for Bookspan and the cover for The Last Colony. [Bottom image.]
Dream assignment?
Lost Worlds in space.
Do you remember the first time you knew you wanted to be an artist?
I remember when I was six or seven I had chickenpox. I was kept in bed for an age and, getting bored, I started decorating the wall beside my bed with a stubby pencil. I suddenly discovered the magic of marks and how they could make worlds appear in my head. The wonder of it survived my mother's wrath and remains with me to this day.
A career highlight?
In 1985 NASA invited me to watch a launch of the space shuttle and paint a picture for their collection, and which now is part of the Smithsonian collection. [Top image.]