The Art of Machine Guts


I had a gorgeous dream last night.

I was standing in an endless wheat field, under a night sky filled with brilliant stars as far as the eye can see. It appeared to be full of color, much like the colors found in Hubble photography, as if to display an ink wash of reds, blues and yellows, stretched across an infinite canvas. The wheat reflected the colors of the night sky, along with patches of grass. There were rolling hills, ebbing and flowing, dancing with the horizon. I was alone. The sense of oneness with my surroundings, the land and the heavens, was absolutely overwhelming. Time was non-existent there, yet everything seemed to move slowly. Any movement I made in that place would have probably taken thousands of years to occur in life. It was as if I were standing in the field forever, peering up at spectacular bands of glowing stars, each one illuminating a unique color and life of its own.

I then observed as three stars began to move, falling down from the sky, crossing one another in random spiraling patterns. Each one left a trail of light in the sky, which only remained as golden sparks, suspended and fizzling. The stars hit land with little to no impact. There simply remained three orbs of light where they had landed. I remained where I was, watching in what I can only describe as absolute peace.

After the stars fell, I turned to look at the stretch of fields behind me. There before me appeared thousands of long tables, made of old rotting wood. Cloths as white as snow were draped over each table, and many people were seated at them. I began to approach the only table that had an open place to sit, noticing a figure standing at the head of it. I could not clearly see the faces of these people or the person standing, they were mostly a blur.

I stood there for quite some time before the figure motioned for me to be seated at the table, so I took my place. I heard a voice begin speaking to me, announcing only one message. "I will return for you soon. Until then, there will be more pain." I gazed at the figure dreadfully and replied, "Why should there be any more pain? Hasn't there been enough suffering?" And then everyone around me vanished, leaving behind only myself standing alone in the field once again.

I woke up shortly thereafter.



To be published

"Dragons in Art" is the title of the fantasy art book in which "The Conjuration" will be published. The ISBN no. is 978-1-84786-300-3. This book is scheduled to be released in March 2009. There is also a section where I will give a tutorial on how I created "The Conjuration", as well as WIP illustrations outlining the process. I'm very excited about this opportunity and it is a pleasure to share the news with you!



Artist Bio

My name is Tracy Trowbridge, a traditional and digital artist from Kansas City, Missouri. Like many artists, I've been creating since I could pick up a pencil (or pen for that matter!), and from those small moments my love for art grew with a passion to express what inspires me. I work at Hallmark Cards, and I enjoy working with a variety of traditional mediums including acrylics, ballpoint pen, Copic marker and graphite, along with digital painting & photography. Dreams, animals, Native American stories, other worlds and dragons are a large part of my inspiration. Some of my hobbies include stormchasing, icelandic horses, piano, finding ridiculously cute things to add to my ridiculously cute things collection, and watching the stars.

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