THE STEPHEN E. FABIAN COLLECTION

THE STEPHEN E. FABIAN COLLECTION - This collection contains 500 drawings and paintings that I began creating in 1965, mostly related to the science fiction field.

My interest in science fiction began way back in 1951 when I was a 21 year old airman in the U.S. Air Force at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Illinois, where I taught an electronics course in the Advanced Radio and Radar School. One evening I was at the base PX browsing the magazine rack looking for something to read and noticed some pulp magazines that featured beautiful artwork on the covers. Titles like "Famous Fantastic Mysteries," "Fantastic Novels," and "Astounding Science Fiction". Inside those issues I saw wonderful story illustrations by Virgil Finlay, Lawrence Stevens, Edd Cartier, and Hubert Rogers, and I was hooked. I bought those magazines, read them over the weekend and they turned me into a science fiction fan.

In 1953 my time in the Air Force ended and I was a New Jersey civilian again. I worked at Dumont TV Labs for five years, at Curtis Wright for another five years, and in 1963 I found myself working for Simmonds Precision Products, an electronics company in Vermont. It was in 1965 that I began thinking about learning how to draw and paint like my favorite SF illustrators. And that's what I did, I bought some art instruction books and worked at it in my spare time. I had this dream that when I retired, in about 20 years or so, I might do some part-time illustrating in the Science Fiction field.

Astonishingly, just two years later my drawings and paintings began appearing in print; in fan publications and professional magazines. It all happened a lot sooner than I had expected.

And here I am in 2015, looking at all this artwork that I managed to create since 1965. I actually became a full-time free-lance illustrator, just like the ones who inspired me back in 1951. Whenever I wake up in the morning thinking it was all a dream, I am assured that it really did happen when I look at the trophy that rests on a shelf in my library; it features a bust of H.P. Lovecraft, sculpted by Gahan Wilson and was presented to me at a World Fantasy Convention. At the base of the figure a shiny plaque reads, " 2006 World Fantasy Award, Lifetime achievement Winner, Stephen Fabian".