1991 - 11/1991 Meeting

Page Created: 09/25/10. Last Updated: 10/27/10. Last Google Group Page Update: 01/24/08.

LISSANNE LAKE

The artist's website is: http://www.tasteslikephoenix.com/gallery/lissanne/index.html.

MEETING SUMMARY:

Meeting Date: November 9, 1991.

Meeting Site: Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Official Attendance: 31.

Meeting Program: Slide show and talk by fantasy artist.

Notes:

Meeting Memories:

Newsletter Account:

Perhaps all's well that ends well, but we had a few hairy moments leading up to that point. The November 9, 1991 meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at the Bergen Highlands United Methodist Church, across the street from our normal meeting place, the Saddle River Valley Cultural Center. This in itself was really no problem. We are routinely relocated to the church a few times a year because of higher-priority activities at the center, so this qualifies as only a minor nuisance.

More serious was the lack of a timely newsletter. The November STARSHIP EXPRESS was already behind schedule when the typewriter broke down. The machine was not fixed until nearly a week after the meeting.

What really got the stomach acid flowing was the cancellation of our scheduled guest speaker the day before the meeting. When the television for the Spock / Next Generation crossover episode arrived late, it was but the capstone of a night of dread.

Things started to get better when the television arrived about 7:12 PM, although it was frustrating to watch one newcomer go home to catch what TREK she could five minutes before that. From the attendance list above, you can see that word of the meeting did get out to people.

Artist Lissanne Lake threw together a very creditable presentation on very short notice. The artist has been published in THE DRAGON, AMAZING, new age, occult, and small press books and magazines.

She opened her talk with an explanation of the sketching and painting process. The group gathered around a pair of adjacent tables as the artist displayed and passed thumbnail and preliminary sketches, roughs, and completed pieces, comparing and contrasting them with the finished painting and prints, covers and transparencies made from them.

Everyone was then sent back to their seats for the slide show. Ms Lake had interesting stories about nearly every work. She talked about changes ordered by art directors, gossiped about some of the authors, and told of inside jokes about some of her paintings. For example, the figure in one painting is framed by runes which translate as "These Runes Don't Mean Anything But They Sure Look Impressive."

There were many other interesting or funny stories associated with the paintings, such as why New Agers who move to New Mexico are called "twinkies" by the natives. There were lots of questions asked both during the slide show and afterward.

In other items of business, Robert Yeager was the recipient of the $ 40.00 Barnes & Noble Gift Certificate raffled off. This is the same Robert Yeager of whom I have distinct memories of complaining a while back that he never wins anything.

Barbara Cattani, Jeffrey Rogers, and Gary Tweitman won free books. Philip De Parto outlined the proposed change in the dues structure outlined in the November EXPRESS. Thanks to the many hands who pitched in and made the clean up go especially fast.

There were 15 of us who made it over to the Horizon Diner afterwards. A couple of buses were expected in shortly, so we were seated at three booths at the other end of the diner. Beth Grout's STAR TREK photo-jokebook and retelling of the TREK spoof on Carol Burnett were among the highlights of the after hours portion of the meeting.