EXTRACTS: Illustrators issue 31 © 2020 Book Palace Books * 96 PAGES in FULL edition

90 one of his houses, but turned out, in fact, to be only copies of the originals. Eventually all those hours spent painting (during the 1980s there was hardly a book in the Science Fiction, Horror or Fantasy genre that didn’t feature a cover by Rowena) and teaching took a toll on her creativity. By the 1990s her work became scarcer, and by the turn of the century she had already left the illustra‐ tion field. Though nominated five times for the Hugo Awards as Best Artist, it was only in 1984 that she actually received an award (from the British Fantasy Society). Aside from painting, Rowena also taught at the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. Two art books have been published collecting her work (all out of print), and, for a certain amount of time, she was one of the most highly regarded and respected illustrators in the world. ABOVE: Sorceress , oil on board, 1985. Done for a catalogue of art and book collections. Although Rowena used models for her paintings, for this one she used herself. “The real fun is to flatter myself shamelessly and make myself look exactly the way I want to.” RIGHT: The Iron Dream , oil on board, 1982. Cover for the eponymous novel by Norman Spinrad wherein Hitler survives the Second World War, moves to America and writes a sword and sorcery epic! Believe it or not, Spinrad’s book was actually banned in Germany for eight years.