Parsec, Pittsburgh’s premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization
😲 TURNS 40 THIS MONTH! 😲
Can you believe it’s been 40 years since the very first Parsec meeting took place? We’ve come a long way in 40 years.
Check out the brief history of Parsec, written by Ann Cecil, 20 years ago, for the Sigma newsletter.
The Parsec monthly meeting meets on Saturday July 20th, 2024, IN PERSON at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh – Squirrel Hill, Meeting Room B.
A Zoom option is available for those that cannot make the in-person meetings.
Meeting time: 1:00 pm to 3:30 pm. The meeting room and the Zoom both open for social chat time at 12:30 pm.
Parsec meetings are open to the public
Please note, this is a NEW Zoom meeting link as of May 2024!
If you registered for the Zoom meetings prior to May, you will need to register using the new Zoom meeting link:
Our speaker this month is the Confluence 2024 Featured Artist, Christine Hutson!
Seen through the proper lens, the natural world is a truly horrifying place. Earth is teeming with frightening, unexpected, occasionally gruesome, but invariably beautiful organisms. Many of Chris’s creatures begin here. Boundless fascination with the freakishly mundane provides a constant stream of inspiration for her fantastical illustrations. A broad base of knowledge from fields as diverse as anthropology, mythology, biology, religion, and ancient manuscript illustration further guides her hand. Likewise, a degree of medical training has furnished her with a keen eye for anatomy. This lends her work stunning detail when applied to bones, horns, teeth, wings, the odd tentacle here and there, and (as you’ll often see staring back at you) eyeballs. Many eyeballs. You will not be able to miss them. The result is a lavish cabinet of curiosities bloated with the fruits of a delightfully dark imagination.
Chris lives in Pittsburgh where she worked for years as a trained tattoo artist, and as a passionate artisan in the lofty world of tea. She has also worked as an archaeologist, and a professional calligrapher for a variety of clients including the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She currently teaches botanical art for the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh.
In 2024, Christine Hutson is the Featured Artist at the Confluence Conference, held July 26, 27 & 28 at the Sheraton Pittsburgh Airport Hotel. Christine will talk about her experience creating the artwork for the program book, badges, and T-shirt, as well as her own freelance illustration and graphic art business and career.
You can visit her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/christine.hutson.1