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- Alicia Austin
- 6507 Franrivers Avenue
- West Hills, CA 91307
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- (800) 524-6116
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- Alicia Austin followed in her family's artistic footsteps by beginning her own creative drawings at the age
- of six. She spent her formative years as an "army brat," absorbing the different styles and philosophies of
- schools and artists in the U.S., Germany, Japan, and Canada before discovering her special penchant for
- fantasy art.
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- Alicia studied art, biology, and comparative anatomy at the University of Houston with the thoughts of
- becoming a medical illustrator. She then moved to Canada, where a college club science fiction and
- fantasy magazine "coerced" her into doing their illustrations. Shortly thereafter, Alicia displayed her
- work at the 1969 World Science Fiction Convention in St. Louis, where every piece was purchased during
- the first two days of the five-day art show. She was contacted there by her first professional editor and
- was soon published in 1971 in NEW WORLDS OF FANTASY 3. A career was born.
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- Over the years Alicia has interpreted European, Russian, Oriental, and other ethnic folklore and
- mythology. A deep love of fantasy, fairy tales, folklore, and mythology has led her into explorations of the
- stories of Native Americans.
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- Alicia is one of many contemporary artists who have stepped beyond the boundaries of simple
- "illustration" into the world of fine art. She has been expanding her techniques by working with
- printmaking, Prismacolor, and pastels, frequently combining one or more of these with her watercolor
- techniques. A typical original might now have thirty layers before she is finished.
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- She was honored in 1970 with the Hugo Award for Best New Artist (the first woman artist to receive a
- Hugo, the field's highest honor). In 1979, she received a Balrog Award for her book, AGE OF DREAMS:
- THE ILLUSTRATIONS OF ALICIA AUSTIN, and a Howard Award for Best Fantasy Artist. In 1982,
- her work was added to the permanent collection of the New Britain (CT) Museum of American Art, and
- in 1991 Alicia won the Inkpot Award for Outstanding Achievement in Illustration.
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- Alicia is a member of Women Artists of the West, the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists
- (ASFA), the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Women's Caucus for Art, and the
- Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People.
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