Description

I painted this cover art for the book "King of the Dead" by R.A. MacAvoy. This was the Harper Collins hardcover edition.

"Book two of the award-winning Lens of the World trilogy, this volume finds the dwarflike Nazhuret a modest and fastidious lens grinder. Although he could have chosen an exalted and wealthy life as a noble member of the court, he wishes to live in humble and undisturbed poverty with his lady Arlin. But the ordinary life that Nazhuret wants is abruptly shattered when a vicious attack by paid assassins forces him to run. With possible enemies on all sides, the only place to go is the neighboring kingdom of Rezhmia, where Nazhuret has an ancient blood-tie. However, he finds that Rezhmia is no safe haven, for dark clouds are gathering there, intent on destruction of the homeland of Nazhuret's heart. Evil tidings, treacherous family members and powerful sorcery threaten to overtake him, but Nazhuret must survive for the sake of those he loves.

A few years previous to starting this painting I had circumnavigated Annapurna, a three-week trek that included climbing from the village of Manang over 17,000 foot Thorong-La pass to Muktinath, perched on the gorge of the Kali Gandaki river. Just as I crested the pass and began the bone breaking descent I saw the breathtaking view that inspired this painting. My friends and I also came upon a collapsed porter spitting blood from what looked like pulmonary edema. We helped him to stumble to a lower latitude found the trekking group who had abandoned him and waited until they did the right thing and took responsibility for his safety. Those distant mountains were tantalizingly close to Mustang, the cloistered Himalayan kingdom that, at the time, was still off limits to foreigners. I stared and imagined. One can dream.