Fan Art – Through Other Eyes

August 21, 2017 · Art, Gallery

Lissanne Lake

Since it was Lafferty’s stories that long ago caused her to choose a career in illustration, it was always an especial honor when chosen to paint his book covers. Among the 200 or so covers are included Sinbad: The Thirteenth Voyage, Lafferty in Orbit, and recently the first three Feast of Laughter covers. These and more of her work, covers, and otherwise (and more Lafferty) can be found on her Facebook page, the Fantastic Art of Lissanne Lake <www.facebook.com/LissanneLakeart>.

"And they are all so perfect?"
"No. None of them is. The best ones are shockingly imperfect."
- R.A. Lafferty, "**Love Affair with Ten Thousand Springs**"
Art by Lissanne Lake

The little naked falcon biff
Bound with intengent tethers!
Beware the dreamy falcon if
He ever grows some feathers.
- R.A. Lafferty, **Fourth Mansions**
Art by Lissanne Lake

"Oh, was I ever the cock of the walk!" he would say. "I left a trail of twenty-dollar gold pieces around the world three times, and that was when twenty dollars was still worth something."
- R.A. Lafferty, **Lafferty in Orbit**
Art by Lissanne Lake

Whythesun

The semi–anonymous artist who goes by Whythesun was born in Sardinia, Italy, and currently lives around Europe.

I think I will dismember the world with my hands.
- R. A. Lafferty, **Fourth Mansions**
Art by Whythesun

Anthony Ryan Rhodes

Anthony Ryan Rhodes is a Tulsa native living in Florida. He has done freelance illustrations for Google and small businesses and is a regular contributor to the Lafferty fanzine Feast of Laughter. He keeps an artist’s blog at <http://arr-illustrator.blogspot.com>.

Wait—a bird just fell to earth not eighty feet from this Bauer; fell to earth with every bone in its body broken. It was a dusk-flying bird of the kind that is called Night-Hawk, and it fell with resounding concussion. Only a bird that is already dead will fall heavily like that.
- R. A. Lafferty, **Fourth Mansions**
Art by Anthony Ryan Rhodes

"Come all you little Singing-Pig-Shelni,” a bell man shouts. “Come get your free rides in the tin cans all the way to Earth! Hey, Ben, what other animal jumps onto the slaughter wagon when you only ring a bell?”
– R. A. Lafferty, “**Ride a Tin Can**"
Art by Anthony Ryan Rhodes

“Oh, no, no!” Valery forbade. “Not again. That way is rump of skunk and madness.”
- R. A. Lafferty, “**Thus We Frustrate Charlemagne**”
Art by Anthony Ryan Rhodes

"He was decked out in Navajo beadwork and a Sioux war-bonnet when he spoke at the supermarket in Indianapolis. Indianapolis really meant Indian City, didn’t it?"
- R. A. Lafferty, “**Royal Licorice**”
Art by Anthony Ryan Rhodes

Yakov Varganov

Yakov Varganov is a research biologist and a writer-illustrator. His interest in Lafferty’s writing was initiated by a Russian translation of “Slow Tuesday Night” published in “Esli” magazine. Following his immigration to the US in 1997 he started collecting and reading all Lafferty works he could find. Currently he resides in New Jersey and works on a series of new illustrations for his favorite Lafferty stories.

"Our companion and commander is dead," said Colonel Zornig. "Do you understand the word?"
"Sure. It is broke like I said. Haven't you parts to fix it?"
"There are no parts that would avail. One dies completely."
"Bad design. Give it to me. Maybe I can fix it."
- R.A. Lafferty, "**Pani Planet** "
Art by Yakov Varganov

"The story involve bamboozle. Stories of bamboozle may only be told when warm summer sun is shining."
- R.A. Lafferty, "**Pani Planet**"
Art by Yakov Varganov

They were more like pack rats (the *Neotoma cinerea* of Earth) both in appearance and in their thieving ways, but larger. It was old John Chancel who had named the species "*Ursus furtificus*, the Thieving Bears."
- R.A. Lafferty, "**Thieving Bear Planet**"
Art by Yakov Varganov

He had flared up more brightly than anyone in memory. And then he was gone. Yet there was ironic laughter where he had been; and his ghost still walked. That was the oddest thing: to encounter his ghost.
- R.A. Lafferty, "**Aloys**"
Art by Yakov Varganov

Bill Rogers

Bill Rogers, a native of Tampa, Florida, has been creating original art since his childhood. His drawings and paintings are inspired by folklore, mythology, and dreams. More recently he has produced a series of works inspired by the stories and novels of R.A. Lafferty. <https://www.flickr.com/photos/giveawayboy/sets/72157649638432754>

"The argument is over unless you can find a finger as old as the earliest fork. We never find old fingers, only jaw bones and brain pans and pelvises."
- R.A. Lafferty, **Archipelago**
Art by Bill Rogers

"The comet was a long gray-bearded man (in fact, comet means a star with a beard) and small pieces were always falling off him."
- R.A. Lafferty, "**Boomer Flats**"
Art by Bill Rogers

"There's a peculiar little episode hanging over our town. It's like a misshapen cloud, and it's been raining unproper stuff on us for the last several hours of the night."
- R.A. Lafferty, "**From the Thunder Colt's Mouth**"
Art by Bill Rogers

Comments

Kevin · 2017-08-23

Wow! This is powerful and wonderful stuff. I love everyone's work here. You should reach out to R. Ward Shipman to see if he'd like to include some of his Lafferty-inspired work! Thank you for adding this amazing page!