Guests of Honor
The first seven years of Steve's life were spent living at the River Ridge housing complex located on the Indiana Army Ammunition Plant property. When not being subjected to clandestine government experiments, Steven roamed the karst landscape overlooking the Ohio River. There, he collected toads and turtles, Devonian fossils, dodged coyotes and copperhead snakes, and lived in constant fear of the brown recluse spiders that were said to scuttle about the forest. It was during these formative years that the artistic "bug" began to take hold of the unsuspecting lad.
In later years while attending Jeffersonville High School Steve began to hone his artistic skills. After high school he attended The Louisville School of Art from fall of 1981 until the spring of 1983 when the IRS closed down the college. This brought him back across the river to attend Indiana University Southeast's fine arts program, which he participated in until the pesky need for money forced him to join the workforce full time. This eventually led Steve to the seamy underworld of the printing industry.
After spending one year too many watching his dreams get mangled between the rollers of offset presses or dissolve in pools of carcinogenic acetone, he realized a change was needed. This led him to pursue a degree in Elementary Education.
After discovering that children were far too clever and dangerous for his fragile mind, Steve finally settled on a new course of action. Go back to the original plan and pursue a career in art. But to do this he would have to marry a beautiful woman with a good job. The unsuspecting wife was procured and with this accomplished, he began to produce surreal art at a feverish rate. He knew people would clamor to own a Gilberts original.
When people did not clamor to own a Gilberts original, Steve wondered if it was time to go back to the drudgery of the printing industry or get used to asking " Would you like fries with that?". But taking one last chance he displayed some work at Rivercon 20. His work was well received and with this sorely needed boost to his career (not to mention ego), Steve's journey into the world of fantasy and horror illustration was off to a start.
From 1995 to 2003 Steve focused on producing work solely for convention art shows. In the summer of 2003 Steve gathered up his courage and made the foray into publishing, starting with an inquiry to Space and Time Magazine. To his shock, Steve was given an assignment. Now what what would he do? Of course he did the right thing and accepted the job.
Steven and his lovely wife Becky now live in a spooky Queen Ann cottage within a small Dunwich-esk village of southern Indiana, near the now abandoned ammo plant of his youth. While hiding from the townsfolk, Steven concocts odd illustrations for the small press industry.
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