A Time to Mourn - Illustration by book cover artist Duncan Long

From time to time I am contacted by people who have been touched by my artwork, often seeing things in my illustrations that I aimed to share — or hadn’t intended, at least on a conscious level. They share stories of joy and hope, and sometimes of sorrows and hurt.

It’s amazing how many of us live day in and day out carrying tragedy in our souls that remains invisible to others. And equally troubling how we manage to remain oblivious to the similar pains (or worse) that burden those around us.

I guess that’s the human condition, and one that art (be it music, literature, or painting), when doing its job, yields a glimpse of those things of which we usually remain oblivious. Once in a while we glimpse the pain in those broken, hidden hearts around us and perhaps are a little more understanding.

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Duncan Long is a freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov’s Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See my cover illustrations at: DuncanLong.com
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