If you enjoyed Issue 4 (Autumn 2021)’s cover art—Walter H. Von Egidy’s The Ghosts of the Fair—then you’ll enjoy this post, where you’ll get to see some of his other art.
His 34 Orchard bio:
Walter H. Von Egidy (Cover Art/The Ghost of the Fair) is an American artist, painter and film maker known for his Super 8 photoplays and enamel/oil paintings.
He has had his work exhibited at Gallery 13, The Burnham Library, Housatonic Art League and the White Silo. He has seven finished portrait commissions and private and public collections including a portrait of composer Franz Waxman at Byrd Library, Syracuse University. His work has won first place at various film festivals including the United States Super 8 Film Festival at Rutgers University. He is the owner of New Milford Sign Shop and Von’s Studio. Most recently, his painting “Saturday Night in the Caverns” was chosen as the cover for writer Bob Deakin’s collection, Unruly Mix (Tales of Music, Artists, Posers and Misfits. You can see more of Walter’s work and contact him at www.walterhvonegidy.com.
Every March, Von Egidy holds an exhibit of his works—many of them new—at the Burnham Library in Bridgewater, Connecticut. It’s always a stellar event, with many people we know from town as well as a chance to enjoy Walter’s work up close. One thing about his art—it’s Dali-esque, it’s colorful, and there’s always a good bet you’ll find a piece that speaks to you.
This is an older work of his, and I’ve seen it on display a few times, but I just love it. Maybe I’ll add this one to my collection someday if it doesn’t sell to someone else.
I love the dinosaur bird thing holding the little girl’s hand. That just speaks to me of the power of the imagination, and also, that our dark things are with us, perhaps even in childhood.
I spoke to my friend Lynn at the event, who was there with Walter when he got the idea for this piece — she said she was very curious about how he got that title, but it had something to do with a cloud in the night sky looking like a shell with the scorpion’s tail.
My husband really likes this one — it’s older, because we saw it at the last show. I think the use of what looks like a piece of asphalt, or something textured like asphalt, is really interesting — to represent the tiles on a house’s roof.
This is Nathan’s 2nd favorite.
I really like this one. I’m a sucker for anything firebird-related anyway, but I love that this couple is oblivious to what’s ahead. Kinda like life.
I LOVE the darkness in this, but we were laughing, because it’s on display in the children’s section and I just think that’s awesome.
This is Nathan’s favorite. We’d own this one if we had the cash.
This is the one I’d buy if I were looking for new work right now to add to my collection. To me, it speaks deeply of the things in our memories that we treasure that eventually are lost and buried throughout time and circumstance, yet the candy corn represents the thing we love the most, and that stays in the forefront no matter what. It might say something totally different to someone else–that’s the beauty of art–but that’s the story this one told me.
I own three pieces of Walter’s work.
This one I had to have because it reminded me of the last scene of my novel, BAD APPLE. I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘how the hell did Walter get inside my head?’
Years ago, Charles (my housemate) and I would spend New Year’s Day at Walter’s. Once, we ended up staying over due to inclement weather, and when we got up the next day, it was sunny, lovely—and like sixty-five degrees. This painting reminds me of that very special weekend. I want to say it was the year 2000.
There’s a really complicated personal story behind why I like this one, but again, it’s such a perfect match with what was going on at the time I just HAD to have it. It was like he was somehow telling my story.
34 Orchard 