A sampling of fantasy drawings by Leonardo LeGaspe, an accomplished 13 year-old South Pasadena Middle School Student, will be on display for the August 19th South Pasadena Public Library Celebration for Ray Bradbury’s 90th Birthday. Leo’s futuristic artistic stylings could easily lend themselves as cover art for science fiction magazines and paperback novels, perhaps even the kind that spawned the career of author extraordinaire Bradbury more than 60 years ago. Bradbury sold his first stories in 1943 to such magazines as Amazing Stories and Weird Tales. Since that time Bradbury has become internationally known as “The Greatest Living Science Fiction Author” and he’s published more than 30 books, 600 short stories, and innumerable essays, articles, screenplays, and plays. He’s also been widely hailed as one of the top American writers of the 20th and 21st Centuries. Leo LeGaspe, on the other hand, is just getting started, although his works have already been exhibited at several galleries including SPACE in South Pasadena.
Rumbling robots and gruesome monsters are just some of the aptly-named Leonardo’s many creations. Leo enjoys drawing his unique images more than anything else and he’s been working at it since he was four years old when he sketched a robot called Iron Giant. Leo was first inspired by his father who’s a professional fine art painter. Although his dad’s work gave him his initial impetus, Leo is almost completely self-taught. But like his father he works at his craft almost every day.
Leo exults that he’s “…honored to be a part of the South Pasadena 90th Birthday celebration and will be thrilled to see Ray Bradbury.” Surprisingly, Leo’s primary personal career goal is not to be a professional artist like his father, but rather to become a fireman. Mere coincidence or not, it’s noteworthy that Bradbury’s futuristic masterpiece Fahrenheit 451 was originally called “The Fireman” when it was first published in an abbreviated version in Galaxy Science Fiction in 1951.
The 90th Birthday Celebration for Ray Bradbury will be presented in the South Pasadena Public Library Community Room at 1115 El Centro Street on August 19 at 8:00 p.m. The free public program will also feature the screening of Something Wicked This Way Comes, a PG-13 rated 1983 Disney Film Productions’ feature from 1983. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m., which would be a very good time to marvel at Leo’s artwork, along with a selection of Ray Bradbury movie posters. No tickets or reservations are necessary and refreshments will be served. Sitting by the Seashore |
