Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Gallery

Elfwood was the best Fantasy and Science Fiction Art Gallery on the web. It was open to everyone, to browse, to contribute, and to criticise or applaud other people's works. In an ideal world, it would have been the most successful and widely-visited art gallery. It inspired me to enjoy art, despite my previous twenty-five years' lack of interest.

It was the success of Thomas, who has worked to coordinate the Fantasy Art Project, as a volunteer, for several years. He and other volunteers have been working increasingly hard as the galleries grew, and it has became obvious that this was a full-time project for many of them.

On June 26, Elfwood was suddenly and devastatingly taken off the air. This followed a campaign in which it had been bombed by emails containing abuse and death threats to Thomas and the other ERB unpaid staff, all apparently started by a controversy over plagiarism.

The Elfwood site gave me the confidence to pick up a pencil and draw, only three months ago, and encouraged my budding skills. In writing this, I publicise my support for Elfwood, and announce that I hope they will be back on-line, soon.

I will miss the Elfwood Art Gallery and all their related sites, and I hope everyone connected with the project knows that.

23:58, 28 June: I have just discovered that Elfwood will be put back, since the flood of supportive emails has convinced the site that most of the community care. I will leave the Guide as it started, though, as memory of how much I cared.