posted 02-27-2010 03:10 PM               

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in McCall's honor to the Challenger Space Center of Arizona, 21170 North 83rd Ave, Peoria, AZ 85382

collectSPACE: Famed space artist Robert McCall, 90, dies

...it was through the stamps and patches that he created did McCall ultimately see his artwork merge with their subject matter and enter space. The Apollo 15 astronauts flew his "Decade of Achievement" two-stamp pane to the Moon, and the last men to walk on the lunar surface did so while wearing an Apollo 17 mission patch designed by McCall.

"It is something I continue to covet," shared McCall in a 2006 interview with collectSPACE.com. "It was wonderful to really see this emblem that I designed on the Moon, in real time from Mission Control."

posted 02-27-2010 11:52 PM               

By the way, Spacefest was patterned after Planetfest with the addition of astronauts and speakers.

Andrei was staying with Bob and Louise at their home (on Moonlight Way) in Phoenix. They were collaborating on a piece which would become a USPO stamp. Sadly, both men are gone now.

posted 02-28-2010 05:17 AM               

The brief meeting was one I had long looked forward to; while in college in Maryland, I would visit the National Air and Space Museum frequently, often times to just sit and people watch. My favorite location was just under McCall's "Space Mural: A Cosmic View."

In fact, a panoramic postcard that reproduced the mural in miniature was almost always with me, as it was my bookmark of choice for whatever I was reading at the time.

In 2006, I was thrilled to be able to spend a short time on the phone with McCall, interviewing him about designing the STS-1 patch. I knew then that I wanted to talk to him again when the last shuttle patch was released -- in part to get his view on the entire shuttle program, but also hoping that the last patch, like the first, would be by his hand. Alas, that's not to be...

In 1995, when I was working for the National Space Society, McCall gifted each of us staff members with a signed print. Titled Within Our Reach, the art, like many of McCall's pieces, had a strong western influence with cacti providing the foreground for launching rockets in the distance. At the time, living where I was outside of DC, it felt somewhat out of place on my wall.

posted 02-28-2010 05:19 AM               

I introduced myself and told him of my interest in the space program and artwork. I mentioned that I had sought and received some advice from him the previous year about how to go about designing crew patches and how he approached creating a painting.

He had been kind enough to respond to me by writing a note at the bottom of my original letter to him. He even sketched a space scene on the front of the envelope. I still have his advice framed and hanging in my home office. I will never forget his kindness and generosity to me.

Last year I contacted him again to thank him for that advice and to share with him some of my modest success. I asked that if I was ever approached for advice could I use his words to me. In a phone conversation with his daughter he responded yes. Here are his words:

To Achieve Success:

1. Evaluate your talents honestly
   
2. Set your goals realistically
   
3. Work tirelessly at your art and love every minute of the work.
   
4. Study the great art of the past
   
5. Come back from inevitable failures and diappointments with courage
   
6. Work relentlessly