I’m not sure how I haven’t done it before now, but recently I made my home work-space (and PC gaming space) very ‘on brand’ for me, Rob Dwiar, the lover of and proponent of the quality of video game landscapes.

I’ve sat in this corner of the living room since the early days of the pandemic in 2020 and while I had been trying to keep myself and my setup as pushed into the corner, and away from our living space as possible, this year I decided to change it a bit, and embrace this little space that is mine (and the cat’s, and the dog’s at times too).

Needing to rejig a wall due to a new standing desk and the first attempt at some game-storage shelves not working out, I put some thought into how to store a lot of games but also display some art I’ve had my eye on for a while in the form of Displate’s metal posters. After a bit of searching, I was lucky enough to find an artist on the site called Mikael Aguirre who has a small but wonderful collection of his own paintings of video game landscapes and places. I needed no extra motivation and filled my boots - the result is what you see in the images here now. (Yes, that is a Witcher 3 landscape image as my monitor background…) I’ll leave you to guess what the games are - let me know in the comments!

(This also gives you a peek into the place where I'll be writing, researching, and working on Genius Loci too - it's the perfect setting, and is supported by my hundreds of game art books and landscapes books on the shelves on the opposite wall!)

 

 

Overall while this just makes for a very welcome and overall-pleasing place to be at for hours at a time, I’m also finding it deeply motivating and, dare I use a commonly-used word in these updates again, inspirational to have these video game landscapes, beautifully painted and presented right in front of my eyes, surrounding me. Constantly. This is enhanced by the fact that these are not just ‘any’; these are game landscapes or places that are my favourites, that have had an impact on my writing, that genuinely mean something to me, and ones that I couldn’t be in or look at for too long. (Such are the quality of these paintings, I now also have another reason to properly try some other games like the Dark Souls series too!)

Anyway, now, whenever I look even just a smidge away from my screen I can get an immediate and thunderous pang of excitement and enjoyment, a bit of direct visual stimulus and inspiration for Genius Loci, and a reminder of what I’m doing with the book - with your help. It’s another way of reminding me that I really can’t wait to get going properly on Genius Loci, and encourage you to keep sharing it and spreading the word to get backers! Progress has been slow and steady, but I see Genius Loci’s journey as a bit of a slow burner; a gentle but progressive walk towards its goal, much like a relaxing landscape stroll…

My eternal thanks to you for backing this book, and here’s to a big bit of progress this summer!