Mimi the Gun Mage, my Grail

Artist: Clyde Caldwell (Painter)

10 Comments - 620 Views - 16 Likes

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Mimi the Gun Mage Preliminary

Artwork Details

Title:	Mimi the Gun Mage, my Grail
Artist:	Clyde Caldwell (Painter)
Media Type:	Paint - Oil
Art Type:	Commission
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	620
Likes on CAF:	16 17
Favorited on CAF:	1
Comments:	10
Added to Site:	8/13/2022
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Above you see the grail of my collection. It�s got a fun little story behind it, that I hope you�ll enjoy.

Back in 2013 I contacted Clyde Caldwell about a painting he did in the 80s. My luck did not hold true as it had when I�d previously sought out decades-old work. But he was accepting commissions, and he agreed to take on a piece mixing my favorite comic character, Mimi Masters, with the Iron Kingdoms RPG setting. It�d been a theme of mine for some time at that point.

Nine years ago as I post this my dad and I were in a Subway, stopping to eat on our way to visit a family member in the hospital. As we were sitting there eating I checked my phone, and found Clyde had sent me a photo of the finished painting, as you see above.

I had barely finished admiring his work when I heard a horde of children. I looked up, and found a kid�s soccer team had entered.

Then I saw their coach.

She could have been the model for the painting. Blood-red hair pulled back into a ponytail, blue eyes like the painting has�.I�d swear to you on the religious artifact of your choice that she had the silver-frame granny glasses you see in the painting, as well as nigh-identical facial features. The only difference was, well�a female friend once saw the painting and complained of how �ridiculously busty� Mimi was in it. The woman I saw that day made Mimi in the painting look flat chested, and I can only assume my friend would have caught the vapors if she�d laid eyes upon her.

I�m a big believer in synchronicity, so I decided I had to introduce myself. However, as I noted earlier, my dad was with me.

I�ve often heard people complain of their parents embarrassing them out in public when they try to talk to someone they�re attracted to. In all my life my father has only done that on two occasions, and unfortunately this was one of those occasions. I won�t go into detail, but suffice to say I bowed out as gracefully as I could after his behavior.

A few weeks later I saw her again. I was on my way home from work, and as my ride sat at a stop sign I looked over and saw her walking out of a townhouse and into a Mustang. Sadly, despite that path having always been my daily route to and from work, I�ve never seen her or her car again.

What makes this even more insane is that this is the second Mimi-lookalike I�ve encountered, but that story will be saved for another day.

If you�ve made it this far, let me take the opportunity to impress upon you the joy it was commissioning Clyde. Great to talk to easy to work with, and every suggestion he made was a great idea that improved the painting. He�s tied for first on my best experiences in commissioning an artist. In fact, there are actually two versions of Mimi as a gun mage, the original design that I�d come up with and painted myself, and the version Clyde came up with. His version is the superior version, and it�s been the basis for all my commissions since. I can�t think of any other way to describe this piece other than my grail.

Several years after I commissioned this piece, it was published in a limited-run collection in Europe. Clyde was kind enough to send me a copy, but it was shrinkwrapped, and I have never been able to bring myself to open it to compare the printed version to the colors of the reproduction. Given vast differences between originals and published reproductions of paintings in recent years, I am curious.

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About the Owner

	Redhead Demiurge
Joined:	August 2008
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Redhead 's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF

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Comments on this Artwork

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Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 8/14/2022

Is that a cactus or you're just happy to see the soccer coach?

Mustang Mimi, huh, huh, guess you better slow your mustang down
Oh Lord, you're my grail now
Mustang Mimi, "no daddy", oh Lord, guess you better slow your mustang down
Huh oh yeaah
You been coaching kids soccer about now
Oh! I guess I'll have to be an athlete of playground
Huh, what I'm six now?

Lee Harmon
Member Since 2020

1 - Posted on 8/14/2022

Caldwell is just an amazing artist and you have a perfect example of why that is Ralph. Congratulations on adding this gem to your collection and thanks for sharing it here on CAF!

Michael Greczek
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 8/14/2022

Wow, Clyde was channeling Gun Honey 9 years before the comic saw print.

I wonder if this gem was not the inspiration behind Gun Honey.

This is definitely in the Top 10 of all of Clyde's epic work, in my opinion. An incredible effort !!

Daily Planet Gallery
Member Since 2020

Posted on 9/7/2022

Holy Smokes! This red head is beautiful!! Wow. Congratulations. I am working on a similar grail that will take me a year to get...But my oh my. Love her!

Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 10/10/2022

Sockamagee!

Michael Weigant
Member Since 2009

1 - Posted on 10/10/2022

Love the story and the art ralph,but remember redheads come with tempers !

Redhead Demiurge
Member Since 2008

Posted on 10/14/2022

Michael Weigant wrote:

Love the story and the art ralph,but remember redheads come with tempers !

Funny thing. Every redhead I've known has been very mellow, while blondes in my life almost universally rode the crazy train.

Yet again I feel like I live in the Mirror Universe.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I gave to get my goatee waxed and pick up my Agonizer from the shop.

Aegon Targaryen
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 1/17/2024

Great painting. I contact Clyde about 5 years ago to get on his list for commissions, but after recently following up I've learned that Clyde is retired and no longer doing commissions. Larry Elmore no longer does commissions either and I'm not sure if Jeff Easley is taking in anymore projects. So whatever is out there is it. We'll have to fight each other for their artwork.

Redhead Demiurge
Member Since 2008

Posted on 1/20/2024

Aegon Targaryen wrote:

I'd recently heard Clyde wasn't doing commissions anymore, but was unaware Elmore had stopped as well. I'd talked to him once about doing a gun mage piece, but nothing ever came of it.

I never tried talking to Easley about a commission, but I did reach out to Fields, and never heard back.

I guess I need to dig out my other Caldwell commission and Elmore sketch and get them posted on here.

Aegon Targaryen
Member Since 2017

Posted on 1/21/2024

Redhead Demiurge wrote:

I'd recently heard Clyde wasn't doing commissions anymore, but was unaware Elmore had stopped as well. �I'd talked to him once about doing a gun mage piece, but nothing ever came of it.

�

I never tried talking to Easley about a commission, but I did reach out to Fields, and never heard back.

I guess I need to dig out my other Caldwell commission and Elmore sketch and get them posted on here.

What is your other Caldwell?

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