Month: December 2019

Attorney and artist Victor Hardy looks back on the now-infamous 2004 Golden Demon Awards event.

 

Famed around the world for his miniature painting masterpieces and his involvement with the popular wargame Warhammer 40,000, Victor Hardy, from Austin, Texas, is also a well-respected attorney. Currently holding the title for the top-rated piece of miniature painting ever on the hobby’s biggest website, the lawyer and artist takes a look back on a now-infamous Golden Demon event held in 2004 centered around Warhammer 40,000 and associated artwork. 

 

Sponsored by Games Workshop, the Golden Demon Awards are named after the most coveted award presented during the annual competition of the same name. “Held annually, the awards represent the pinnacle of miniature painting,” explains Hardy, “and often demonstrate the finest work from the world’s best miniature painters.”

 

Despite occurring 15 years ago, Hardy’s tale of the now-infamous 2004 Golden Demon Awards event had, until fairly recently, not been told. “At the now-infamous Golden Demon Awards 2004 event, I had the pleasure of spending the day with, among others, Bruno Grelier, Jeremy Bonamant, David Waeselynck, and Jacque Alexandre,” reveals Hardy. “These guys were crazy!” exclaims the artist and attorney. 

 

The group, from France, he says, were all so enthusiastic and passionate about the miniature painting hobby that they were on another level. “Even today, 15 years on, I still have so much respect for their talents,” adds Hardy. 

 

The French, he reveals, swept the 2004 Golden Demon Awards, with Jacque Alexander taking home the prized Slayer Sword trophy. Victor’s now-famous piece, Golgotha, however, which was entered into the 2004 event, was controversially disqualified. “My new friend, Bruno Grelier, had, as it happens, entered into the same category,” explains Hardy, “and subsequently won.” 

 

Now, he says, comes the amazing part. “Bruno, having seen that Golgotha had been disqualified, gave me his own Golden Demon trophy and asked me to take it,” reveals Hardy. “He insisted that I should have it because he believed that I deserved it,” he adds. 

 

In offering Victor Hardy his Golden Demon trophy, the Frenchman was, the artist and attorney says, giving up one of the most precious things that a miniature painting award competitor can hope for. “We barely spoke a common language,” points out Hardy, “and, yet, he gave this incredible award to someone who, the day before, was a complete stranger.”

 

Sadly, a few years later, in June 2012, Bruno Grelier passed away. “Only someone who was completely passionate and crazy about the hobby,” adds Hardy, wrapping up, “could’ve done what Bruno did, and he remains fondly remembered by myself and countless others from the miniature painting scene in the U.S., Europe, and around the world.”

The millennia-old field of study originating from an ancient Greek love of wisdom, award-winning artist and attorney Victor Hardy shares his passion for philosophy.

 

Defined as the study of fundamental questions surrounding existence, knowledge, reason, language, values, and the mind, philosophy—from the Greek word, philosophia—translates to a love of wisdom. An award-winning artist and renowned attorney from Austin, Texas, Victor Hardy reveals his passion for the millennia-old field of study.

 

“Within philosophy—the study of fundamental questions surrounding existence, knowledge, reason, language, values, and the mind—such questions are often posed as problems,” explains Hardy, a renowned artist and attorney based in the Texas state capital city of Austin. “These problems,” he continues, “are then closely examined with a view to finding a resolution.”

 

Attorney Victor Hardy specializes in liquidation proceedings, online and multimedia patent infringement litigation, due diligence, intellectual property law, and class action discrimination lawsuits.

 

According to Hardy, the term philosophia was most likely coined by the ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and founder of Pythagoreanism, Pythagoras of Samos. For millennia, philosophical methods have centered around critical discussion, questioning, systematic presentation, and rational argument. “Philosophy historically encompassed any body of knowledge,” Hardy explains, “with so-called natural philosophy, for example, encompassing physics, medicine, and astronomy.”

 

More recently, however, the growth of modern research-led universities, he says, has seen academic philosophy and other disciplines begin to specialize and professionalize. “Today, what prior to the 19th century may have been considered to be entirely philosophical in nature, we now boast distinct academic disciplines for,” Hardy reveals, “including economics, sociology, physics, and linguistics.”

 

“Distinct areas of focus, however, and particularly those closely related to art and other pursuits, have,” he adds, wrapping up, “at the same time, remained part of the field of philosophy despite more recent advances in research and academia.”

 

A graduate of Harvard Law School, the University of Houston, and the University of Texas Law School, Victor Hardy has more than two decades of experience in high-stakes law. In his spare time, the multi-award-winning artist enjoys a passion for miniature painting, inspired by the popular wargame, Warhammer 40k. For more than ten years, Hardy has been responsible for one of the internet’s most famous and revered pieces of miniature painting, and continues to hold the title for the highest-ranked miniature of all time on one of the hobby’s biggest and most well-established websites.

 

To learn more about Victor Hardy, an award-winning artist and renowned attorney from Austin, Texas, head to https://victorhardyattorney.com/.