Portaits of Peace

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Last month, I received an e-mail from a Reflection of Generosity artist, along with photos of several works of arts she plans on submitting to the upcoming 9/11 exhibit. Her e-mail was so encouraging that I wanted to share a portion of it with you here:

Today I was doing some research for ‘Portraits of Peace’ at a local museum. The Haggin Museum in Stockton California has a show up of JC Leyendecker's work and I cannot get enough of the bold strokes and simple palettes he would use to create his pieces. I also am hooked deeply by his visual patriotism.

There was another person in the gallery who saw me sketching and photographing. , and I explained the purpose of my visit today and showed her a small photo of ‘Portrait of Peace’ in my camera's viewfinder. As I explained the piece, the symbolism and my desire to demonstrate the thanks of a grateful nation to American servicemen and women and their families, she began to quietly weep. She remained dignified and composed, yet tears gently leaked out of the corners of her eyes and she made no effort to conceal this from me. She thanked me, and told me she is a veteran herself, Army. She told me of her friends and colleagues who are still fighting the war long after their tour of duty has ended. And she told me about the disconnect between returning military and their families who do not (who cannot possibly) understand the harsh realities that reentry into non-combat life can bring on our military.

This is the third time someone has seen or heard about this piece of art and wept. The first was a mom of soldiers, the second was a social worker with the VA, and now this third person is Army. It tells me that your work in Reflections of Generosity is very important, and that hopefully this is only the start of a much larger movement to "demonstrate the thanks of a grateful nation to American servicemen and women and their families".

Click here if you would like more information about joining Reflections of Generosity and to “demonstrate the thanks of a grateful nation to American servicemen and woman and their families”.

War and Peace

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The following words and artwork titled 'War and Peace' was featured in the Cardus Comment article '1000 Words' 25 June 2010:

The flag above in "War and Peace" is a black and white image of the IR Flag that every American soldier wears throughout combat. After enduring a one year deployment to Iraq, I saw the IR Flag as a symbol of history. This is emphasized through the use of black and white colors. As soldiers return home from combat, the right flag represents the cost of war upon their lives (PTSD: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). The America they knew is no more. What once was white is now black. The rest of their lives is defined by the history and cost of war.

In the book , I describe my initial return from war to peace as follows:

As I stepped off the plane at Fort Drum to greet my family, the emotions of seeing them again were comparable to the joys of becoming a father. I felt the way I did the first time I met my wife. There were shared smiles and many tears of relief and contentment, and the phrase it is finished repeated in my mind. The realization set in that these happy "mission complete" moments are pauses within the cycle of ongoing deployments. Although thinking already of leaving again spurs difficult, painful thoughts and emotions, I stand ready for what is to come. This is the kind of experience that feeds inspiration and increases hunger for creativity . . .

For the year I served in Iraq's galleries of beauty and sacrifice, I discovered my own resurrection moment and spiritual shift. It became clear to me through the inspiration of these moments that the qualities and themes of each untitled work are priceless and need to be shared.

In the lasting memory of our heroes whose daily generosity gives us the hope and beauty we need for restoration and peace, I humbly offer the words of this essay as a sacrifice to their broken and, in the end, resurrected beauty. May the generosity of their lives live on through the charity of our own personal sacrifices.

The Art of War and Peace

Portaits of Peace

War and Peace