Sunday, April 26, 2015

Military Life Series

I have an ongoing series depicting scenes from military life.  As a military brat (which is the term lovingly used for children of military parents), military spouse and military mom I have extensive exposure to the military lifestyle…its trials and tribulations…its joys and adventures.  I have been compiling memories and stories from friends and family to capture these memories on canvas.  I paint from my heart and express emotion in my work.  I have the ideas, the memories, and the stories…what I lack are the models to depict these scenes.  Have a small group of neighbors that will pose for me setting up scenarios and portraying my memories.  Some I can paint from life and some I must photograph to work on my own.  I am always on the lookout for appropriate models to come and pose for me.  


I painted this as a representation of a family getting ready for deployment.  The father is going overseas for a number of months...up to a year.  It is not easy for families to endure these separations...but military families are tough.  

This piece shows a young child with his hand over his heart as they play taps at the end of the day.  At sundown, on a military installation, music is piped through a loudspeaker.  As soon as the music starts activity stops.  Everyone stands and either salutes or places their hand over their heart and faces the flag...if they can't see the flag they face the general direction... as a sign of respect for the lowering of the flag.  As soon as the music stops activity resumes.  


This is a fun piece.  I did that portrait of my son when he was deployed to Afghanistan.  It was shown at a local gallery. when my daughter in law visited she leaned over to give him a kiss.  I thought it was a perfect moment.  I did a painting of it that I gifted to my daughter in law.  

And now a favor!  If you have any stories of military experiences that you think will add to my series I would love to hear from you!  Please send stories and or pictures by commenting on this blog.  Of course if anyone lives nearby and would be kind enough to model...my door is always open and my schedule is flexible!  



4 comments:

Yayyy!!! Thanks for commenting!