Wounded Warriors

Corporal Zachary Stinson

Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter

Lance Corporal Tyler Huffman

Last Thursday and Friday, fellow war artist Richard Johnson and myself, visited with and sketched battle wounded Marines recovering at McGuire Veterans Administration Hospital in Richmond, Virginia. For two days we followed three Marines as they relaxed with family and friends, and endured sessions of painful physical therapy.

Only one word is adequate to describe these young men....Courageous.

In his poem Invictus, William Ernest Henley put it perfectly:

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

You can see Richard's work and read about our visit at Canada's National Post.

Gone Too Long

Sorry for being gone for so long. Since my last posting in September I got married. I'll post pictures very shortly of Janis and my wedding at the National Museum of the Marine Corps this past 10/10/10.

I've been very busy with a number of projects. Other than being a newly wed, my number one priority is my Masters of Fine Arts in Illustration program with the University of Hartford. Here's one of my projects, an interpretation of a Collier's magazine cover in the style of J. C. Leyendecker. A fellow MFA student is originally from Russia, and assures me I could have gotten a job of doing Lenin paintings full time.

I've also been working on a set of oil paintings for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation based on my trip to Afghanistan last June. Myself and fellow war artist Richard Johnson, are planning a trip back to cover the Marines in Helmand Province during the month of April. The New York Times Opinionator website is going to carry my art, photos and dispatches again. Richard's work will appear in the National Post of Canada.

In the Shadow of the Opium Harvest, Helmand.

Here's one of my oil paintings in progress. The title is going to be "In the Shadow of the Opium Harvest". It shows a Marine dog handler and his dog resting in the shade at high noon next to a pile of dried poppy stalks. During my June trip to Helmand Province, the Marines were being rocketed all day. The rockets were Chinese, new and freshly purchased with opium profits.