A Troop Embedded with an Artist

Sharon Butler's recent post, Embedding Artists with the Troops, gave me much to think about. She refers to a recent article by Ruaridh Nicoll in the The Observer that examines the role of art and combat. Here's the last paragraph from the article:

"No one is ordering artists to the front. It is a choice, and they have a responsibility not to react like Howson. The authorities must be prepared to allow artists to risk their own lives, letting them see what our soldiers are living through. That way the work they produce can have the power to trouble our souls." - Ruaridh Nicoll

Right now, my soldier/son is home with me - on leave. He's been asking if I'm ever going to paint landscapes again. He likes the ones I do of water and reflections. I don't know how to answer him. I guess I'm on a leave of sorts too.

For the time being, it's making personal sense to focus on one object at a time - to consider carefully its relationship to all of the forces that surround it - to look at it from all possible angles.

Hanging in there - suspended - dangling - but still finding time to enjoy the simple everyday things that keep us grounded. It's so good to have him home.

Summertime by the Creek, 6 x 10 inches, oil on wood panel, 2006, in a private collection downrange