Drawing on the Past

"Broken Promises"
mixed media on canvas 24"w x 30"h

Bath House Cultural Center is a local icon for interesting art events. Located near the botanical gardens, the center holds musical productions, plays and visual art shows. This marks it's 25th anniversary, and local artists were invited to choose a year and submit a piece of artwork representing that year. I chose 1991, and entered the painting above.

I doubt that it needs much explanation. It was one of my earliest paintings, done in 1997 about the death of my son in Desert Storm, January 1991. The text is a quote from President George Bush I, and reads "we will not risk the lives of American soldiers. Days later came the first casualties of the war, 12 Marines, including my young son.

The collage includes a pile of bullets, which I scanned and then printed with promises that we all make to each other, like "I would never hurt you", "I won't leave you", "I'll always take care of you", etc. There are almost 100 bullets with different "promises".

Then there's the photograph of the actual funeral, with the American flag a prominent feature.

I still like this painting, ten years after it was painted.