'Dennis'
Viet Nam 1968-69
20x20 torn paper collage
Unfinished portrait of Dennis with Photo
Dennis, a very good friend of ours, emailed me and ask me if I would do his portrait from Viet Nam for his wife for Christmas, and it not only scared me to death, but also honor that he would trust me with it.
I told him I would try but no promises. When he sent his pictures they made me cry, at the thought of what he and his wife and family went through knowing he was in such danger. Every picture he sent me had a special story about it. I printed out some some of his writing, and put it on the edges of the canvas. I printed his photos out, and made them in a gray color, and put them in it too.Their daughter was born while he was gone so her birth date is on it.
There is a lot of history , sadness, courage, honor, bravery and love in his story. I was surprised at some of the words I was able to find to go on it, that was just the right thing.
He decided to give it to his wife on Veterans day instead of waiting for Christmas. We are very fortunate to have men and women who will go and serve and defend our wonderful country., no matter what their part was. I am married to one myself.
And I want to say Thank you to Dennis for sharing this time of his life with all of us. It has been a long time coming. I am very honored to have gotten to do this for him and his family.
13 comments:
Eyes watering here, Suzy. The painting is wonderful. You too can be so very proud for your efforts. But the description of your process and all the meaning and sentiment you put into it will last for generations. That is what you bring to these works...meaning for all to seek out..literally and figuratively.
thanks Janet! you are so kind.
it was such an honor to get to do it.
Suzy, you are an amazingly, wonderful artist. This piece and it's story is powerful and touching. Thanks for sharing Dennis' collage with us.
Suzy,
This portrait is wonderful. Your caring character sure comes out in your work. That is what makes it so special. This is excellent work. The Lord Blessed you with this gift.
Dennis's story and your portrait cut straight to the heart. Everything about both are just beautiful.
Thank you so much for such encouraging kind words Nathalie, Marilyn and Connie!it is his story and I just put it down on a canvas for him, with lots of help from God! That is for sure. I think this art form is very intuitive, if you haven't tried it, you should! it is addicting as well as a lot of fun! and i might add extremely messy!
thanks you'll for taking the time to comment!
I was stunned when I first saw this, Suzy - its just fantastic, and so powerful. Thanks for sharing the story that goes with it.
Terry, thank you so much.it was such an honor to get to do it!
Dennis is awesome and you are awesome and I'm so proud your my mother! This is my favorite as of yet....but always excited to see what you come up with next. Love you!
Keri, What a sweet thing for you to say. You are awesome to me! and am proud you are my daughter.
thank you honey bunny!
Very nice tribute, Suzy; and thank you for your kind comments about our patriots who serve to keep us free.
thank you Stevie!
Suzy, this portrait is AWESOME and my favorite of all the collages you've shown us. Wow! Doing a portrait in this manner gives it so much meaning with all the inclusions of words, photos and other meaningful events. I really just love this ... and do think you got such a good likeness. That must have been difficult. You are such a pro!
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