As I explained
in the introduction to this project, I've selected a different
era for each of the services. This is so that not only are all
the services honored, but the major conflicts of the 20th &
21st Centuries are also depicted.
For the Air Force
I elected to depict their contribution to Desert Storm, the first
of the Gulf Wars. |
I think creating "Storm
Over the Desert" was probably the most nerve wracking of
all the paintings. You see the Administrator for the Eastern Nebraska
Veterans Home, the person who chose me for this project and the
one who had to approve the drawings is, of course, a retired United
States Air Force Colonel! Talk about pressure!
So it only follows that researching this piece and coming up with
a concept and composition was agonizing. I'm pretty sure that
during the process for this painting, my husband came the closest
he has ever come to burying me in the backyard. Something about
the "passionate" (maybe not exactly the word he would
use) way I approach research! In any case, I finally came up with
a drawing that I felt I could submit for approval.
And then I waited and waited and waited for a response - or at
least it seemed that way. And much to my chagrin, for the first
time in 3 paintings, the composition came into question. To explain
… I had submitted a drawing that was the painting almost
as you see it now, but without all the personnel that are now
showcased in the center of the work. I had included all sorts
of planes from Desert Storm, but left out the people. Yep, the
only person in the painting was the large figure in the foreground.
I spent the next 24 to 48 hours in a quandary as to what to do
to include more personnel. Did I have to start all over with a
brand new concept? In short, go back to the drawing board? But
this one seemed to work so well thus far, didn't it? And it had
taken days and days to get it to this point. Yikes!
But then, and please bear with me if this sounds like a really
bad scene from a b movie, I rolled over in bed after tossing for
hours and saw the solution clearly right there on the ceiling!!
Well, sort of anyway. I did manage to resist the urge to jump
up and head to my studio, but the next morning I was back at the
drawing board adding the personnel as you see them now. Finally,
as you I'm sure have figured out, that drawing was approved.
By the way, I think that Howard Googins, ENVH Administrator, was
right about the needed change. I also think that the painting
is much better for it and better represents the USAF as a whole.
But don't tell him I said that!!
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