Honor Our Fallen

A few weeks back on Mother's Day weekend, my boys indulged the #rockNrollsoul of this #mommaNtheburbs. On our Texas main-street town there is Bronson Rock, a biker-rocker tribute of burgers & beer to the American 'legend' Jim Bronson. (A modern version of the solitary cowboy wandering the American West. Riding a Harley Davidson Sportster in search for soul, on the "Long Lonesome Highway.")

For the upcoming Memorial Day, I'd like to tribute the hot mama muse I met that evening. Black leather, black braids, black boots, a "Thy will be done" tattoo, and a Harley Davidson vest emblem honoring her fallen Marine son. She shared a softness that superseded the "Sons of Anarchy" stereotype, while simultaneously smokin' the hot mama chic with the grace of a "Proud Mother." For this tribute I retrieved three works from my painting "archives."

"Hot Mama." 2010. 11x14. pencil & oil pastel. 

"Veteran:" 'In Flanders field the poppies blow - McCrae.' 2012. 11x14. Acrylics on Canvas.

I composed the work "Veteran" as a magnified representation of the poppy flower. Specifically in memorandum of veterans, as described in the poem; "In Flanders Fields."  I was also influenced by Georgia O'Keefe in painting a precise botanical close-up, with a gust of abstraction, and some war-blown passion. 

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
the larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-John McCrae (1872-1918)

 

"Emblem of Vigilance." Janelle Jensen Fritz. 2013. 16x20. Acrylics on canvas.

This work has been adapted from it's original debut. If you click on the link, you can scroll down to the draft version. In the first painting draft I depicted a Texas night sky, in which a large American flag flickered and illuminated the sky through the trees and shadows. In the first draft I used imagery references derived from The Gadsden Flag, and Metallica’s “Don’t Tread on Me”. I usually listen to music while painting, but only on rare occasions do I coalesce the music with the actual work, or imbed the lyrical context into the artwork itself. In this most recent revision I incorporated several lyrical associations. Inscribed on the back of the canvas is: 

"EMBLEM of VIGILANCE" 

"You've Got To Listen To My Words"

-In God We Trust

Or

"in nothing, we trust."