Setting Lines | Artist: Cindy Tidler | Veteran: Ken S., US ARMY
Setting Lines
Artist: Cindy Tidler
Veteran: Ken S., US ARMY
I was very excited to participate in this project and especially glad that I had the opportunity to meet Ken. I have many family members and friends who are veterans and I was really interested to hear Ken’s recollections of his experience in the Korean War with the US Army Signal Corps. Ken described his year in Korea as one of the best years of his life- despite the circumstances. Other veterans I have met said that their time overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places- while difficult, were also the most vivid and alive experiences they have had. Experiences like that retain their hold on you even decades later. Ken also told me that he spent his career back home with the telephone company, which has interesting parallels with the Signal Corps. There is a continuity running through his experiences and I wanted to represent that is some way in this print while also reflecting his unique journey.
This print is a wood block print on mulberry paper. Woodblock prints have an interesting way of taking your carefully conceived idea and image and changing it in the process of carving and printing. The unpredictable transformation reflects the delicate and changeable nature of memory- even our most vivid ones. I learned to let go of the control I wanted to have over the image and appreciate the image that emerged from the medium.
Blue Bar of Metallurgy | Artist: Yvette M. Pino | Veteran: Carl, US Army
Blue Bar of Metallurgy
Artist: Yvette M. Pino
Veteran: Carl, US Army
Speaking with Carl and his wife was a really great look into everyday experiences that often get drawn into war experiences and create one incredible thread of a story. Carl trained homing pigeons when he was a boy. This would be a trade that he would pass onto his sons. It was also the use of homing pigeons during war times that made them famous for their skills and transferring of information– sometimes classified. Carl was sent to Paris during the war as an office clerk and knew about Pigeon missions, but was not part of that team himself. His eyes lit up when he spoke briefly about the “Blue Bar” pigeons he trained in his past. The image captures a Blue Bar in flight. I felt that “Blue Bar” was special because it is the same name of the ribbon you earn in the Air Force. The textures in the print reflect certain metals at a microscopic level. Carl moved on in his life to become a Professor of Metallurgy, or what we know as Material Science. The study of metal and its strength was appealing to me because of my welding training. I found a hand-written formula for certain metallurgy alloys and the heats in which they become liquid. I liked this formula because, in my opinion, it mimicked a bird in flight.
Untitled | Artist: D. Cavallero
Untitled
Artist: D. Cavallero
Untitled
Vocational Agriculture & Meeting at the ASA. Artist: Joshua Duncan
Vocational Agriculture & Meeting at the ASA
Artist: Joshua Duncan
Jim’s World | Artist: Brian James Bartlett | Veteran: Jim, US NAVY
Jim’s World
Artist: Brian James Bartlett
Veteran: Jim, US NAVY
This has been an excellent community based experience. I was paired with a kind-hearted gentleman who loved to tell stories about his family and his time spent in the Navy. I could tell, from first encounter, that Jim had a passion for art. Each Tuesday that we met, Jim was extremely excited to create. He has a very energetic and enthusiastic personality, which I knew I wanted to capture withy the production of the final work. I can only hope that I’ve lived up to Jim’s expectation in the piece I have created pertaining to our brief time spent together.
