Honored to be part of a memorial to one of our fallen soldiers...

I just had to share an experience that I had this past weekend while painting at the gallery..

There was a fest going on a little further down the block so people were walking by the gallery to go to the fest.  I was outside painting at my easel when a young man came over to me after standing there for a few minutes not really looking at the paintings or other people out there with me.  He said that based on what he saw me doing,  he wondered if I could do a painting for him...though it would be sad.  I was a bit surprised by the comment but said of course and asked what he was looking for....at this point, he had not even walked around my easel to see what I was painting.....and he said that a friend of his had been killed in Afghanistan and he said that he wanted a painting that would symbolize and honor what he had been doing over there.


I was, of course, taken aback and tried to think of details to ask regarding the painting....did he want a portrait?  He said no, he had been talking with his buddies and they thought symbols like a boot, rifle, torn flag would be better suited to represent what he wanted the message to embody.  We discussed colors for the painting and he indicated that he wanted very melancholy colors to indicate the sadness of the situation.  Then I asked about size...how big did he want this and he then proceeded to tell me that this was for the headstone that they are putting at his grave site!  And that it takes time for the person to get shipped back from overseas, so the funeral would be in 4 - 5 weeks and could I complete it by then so it will be embedded in the headstone.  I said of course!! and we exchanged information so that I could get more details from him and show him sketches of my ideas before doing the final painting.
 
I am so honored to be part of such a tremendously important event honoring one of our fallen soldiers and that my painting will be there for as long as he is buried there....representing the love, honor and respect his loved ones feel for him now and forever.

See you soon,
Christine