Belize it! (part 3)

"Cora & Speth in Action" - sketch

Now that I've been back home for a few days I thought that I should post the last installment of "Belize it."  Below you'll find a group photo of the entire 459th AMDS including my wingman Chris Hopkins (far left) and myself (far right).  If you're wondering why I look so dazed... well frankly I was exhausted and had already started thinking about a couple of projects that I needed to work on before I got home.  

The sketch above was one of the few compositions that I was able to put together during my time in Belize.  Most of my drawings were just thumbnails to help me figure out what photos I would need.  This sketch includes Major Mario Cora and Capt. Sarah Speth during health inspection of the hotel's kitchen to ensure that everything is up to code and that we don't get sick.  Later on in the year I'll post some of the progress that I've made on this and a few other compositions.  

The 459th AMDS

Exiting Belize via a C17

Belize it! (part 2)

"Homeward Bound" - 8 x 10" - oil

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I didn't think that it would be fair to post this blog without a piece of artwork so I'm including yet another painting that will be included in the Art at the Mill show in Millwood, VA from April 23rd to May 8th.

Now let me share some of the photos from my current adventure with the U.S. Air Force Art Program in Belize.  We're at the final stretch for this trip with thousands who have benefitted thus far.  It's interesting during the day when talking to the medical personnel in the unit in between patients, many of them either tell me how much they appreciate what I'm doing or that they wish that they had some sort of artistic talent.  While I enjoy my life as an artist and I try to do a good turn daily, it's nothing compared to the many lives that they are changing in just this short time.  

I'll have some sketches to show later on but for now enjoy the photos below.

Unpacking the truck in preparation for a long day of hard work (our leader Col. Williams is in the black)

We spent Sunday monkeying around with the good people of the 459th AMDS at the Mayan ruins of Lamanai, Belize on our one day off.

Yup, I climbed that temple (108 ft)

Belize it!

"Green Pastures Gang" 24" x 30" - oil

Sold

The painting above is one of six paintings that will be making its way to the Art at the Mill event in Millwood, VA.  Although the show doesn't start for a few weeks (April 23rd), I thought I should get these pieces in the mail before I go on my next big "field trip" with the United States Air Force Art Program.  

Have you started scratching your head yet and asking yourself "gee, where is Steven off to this time?"  Well folks this time I'm in sunny, sunny Belize documenting the humanitarian mission of the USAF.  I'll be here for about two weeks with a team of medical personnel that will be going from town to town to cater to many of the medical needs of the Belizean citizens.   

Although it is beautiful here this trip is not all about fun and games. Believe it or not Belize is actually a third world country.  It really shows once you drive inland and away from the tourist sites.  Despite their situation the people of Belize seem to have a remarkably positive outlook on life.  This is the kind of mission that can really make you thankful for what you have.

A Force to be Reckoned With

"Welcome to Manas" - 24" x 49" - oil

So some of you may know that every now and then I get to go on some awesome trips for the United States Air Force.  For those of you that don't know...well I just told you.  The deal is that for every trip that I go on, I donate one painting that sums up or documents the trip.  Well in the past year I've been sent on three different trips.  The time has come to turn these paintings over to the Air Force.  For about three months these pieces will be on display at the National Museum of the US Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB.  

My trip to Manas Air Field in Kyrgyzstan was as close as I could get to Afghanistan.  I took advantage of seeing our brave young men and women make their last pitstop before heading to Afghanistan and in some cases, heading home from their first, second or third tour.

The trip to Los Angeles was for the artists to get a better understanding of the Air Force's part in space exploration and technology.  Most of the stuff that they were talking about we couldn't actually see or take photos of but somehow I was able to put together a decent piece.  

"Working on the Mini-RF" - 14" x 24" - oil

My last and most recent journey took me to Elmendorf's AFB near Anchorage, Alaska.  The 477th Fighter Group was the initially a bombardment group to help train the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II.  This group was reactivated in 2007 and they became the first Air Force Reserve unit to fly, maintain and support the F22A Raptor.  Basically, it's a big deal.  You can read about the full trip through this link http://www.jber.army.mil/aw/2010/100416/Story8.htm

"Elmendorf's 477th Fighter Group: Air Force Reserve Command's First F-22A Raptor"

Full Frontier - part 3

"Natural Wash" - 24" x 24" - oil

Before anymore time passes I thought that I should post the conclusion to my trip to Alaska. During the last two days we were unbelievably busy. Our main focus dealt with documenting the F-22 Raptors.

During the next two days Major Reaver helped us get so many dynamic pictures that most people will never have the opportunity to experience. We started Wednesday with a trip to the flight tower (actually on top of the tower). From there we went down on the flight line where we watched a few F-22's land within shouting distance of our group. It was both awesome and loud. Amidst our adventures we came across two rescued eagles. I couldn't pass up a chance to take some photos for my friend and fellow painter, Robert Caldwell. After we were through yelling at the eagles to look sexy for the camera we headed to the hanger for some close up photos of the planes. It was a productive day.

The next and last official day of our trip would be spent observing a C-17 being loaded for a humanitarian exercises in another part of Alaska. Believe it or not I found it quite interesting, although it was one of the colder mornings. After a good lunch we went back to the hangers to visit with a few of the technicians and to see them at work. We went back to the reserve office to say our goodbyes and thank yous.

Lastly, Ben and I went downtown to meet my friend and former classmate Stephanie Johnson. I hadn't seen her in... well let's just say a while. She was the only person that I knew in Anchorage and I didn't want to leave without seeing her. When we were in school, I always admired Stephanie's talent and her delightful personality. The trip would have been a total bust if I had missed out on seeing her.

Full Frontier - part 2

"Scioto #2" - 30" x 40" - oil

Day two was actually day one. Easter was exhausting but we were ready for our first real day at Elmendorf Air Force Base. We met Major Lisa Reaver, our chaperon/escort, to get started on the day. As with most trips, we started off with meeting a few of the bigwigs of the base so that we could let them know what we're looking for and if it's possible. Everyone was very excited to have us on the base. They were even more responsive once they found out exactly what we were there to do.

After the meet and greet, Lisa took us on a tour of the base and further explained the importance of this event. The 477th Fighter Group was originally the World War II era 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) manned by African American pilots and the first Reserve unit to field the F-22. Basically, this was history in the making and everyone was excited that we would be highlighting this event.

While taking the tour, Lisa told us about some great photo opportunities. She had one in mind that overlooked the base and Anchorage. With the help of Airmen Matt, the base photographer, we found the wooden tower. This tower obviously didn't get a lot of visitors as the road was covered in snow. This is where things get interesting. We parked the truck and proceeded up the snow covered road to the tower that sat on a steep snow covered hill. What's a little hike? Well after we stepped off of the road onto the hill I stepped into two feet of snow. This must be a fluke. I would step down into two feet of snow continuously for the next twenty yards while Matt, who had a thinner frame than myself, was able to walk on the top layer of the snow.

Although we gave Lisa a hard time about leading us into an "Arctic deathtrap" the view from the rickety tower was totally worth the hike. Here's a view of the tower, with our motley crew and the view from the tower with an F-22 taking off.

Full Frontier - part 1

"Falling #2" - 12 x 24" - oil

Earlier this year I was thinking about all of the places that I would love to visit. Well an opportunity came up to mark one of these places off of my list. Ben Bensen (Society of Illustrators of L.A. Air Force Chair) called me up a few weeks ago to ask if I'd be interested in taking a trip with him to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. This trip was developed so that we could document the first Reserve unit to field the f-22 Raptor. Of course I jumped at the opportunity.

Usually there's not a whole lot of notification before you have to pack up and leave. This trip was no different. We were scheduled to arrive in Anchorage on Easter Sunday. Ben and I spent a good portion of Easter in the airport and possibly even longer driving around the base looking for lodging. If you've ever seen or been on a military base, then you know that after a while the buildings start to look the same. With a LOT of help and a full tank of gas we finally found the lodging office and then our rooms. The accommodations were quite nice but it was to be expected since according to the Air Force we were Colonel's.

After quickly unpacking, our next challenge was to find a place to eat that would be open after 8pm on Easter Sunday. By this time we had already been through downtown Anchorage and knew what might be available. After a bite at Applebee's we headed back to the base where we were greeted by a locked gate. Apparently the gate that we had originally gone through was not the main gate and therefore was locked up for the night. So here we are in the rental car driving around in the dark looking for the main gate. By the time we arrived at the main gate I think we had been driving for about an hour. Even though we had already been on base and dropped our bags off we still had to get a visitors past.

I can't speak for Ben but I couldn't believe how quickly I fell asleep after all of that. And that's just day one... to be continued.

Air Force Art Program webpage

Painting out of a Corner

"Falling #1" - 12 x 24" - oil

On my last post I mentioned the gallery roundabout, which included a drive to galleries in Virginia, Tennessee and Ohio. During this trip I received a call offering me a small show at McConnell Arts Center in Worthington, OH. So since my return I've been scrambling around like a three legged dog with a four legged itch to get some work done. This is one of the first of a series of paintings that I need to have done by May. I'm shooting for 15 good pieces but I'll settle for 10 awesome pieces.

In the midst of this paint-a-thon I heard the ring ring jingle of my phone. It was Ben Bensen of the Air Force Art Program calling to see if I were interested in going to....drum roll....Alaska! I jumped at the opportunity. Unfortunately the trip would require that I leave on Easter but a chance like this doesn't come often.

More to come on the trip and my Alaskan adventures real soon.

From Afghanistan with Love, part 3

"Blue Ridge Farm" - 24" x 48" -oil

Unavailable

With all of the show stuff going on I just realized that I didn't post the conclusion to my trip to Afghanistan. So without further ado...

Since the last time we left Steven he was waiting to discuss flights out to Bagram. We went to the PERSCO (Personnel Support for Contingency Operations) tent to see about our flight out. The five of us sat their listening to all of the names that were listed. Only two of our names were called to board the flight... neither of which was mine. Obviously this caused some concern because it would send one artist and one escort to Afghanistan leaving the remaining two artists and one escort in Kyrgyzstan.

This is where the trip took a bad turn. While in the terminal waiting area, one of the other artists convinced the higher ups to send two artists instead of an artist and an escort. While making this deal, the same artist decided (without my knowledge) that if two artists were going that I would not be one of them. This was not his decision to make and his reasoning was even more disrespectful to me as both an artist and a human being.

So there I was in Kyrgyzstan, dazed, confused and angry. With the exception of the mountains and the dry air there was nothing special about the base. Fortunately my escorts and some of the folks at public affairs were able to get me into some places around the base that were normally off limits. Got lemons...make lemonade. Everyone that I encountered during this time was kind of skiddish until they found out that I was a volunteer and not a contractor (soldiers don't seem to be fond of contractors).

In the end I was able to get a lot of reference for my painting. The trip wasn't what I expected but my life isn't what I thought it would be (it's better). Anyway...since I'm posting this I can say that I got home safely. Now I wonder where the next trip will take me too.

From Afghanistan with Love, part 2

"At the End of the Day (James)"- 16" x 20" - oil

I've never been in an actual briefing, so I knew that I should pay extra close attention. I tried but I would have been better off learning french from a dog with a lisp. While explaining the rules and procedures of the base they must have used a thousand acronyms (none of which I knew). It didn't help that I was ridiculously congested from the change of weather.

After the briefing we went to get our IBA's (Interceptor Body Armor) and helmets. After adding this twenty pounds of protection we recieved the news that we would not be leaving for Afghanistan just yet. Since we did not expect to stay at Manas we were in need of some sleeping quarters. Before leaving the states we were all told that we would need to bring a sleeping bag with the expectation of sleeping in tents. Senior Master Sgt. Lynch of the public affairs office was right there to help us out. Because we were given the rank of Colonel's our sleeping arrangements were awesome.

There was a meeting at 10pm to discuss flights out to Bagram but that was several hours away. The next several hours were spent between the dining hall, the BX (base exchange) and my bed. - to be continued...

p.s. the above piece is part of the upcoming exhibition

Reminder:"Between Homes" new paintings by Steven Walker
November 06 - December 23, 2009
opening reception, Friday, November 6th 6:00 until 9:00 pm
Glave Kocen Gallery 1620 W. Main St., Richmond, VA

From Afghanistan with Love, part 1

"The Distance" - 18" x 24" - oil

Sold

Where's Steven at now? Well for the past two weeks I've been on a trip with the Air Force en route to Afghanistan. As a member of the Air Force Art Program I sometimes get called to go to different bases to document the current activities and later donate a painting based on the trip. It's always an honor to travel with the Air Force. I see it as my way of giving back. I would have posted this blog earlier but my mother reads these posts and would have lost sleep thinking about her son going to Afghanistan.

I met up with everyone from the program on Tuesday and flew out of BWI on Wednesday. I think that out of the two weeks, we spent one week in airports. We had a slight bump in the road when a fuel leak on our plane forced us to spend the night in Landstahl, Germany. If you have to break down somewhere... Germany's not a bad place at all.

By the time we landed in Kyrgyzstan it was Saturday morning. I had no concept of time or space at this point. I along with about 100 soldiers exited the plane only to board a bus that would take us to be briefed at Manas Air Base. - to be continued...

Reminder:
"Between Homes" new paintings by Steven Walker
November 06 - December 23, 2009
opening reception, Friday, November 6th 6:00 until 9:00 pm
Glave Kocen Gallery 1620 W. Main St., Richmond, VA

Ground Control to Major Tom, Part 2

"Shelby Street Bridge" - 30" x 40" - oil

Available at The Arts Company

So as promised, I'm delivering the rest of the Air Force story. The reason for this trip was to document the space aspect of the United States Air Force. The folks in Washington noticed that there are hundreds of paintings of airplanes but very few pieces of art that focus on the space program.

During the next couple of days of our space technology field trip we visited Raytheon, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Space X. Usually the artists on these trips take hundreds of reference pictures to work from once they get home. I said usually. This was far from a normal trip. We were not allowed to take any of our own photos and at Boeing, I couldn't even take in a lead pencil. A lot of the information that we were given was fascinating for a regular Steve like me. I would love to talk more about the trip but 70% of what we saw was classified and I can't even acknowledge 90% of what I didn't see (hush, hush). Don't even get me started on the little green . . . never mind.

Ground Control to Major Tom

"Broad and High" - 36" x 36" - oil
Available at Art Access Gallery

A few weeks ago a fellow artist commented on how my life as an artist is so exciting. I've never considered my life to be anything other than drab and stressful. This leads me into today's post.

About two weeks ago I received a call from the United States Air Force Art Program to go to Los Angeles,CA to visually document the Space aspect of the Air Force. Now for those of you who are not familiar with the Air Force Art Program, let me explain. To create a visual history, the Air Force sends artists on trips to bases near and abroad to view the current event or exercise that is taking place. In return for the trip, the Air Force asks that the participating artists donate one painting that is based on their experience.

The trip started off with a few travel hiccups but nothing serious. There was a one hour wait for a rental car but on the bright side there was a woman that did the electric slide for about forty minutes while she waited in line. Although our dinner plans were thrown off by delayed planes, the few of us who had arrived were able to grab a bite at the Redondo Beach Brewing Co.

to be continued...

The Words of a Gentlemen

"The Davis Farm" - 14" x 14" - oil
(Part of the VMFA statewide exhibition)

"An apology? Bah! Disgusting! Cowardly! Beneath the dignity of any gentleman, however wrong he might be." - Baroness Emmuska Orczy

On that note I'll start this post by not apologizing for my absence during the past week. Last week was spent in Virginia framing pieces for the VMFA project, dropping off artwork and attending the Airforce Art Gala. I must also not apologize to all of the people that I could not see during my visit. It's rough going back home and only being able to focus on work when you much rather score free meals off of friends that are happy to see you.

The Egg is in the Skillet

Air & Rescue - 24" x 48" - oil

A few months ago I went on a trip to Fort Dix, New Jersey on behalf of the Air Force Illustration Program. The trip included live fire, war games, a hidden Rockwell and a guy named Scrat (I wish that I was making this stuff up). Per the agreement with the Air Force I was commissioned to create one painting based on the week long trip/tour. Since now a days I don't do as much figurative work I thought I'd post the painting with all of the process work that led me to the finish work. This painting will be a part of the United States Air Forces' permanent art collection.

If you weren't aware of the trip and want to read up on all of the adventures of five crazy artists just click here.

Moving on Up...to the West Side

Merlin - 16" x 24" - oil


The move finally happened. With the help of my good friends Alex and Clinton we were able to load the truck in record time. I think that over half of the truck was either paintings or paint supplies. Who would have thought that three artists could move so fast.

Early Wednesday morning (4am) we headed to Ohio with a fully loaded moving truck, a pickup with a car attached. We were seriously chucking it up the hills of West Virginia but once we crossed into Ohio it was smooth sailing (or towing).

After a brutal week of packing and unpacking, I finally have a new space to paint in. It's not a huge loft space but it's certainly bigger than anything I've had in previous years. The painting above is the last piece that I painted before packing up. This Merlin helicopter was painted specifically for my dad's "war room" (don't ask)

McGuire Airforce Base Day 3 (finale)

New Castle 8" x 10" - oil

click here to view the show

And now here's the finale of the McGuire Airforce Base trip. By this time we've been dismissed and gave thanks to TSgt. Sturkol. He was such a big help! Leave it to five illustrators to turn a simple drive back to the hotel into a near death experience. O.K., near death is stretching it. Although we were twenty miles from the entrance of the base, we were still technically on the base. I admit that I wasn't much help this time around while at shotgun.

Getting lost always starts with "well I think we went this way" or "I remember seeing this road." Now we're in trouble. Someone decided to take a right and from there things got weird. I thought that I was in the old Looney Tune cartoons where the backgrounds were on a constant loop. After a while we heard the traffic from the interstate and took this as a good sign. Nope. We kept passing signs that read Sudden Gunfire, Firing Range, and Tanks only. As they got worse we just laughed harder. We were clearly hysterical.

After a brief rest at the hotel we decided to head back to Princeton to splurge on a good meal. The night before we had a free meal so no one felt guilty about a little indulgence. We had a great meal at the Witherspoon Grill. If you're ever in Princeton I would highly recommend it. While the meal was great the conversation was even better. Tatiana, Jim and I talked shop for a few hours. It was utterly awesome (sorry David)! I know I might sound like a little school girl with a crush on "Bobby Neighborboy" but I was sitting across from Jim Bennett talking about art. Calgon take me away.

The night ended with all of us viewing pictures of Tatiana on stage with Tyra Banks on the Tyra Banks show. We said our goodbyes to Bill and Jim as they'd be able to sleep in while the rest of us catch early flights home. The ride back to the airport went problem free. I parted ways with Tatiana and Jim yadda, yadda, yadda and I'm back at home.

What a Trip!

McGuire Airforce Base Day 3 (part 1)

card design by www.cthroodesigns.com

Honest Engine! This is the last plug for the Fredericksburg Show. This is the postcard for the show. Christopher Thompson of CThroo Designs was gracious enough to design the postcard for me. The opening is Saturday, July 5th from 5 to 7:30pm at 813 Sophia Street, Fredericksburg, VA. Check out the show, look at the work, write me hate mail...whatever.

Now back to the McGuire Airforce Base adventure. This is the final day that we (the airforce art crew) would be on base before taking our flights and parting ways. We were told that it was going to be one of the slower days as it was a Saturday and slow it was. Our venture took us to Lakehurst, New Jersey. This was the site of a training exercise where a good portion of this base was turned into a Middle East Simulation. Soldiers were given a more realistic view to better equip them for when they're deployed.

There were three groups among this mock country...the middle east soldiers, the American soldiers and the middle east citizens. Officers who had expertise with middle eastern culture and traditions were either citizens or middle east soldiers. It was the job of the "citizens" to trip up the incoming soldiers any way they could. We were told that in one exercise the troops left their convoy unattended. Well when the soldiers returned to their vehicle the tires were slashed and the inside was filled with trash. Tough way to learn a lesson but the lesson was learned.

Throughout this mock town were about 48 hidden cameras. These cameras were used to observe how the incoming soldiers did as far as interacting with the towns people. It was all very interesting to see the little mistakes that could cause either a soldier his/her life or create a public relations nightmare. It was also the job of the soldiers acting as middle east towns people to publish a newsletter with any news that would come from interactions with the soldiers (usually their words were twisted to make the U.S. soldiers look bad).

We also got to sit in on a meeting between the Middle East soldiers and the U.S. soldiers. As with everything this meeting was being recorded. Contractors were viewing and grading the meeting to spot anything that the U.S. soldiers might do that could be conceived as disrespectful. Shortly after this we got to see an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). The camp cook ripped one open and made his lunch while explaining how to prepare one.

This would mark the end of the official day but our trip was not yet over.

McGuire Airforce Base Day 2 (part 2)

click here to see more

Red Rover - 12" x 24" - oil

So there were five artists in a caravan in Princeton, New Jersey looking for a place to eat. No, this is not a joke so don't look for the punchline. This is a continuation from our second day at McGuire Airforce Base. Like I stated in the previous post, TSgt. Sturkol recommended that we head to Princeton to get some good food after we leave the base.

Getting something to eat...sounds simple enough. HA! Oddly enough we didn't get lost while heading to Princeton. We started walking down Nassau St. and out of no where a parade starts. Did that many people realize that we were coming to Princeton...hmmm. It was the Princeton Fire Department Inspection Parade with a long line of emergency vehicles, bagpipers and a marching band.

Initially the idea was to continue to look for a place to eat after the parade passes but Bill brought up an interesting question. What's at the end of a Fire Department Inspection Parade? You guessed it, Beer! Well after running around an obstacle course, convoy exercises and spending hours in a caravan we all were ready for drinks. So we followed the parade and sure enough there it was, the firehouse, lots of food and a sparkling keg. Fortunately Bill is a volunteer firefighter which helped us to avoid crashing the party.


Both the chief and former chief were very nice and even gave us a tour of the firehouse along with patches for each of us. While on our way out the chief informed us of an original Norman Rockwell painting that was hanging in a bar called the Yankee Doodle Taproom. What could we do? We had no choice but to check it out.

There it was! Incredible! Most of the folks in the bar were far too drunk to realize or to appreciate the site behind the bar. We walked around it as if it were made of gold. Before we could take part in the first round of drinks we were encountered by an interesting character. I don't remember her name but she was drunkingly fascinated with who we were. This fascination only heightened once it was known that Bill was the creator of the character Scrat from the movie Ice Age. This tid bit of information went a long way on base as well as in the bar. I was under the firm belief that this "lady" was on the verge of tearing off her clothes while Bill quickly sketched out Scrat. It was oddly hilarious to see "the power of Scrat" in action. We laughed all the way back to the hotel.

More to come....

The Fredericksburg Show is now up!

To view/purchase works from the upcoming show please click here

Fredericksburg Show opening reception July 5th from 5 to 7:30pm

McGuire Airforce Base Day 2 (part 1)

Before I get into day two of my Air Force trip I thought I'd mention that the painting above was done for Art 180's Change for a Ten. It's a celebration and benefit for Art 180's Tenth Anniversary. Definitely a good cause.


Now back to the trip. Many times the adventure lies in the journey. This can certainly be said when you pack five sobering artist into a Dodge caravan at 7:30 in the morning. While in the lobby we discussed who found the most ticks the previous night from our time at the obstacle course. I think three was the max. We headed to Walmart to pick up a few nic nacks. As to be expected we arrived at the base late again but this time it wasn't due to making any wrong turns.


We went back to the USAF Expeditionary Center to recap on what Jim and Bill missed the previous day. It gave us a chance to take photos of anything that we missed the previous day.

From the Expeditionary Center we went to the shooting range (live ammo). We only needed to be told once that this was live ammo and to place yourself anywhere except in front of the line. Can do. Maybe I'm picky but I've got this slight hang up about being shot (don't want to be shot, don't need to be shot). The instructor in the tower would yell out "Gun" the soldiers would turn to the targets and fire like...well a lot of guns. I was allowed to get within a couple of feet of the soldiers while they were shooting. A couple of times shells flew right past my head. My sketches were much better than the previous day since the soldiers weren't running all over the field I had a little longer to capture them. At one point I thought it started to rain but I realized that it was my own sweat dripping on the sketchbook. The sun that day was "hotter than a Times Square Rolex."


Again, TSgt. Sturkol took us for a great lunch. After one helping (a really big helping) at the Chinese buffet we went to the Dollar Tree next door. Tatiana sold us on going because "Every thing's a dollar!" We found some great deals and were off to see the convoy training exercises.

The convoy training exercise was suppose to simulate if the convoy was attacked while en route. We got there a little early and saw the instructors setting up the booby trap. The soldiers would have no idea where the trap was set up so we had to make sure that we were out of sight. This would have been easy for me if I weren't wearing my bright red "Ain't no party like a Scranton party" t-shirt but I was able to find a really big tree to duck behind. Since the convoy was running a little late I decided to call my good friend, and fellow illustrator, David. We were in mid conversation when I saw the convoy coming and had to cut the call short.

BOOM! A big baby powder bomb went off and "the enemy" started firing. All of the artists moved in to catch as much of the action as possible. Guns a blazin', green smoke, shattering booms and a convoy springing into action. This team was pretty good. They moved the injured maintained cover and got out of there. The instructors/the enemy in this exercise went the extra mile as I spotted one instructor shooting in a tree about twenty feet up.

Our time until 4:30pm was spent at the obstacle course. The obstacle course was the same as yesterday but included the canine unit. Not only were the soldiers responsible for moving the injured sergeant but the dogs as well. I didn't even know that the Air Force had a canine unit. These dogs were far more obedient than my dog. They would stay still while the soldiers applied first aid to them. One of the soldiers in charge of the canine unit inquired as to who we were. After explaining that we'd be creating paintings based on our trip he urged us to do something with the dogs because "no one ever does anything about the dogs."

This would end our "official" day but there was much more to come as we were headed to Princeton, per TSgt. Sturkol's suggestion for good places to eat. This is where all of those crazy stories you hear about five artists in a caravan in New Jersey start.

More to come after a word from our sponsors...

To view/purchase works from the upcoming show please click here
Fredericksburg Show opening reception July 5th from 6 to 8:30pm

Show dates: June 30-July 26
813 Sophia Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401