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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThis is a political commentary drawing I did 40 years ago
Many of the Boomer generation will understand it because it was of what the war in Vietnam had done to our generation. Our young men, many as young as 19 were drafted and forced to go to that war. It was a time of ferocious turmoil in our country. The deep wounds are still there in our veterans. It was so bad that it took us ten years before we could talk about it or make movies or write about it. It was a gaping wound. One that hasnt healed. I hadnt thought of this drawing in decades, but now I think it has some meaning again. The circumstances are different but we are once again in a time of profound turmoil which is affecting todays young people just as much.
As dark as this drawing is in depicting our countrys political underbelly, it also shows the beginning of new life in the roots. So there is hope, even in the worst of times.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)K&R
lunatica
(53,410 posts)SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)You are very gifted and I really appreciate you sharing with us.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It seemed to fit our modern problems too.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)UTUSN
(70,740 posts)I'm not sure that some of what *I* see for myself is what you intended, but what struck me immediately was the wind-up thing on the eagle, which says "knee-jerk jingoism" and what I take as chainmail armor and the "dead eye" (but a flower?), which say WAR/destruction/death to me.
Are the drippings, blood, and stars falling off, the war dead?
For future reference, how far off am I in art appreciation or do you subscribe to the school that whatever the beholder sees is FINE?!1
lunatica
(53,410 posts)The reality of this drawing is that I really didnt start out to make this political statement. My intent was not clear in my mind, so naturally things came out that were surprising.
The flowers, even in the eagles eye is about being able to see life in the future. If you notice the eagles tongue is a screwdriver which is a way of seeing that we are being screwed, yet there is sight, the ability to see a better future.
The flag is dripping blood which is what the red stripes actually mean. The blood is what nurtures the tree which has been viciously uprooted, yet in its deep roots is hope, nourished by that blood in spite of the wars and environmental destruction.
But everyone can interpret it in their own way. Its wide open and begs for interpretation, so I thank you sincerely for adding yours.
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Your statement about intention has me chuckling.
I have studied a good bit of art therapy & found many of the renowned experts in the field consider art forms as, well, sort of autonomous entities desiring to vreate through us, much like the shamanic pribciple of the hollow bone. 😉👏👏👏👏👏👍
lunatica
(53,410 posts)At about the time I made that drawing I was in the process of acknowledging and accepting my subconscious as guiding my work. It really is an amazing inner process.
When I heard the term the divine spark I understood instantly.
Thanks!
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Have you read Pat B. Allen's books? "Art is a Way of Knowing," and "Art is a Spiritual Path?"
These contain, basically, the crux of the MFA in Art Therapy at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is/was a professor there in the program.
The former title was being taught several years ago as a solid method for decision making in profressive board rooms.
I am not a technical artist, but I love the process-based work. 😉
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Ill order one which gives me something more to do during this isolating process.
When I read Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain decades ago it helped me understand what I had already been doing all along. It helped me develop the ability to jump from the left side to the right side and back on a conscious level.
It becomes a collaborative process!
Either that or Im nuts. Which is OK with me!
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)Unless we both are.
I really enjoyed them both, but if I had to choose one, it would be "Art is a Way of Knowing." Yummy stuff. It can only serve to enhance your already tremendous artistic prowess. Setting intention, active imagination - all really great stuff! 😁👍
Another excellent book!
lunatica
(53,410 posts)Thanks!
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)That is tge one that is basically the crux of the masters program. 😉 Let me know what you think of it & pls feel free to pm anytime! 😁
Karadeniz
(22,572 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)japple
(9,839 posts)our country apart. We haven't even recovered from the Civil War, esp. in the southern states, many of which still cannot admit that they were defeated. Thank you for sharing this piece.
MagickMuffin
(15,952 posts)Very well done. Your intuition took control and created a masterpiece!
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It a way it kind of drew itself. Thanks for understanding that!
DENVERPOPS
(8,844 posts)At that time, I was thinking that we would never witness such a horrific thing ever happening again in the U.S.
Wow, was my thinking purely a wishful fantasy.........
I never thought that Eisenhower would be the last TRUE Republican we would ever see.......
And here we are today, a RepubliCON party that even their Republican predecessors would't even recognize.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I was so ready to have Al Gore, a real champion for science and the environment be the perfect President to kick off a fantastic future.
Instead this. Its heartbreaking!
DENVERPOPS
(8,844 posts)Project New American Century (1997) Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld used it as a guide line for every thing they did, and now, The RepubliCON party refers to it several times each day......
lunatica
(53,410 posts)It was a very simple plan. Become the only Superpower backed by military supremacy.
If we dont stop Trump and elect a Democratic President this will become the American foreign policy sooner or later.
DENVERPOPS
(8,844 posts)that I no longer speak to ANY RepubliCON former friend, or family member that voted for Trump.
I got rid of a hunk of them during the "W" administration, but cleaned out the rest of them because they voted for Trump........
They are dead to me.
Everyone needs to do this.....
lunatica
(53,410 posts)And Im thankful for it!
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I had no idea it would still be relevant today.
AllaN01Bear
(18,384 posts)slumcamper
(1,606 posts)Very rich symbolism, and remarkably prescient.
40 years ago...Ronnie Reagan...,indeed, you knew the moment and captured your point in political time and space. Indeed, the small government/libertarian ideology that rooted in the filthy sociopolitical soil of that time has grown and led us down this dreadful path to where we are. Every founding principle and value has been cracked or broken.
Extraordinary. We are all richer for thinkers like you.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)I feel humbled.
monmouth4
(9,709 posts)JudyM
(29,274 posts)I was afraid it might be rejected. I was ready for that, but I see I didnt have to worry.