Sunday, May 22, 2011

New Painting to Honor Memorial Day - 5/22/11

                                        
                                                                                                                                                    
                                          " A Time for Honoring " 8"x8" oil on canvasboard $275 SOLD

      Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of taking part in an activity which I cherish every time I get the chance to participate- the replacing of flags at the grave sights of those who have most honorably served our country. Each year our local veterans' agent coordinates a sizable effort , recruiting members of the VFW, American Legion , Boyscouts, Girlscouts, Cubscouts and Brownies to get the task done before Memorial Day. Naturally, being the parents of a cubscout ourselves and perhaps more notably , being a disabled veteran of one of our Nation's most recent armed conflicts, my wife and I are always acquiescent participants in this solacing and moving endeavour. The kids have a good time doing it too, and I'm always deeply touched by their eager coherence to partake in the labor. My hope for them is that they will store these memories somewhere deep inside their still undeveloped conscience, almost subliminally, so that they will always associate sacrifice with honor . That they will learn to appreciate those sacrifices and gain a good understanding of the actual cost of freedom and use that knowledge to make sound decisions for the good of our Nation. I hope that they will ultimately learn to respect and revere our flag and the countless indomitable, heroic acts of valor it has taken to defend it and the liberties and freedom it represents .This is my pure and simple ( if not naive) hope, for patriotism and a sincere respect for our fallen to endure.
       This Memorial Day , please take a quiet moment by yourself or with family and friends to  remember those who have given all they could possibly give to preserve and secure our freedom.

                                                                          
       

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

A Long Awaited Justice 5/10/11

                              " Tuesday Morning " 8x8 oil on canvasboard ( to be
                                    auctioned for highest bid, proceeds will go to
                                               Homes For Our Troops )
                                                  Winning bid : $1000 SOLD/DONATION
                                    e-mail me at dannyowen03@yahoo.com to bid

            Sunday night,  May 1st, at approximately 10:40 EST, while wrapping up a night of primetime television, my wife Jenn and I , along with the rest of the world , were informed that President Obama was about to address the nation with important news of the utmost urgency. Of course as the world minutes later learned, that news was the announcement of the death, at the hands of our heroic Navy Seals, of the world's most notorious scoundrel, Usama Bin Laden. I've had over a week now to come up with the right words to express my thoughts, my thanks, and the raw emotions that I wanted to convey in this post but to tell you the truth, as I sit here and grasp for them , my mind is clouded by a tangled complexity of introspection, muddled by the preceeding week's news and conversations from various talking heads on both radio and television. I think I may have summed up my thoughts on the tidings best when on the following morning, I made a post on my Facebook page which read, " I have never been more proud to be an American veteran than this day." And those words could not have been more sincere. Of course I realize that those words will hold little weight and are none too consoling for those thousands of family members of the victims of 9/11 and for the many more thousands who have lost loved ones in the Global War On Terror and sadly , I could never produce any words worthy. But for my own sentiments, they seem fitting.
          I wanted to mark the historic occasion with a special painting, which I will auction off to the highest bidder on this blog. The painting, which I've posted above, depicts the World Trade Center in the glow of a beautiful morning's light, much like it could have appeared that fatefull Tuesday morning in September of 2001, moments before the Terror began. I can usually sell paintings of this size for around $275 so I'd like to start the bidding at $250 at least. The proceeds will go to Homes For Our Troops , a non-profit organization wich builds specially adapted homes for severely wounded veterans of  Iraq and Afghanistan and an organization of which my family and I were the very first recipients six years ago this October. They have gone on to build over 100 homes since for much deserving veterans. Check them out at http://www.homesforourtroops.org/ . If you would like to bid on the above painting please email me at dannyowen03@yahoo.com  . I will keep the current high bid posted below the painting above. The painting comes ready-to-hang with a beautiful  3" wide, plein air style, gold frame.

AUCTIONING WILL END AT 12:00 am ON MAY 18th, 2011