Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

The July fireworks now forgotten and the August summer climax still ahead, we might pause, if so inclined, to enjoy a brief midsummer interlude … and what a perfect time to reflect on Debbie Green’s art. Debbie painted the People’s Choice second-place piece work at King Oberlin’s recent Alley Art Battle, and there is something about her spirit and the nature of her work that somehow resonates with this season, at least to my mind and sensibilities, though it is hard to articulate.

Revolutionary War detail from mural

World War ll detail from mural

One obvious factor is the grand mural she was commissioned to paint for the Williams County Veterans Memorial Building, located on the Williams County Fairgrounds in Montpelier, Ohio. This entailed many, many hours of research, not to mention the time spent painting, and was completed in July 2008. Debbie emphasizes that her art is ‘realistic and ‘detail-oriented,’ yet what strikes me about the mural’s depictions of our many wars goes beyond the detail, into the realm of expression, as can be seen, for instance, when comparing the Revolutionary and World War ll mural details.

In each case though, what I admire most about her art is how it respects and commemorates the veterans without glorifying the wars. Each war has a different character shaped by different geography, technology, ideology, and degree of national commitment and fervor. Debbie reflects much of this, but what is really compelling to me is how fully she reflects the solemn gravity of war and its sacrifice with respect to the men and women who serve. It is not War Art, but War Veteran Art – a profound distinction that will not be lost upon the veterans it commemorates.

Debbie and her husband Paul live outside Columbia, Ohio, about twelve miles from Angola, and it was only during their drive to the Art Battle that Debbie settled on what she wanted to paint once she got there. It is interesting to read her own words:

Photo by Amy Oberlin

The subject of my piece was decided upon on the way to the June battle. I had grabbed a handful of pictures and had a head full of ideas when we loaded for the show.  I wanted the painting to be personally challenging…I really did have the ‘battle’ in mind...nothing too simple. I wanted to use the whole 4 hours…to be unsure if I could actually finish what I started…but have a plan to tweak the outcome if need be to fit the time limit. ‘Paint what you love’ stuck fast in my mind. I had wanted to do a painting of my daughter for years and succumbed to the thought that this was my chance. ‘Victoria’ (her name), was enough to create the setting - Victorian….angelic….innocent. This for me WAS a challenge. I am not accustomed to doing a work like this in 4 hours. It was finished enough for such a short time, but I will still ‘finish’ it later, with all of the details I didn’t have time for that night.

Photo by Miriam Oberlin

Since the Alley Art Battle, Debbie added another memorial painting to commemorate those on The Home Front, whose sacrifice was the absence and loss of friends and loved ones. And at least one future enhancement is planned - again in Debbie’s own words: “In wanting to escalate a sacred ambience, I will be incorporating a rich border of gold on the wall. Every addition to this memorial sparks another desire and vision to add more. I am blessed that the memorial committee has been so gracious and appreciative in this endeavor.”

Aside from the Memorial mural, Debbie’s art is generally commissioned through word of mouth, and while she does some portraiture, most of her "fine art" commissions are for paintings of homes [with landscapes] and, I was surprised to learn, paintings of pets, especially those recently deceased. In addition, Debbie has been painting fun cartoon-murals on children's walls and commercial signs.

Here's a salute to Debbie! You can see more of her work, including the Veteran’s Memorial Mural and children's wall murals, at her specialtyartwork.blogspot.com.

Vietnam War detail from mural

Paula Bateman singing

her original song

"Small Town Hero."

 Photo by Miriam Oberlin

Another follow-up to the Alley Art Battle – something of personal significance to me and also something Debbie noted after the event as we talked in preparation for this post: Paula (ex-Headley) Bateman’s live acoustic music. Her soft, unvarnished renderings of folkish songs such as Buffalo Springfield’s For What It’s Worth and Neil Young’s Ohio wove a perfect background for the artistic event, and a perfect mood for her own original and poignant “Small Town Hero” song about Glen Ludban, who grew up in Garrett along with Paula and myself, to die in Vietnam. The title is bittersweet and the lyrics are entirely authentic in not glossing over the war’s contradictions; rather they look directly into the heART of things - it is ART. Six days later Paula packed all her belongings in a small U-Haul and left her long-time stay in Steuben County for Florida, where she is exploring the music scene in Bonita Springs near Fort Myers. Here's a salute to Paula as well!

Where Have All the Flowers Gone?     Pete Seeger

Small Town Hero     Paula (ex-Headley) Bateman

Until the next post, know that the Angola area lakes region is an Art Region, and its towns are Art Towns!

Stephen Rowe currently serves as the Angola Regional Artists’ Guild publicity chairman and writes two additional blogs:

     ArtMissionary.blogspot.com

     OriGraphics.blogspot.com

Stephen welcomes correspondence of all sort per StephenRowe.OriGraphics@yahoo.com