Desert Sea Design

If I Should Fall, Independent Film on the Afghan War Experience

Lyle Dillie — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:05:29 +0000

Film is an Art Form all its own. To see a Soldiers and Families from any country produce such a moving film, that any soldier can relate too, is an amazing feat in itself. You can get more info, see and purchase thisDVD at http://www.ifishouldfall.com/

In March of 2009, 22-year old Trooper Marc Diab of The Royal Canadian Dragoons was killed in Afghanistan when his vehicle struck an IED (Improvised Explosive Device). In the wake of his death, countless lives were changed forever. If I Should Fall tells the story of Marc’s life through the accounts of those who loved him: his family, his comrades of D Squadron, and his beloved girlfriend.

Told in 13 chapters and going beyond the six o’clock news, viewers see the human face behind the honor and sacrifice of soldiers.

Supported by an ensemble of renowned Canadian military experts, including retired Major General Lewis MacKenzie, Esprit De Corps Magazine’s Scott Taylor, and author Captain Ray Wiss M.D., the film explores the conflict in Afghanistan and the timeless tragedy of what it means to lose a loved one to war.

Featuring music by award-winning, Canadian artist Loreena McKennitt, If I Should Fall eloquently portrays the story of one, and in doing so, tells the story of many.

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Amazing Veteran Poetry from a Puget Sound Middle School

Lyle Dillie — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 06:30:29 +0000

At Columbia Junior High School in Tacoma, WA the Art of Poetry that celebrates the lives and sacrifices of Veterans can come in many forms. Many from this collection of poetry are heartfelt, honest and bring honor to those that serve. Please check out some of these poems and tell me if any moves you, post a comment about your favorite.

http://www.fifeschools.com/cjh/news/newsitems/veteransdaypoems.htm

Here is mine.

Sometimes the World Seems
by Larissa Myschuk

Sometimes the world seems like it’s
Upside-down
Inside out
Torn down the middle
In need of arrangement
Desperate for guidance
Wanting direction
Lacking leadership
Losing patience
Turning and flipping
Backwards and sideways
Speeding endlessly forward
On a path of self-destruction

And the only thing to stop it,
The only thing to calm it,
Is the lives of the men that
Fight passionately
Fall readily and
Die willingly.

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Sneek Peek: New Iraq War inspired art by Lyle Dillie

Lyle Dillie — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:44:30 +0000

Working on a new Project called the Distant War, I hope this piece will blur the boundaries between living in war and just observing the war. I will be painting and adhering thousands of plastic Army across a my single color 4 feet by 4 feet canvas, recreating the map of the Iraq and its surrounding countries in full color. I with also be placing tan Army men in all the key locations across Iraq that was held by American Troops. From a distance it may appear to be a Patriotic Map if Iraq but from other pointing of view there is a country wide war being waged.

I am troubled by man’s tendency to look at a sterile map and not realize the full depth humanity within it. Many of us have heard a person say, “we should bomb the whole place and be done with it”. I have met many Iraqi citizens, not many of whom I wish dead. I have made that human connection to the people of Iraq. Have you?

I am a few hundred dollars short in making this piece a reality. Please Help me finish. Click the DONATE TODAY link in the sidebar and help bring this artistic vision into reality.

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Overlooked / Looked Over: NVAM Women Vetereans’ Art Exibition

Lyle Dillie — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 05:14:28 +0000

Another great Exhibition being shown at the National Veteran Art Museum(NVAM). Lots of great veteran art to explore on NVAM.org website.

Chicago, Ill. (January 2012) – On Saturday, March 10, 2012, the National Veterans Art Museum will host the opening of Overlooked / Looked Over, a new exhibit featuring work by eight women artists who are veterans of the U.S. military. Admission to the NVAM will be free all day with light refreshments offered from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Artist and curator talks will take place between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

(un)clothed and in her right mind - Iris M. Feliciano

Overlooked / Looked Over responds to the growth in numbers of women joining the military, which has soared over the past decade. Iraq War veteran and curator Erica Slone notes that women currently comprise 14.5% of active duty military and there are 1.8 million women veterans; yet there has been little research to date on how contemporary military culture and war affects women. “Through Overlooked/Looked Over,” Slone says, “I intend to shine a light on the unique experiences of women during service, in war, and as veterans.”

According to Slone, the concept for Overlooked / Looked Over is taken from a quote by the late American actress and sex symbol Mae West, “I’d rather be looked over than overlooked.” Slone states, “Depending on one’s own definition of feminism, Mae West could be either the quintessential feminist or anti-feminist. Her statement, however, presents a false dichotomy of attitudes about women, and the coexistence of these polar attitudes toward women is exacerbated within our armed forces.”

The show’s opening is timed to coincide with the centenary anniversary of International Women’s Day. Annually on March 8, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. All around the world, women are connected by activities ranging from business conferences and networking events to local women’s craft markets and theatric performances.

Self-Portrait - Emily Yates

Artists in the show include Victoria Robillard Bryers, a retired veteran with thirty years service in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves, Iris M. Feliciano, a Marine Corps veteran, Maggie Martin, an Army veteran and field organizer with Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), Robynn Murray, an Army veteran and subject of the documentary film Poster Girl, Joyce Wagner, a Marine veteran and board chair of IVAW, Emily Yates, an Army veteran, Regina Vasquez, a Marine Corps Veteran and founder and executive director of the Fatigues Clothesline Project, and curator Erica Slone, an Air Force veteran.

The show will be open to the public from Wednesday, February 29, 2012 through Memorial Day 2012. For more information, visit the museum’s website at www.nvam.org.

for more on each artist visit: Overlooked / Looked Over

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Baghdad Monuments: Hands of Victory

Lyle Dillie — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:05:54 +0000

When I had deployed to Iraq, many of the images I had seen, I did not fully understand and appreciate. The “Hands of Victory” monument has a crazy history all its own, and the story is worth telling. Some of the images, as shown by the photo of Stephen Farrell/The New York Times, displays the graffiti some American soldiers had written on the Iranian helmets cemented to the bottom of the monument.

——————-

To celebrate his “victory” over Iran, Saddam decided to build a Triumphal Arch. The concept of a triumphal arch is a European import, without precedent in the Middle East since Roman times.

The colossal Hands of Victory monument has dominated Baghdad’s skyline since the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Built in duplicate, it marks the entrances to a large new parade ground in central Baghdad, towering 140 feet above the highway. The triumphal arch is shaped as two pairs of crossed swords, made from the guns of dead Iraqi soldiers that were melted and recast as the 24-ton blades of the swords. Captured Iranian helmets are in a net held between the swords. And surrounding the base of the arms are another 5,000 Iranian helmets taken from the battle field. The fists that hold the swords aloft are replicas of Saddam Hussein’s own hands. The German company that built the monument, H+H Metalform, said it was given a photograph of Saddam’s own forearms to use as a model.

When Saddam inaugurated these triumphal arches, he rode under them on a white horse – an allusion to the steed of Hussein, the Shi’ite Muslim hero martyred at nearby Kerbala. The day before the first bombing run on Bhagdad during the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi TV showed a mass of Iraqi soldiers marching beneath the huge crossed swords of the Victory Arch, to the theme music from ‘Star Wars’. In April 1998 Iraq’s “volunteer army” paraded for six hours in Baghdad’s “Grand Festivities Square,” the large outdoor arena marked by the two sets of enormous crossed swords.

for more on this Iraq war monuments and others visit: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/baghdad-monuments.htm

for more of images by Stephen Farrell/New York Times: visit: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2007/12/28/world/20071228_ahmad_ss_index.html

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The Fallen Heroes Project

Lyle Dillie — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:30:14 +0000

Artist Michael Reagan creates hand drawn portraits of Soldier who have fallen fighting the war on terror. Soldiers Families can request Michael to create a portrait free of of charge. Just see more amazing portraits just visit: http://www.fallenheroesproject.org

Each of these heroes also has an individual memorial page which contains their portrait, pertinent personal and military service related information and a one page biography to provide people some insight as to who they were personally.

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Veteran Print Project

Lyle Dillie — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:35:08 +0000

Creating a dialog between artists and war veterans can be difficult. Located in Madison, WI, “The Veteran Print Project” helps to bridge the gap by creating visual as well as oral histories of their experience in war. http://veteranprintproject.com

Reluctant Hero - Artist: Jonas Angelet - Veteran: Michael Gourlie, US Army

Veteran Print Project seeks to bring two divergent groups, veterans and artists, together to express the historical experiences of a new generation of veterans through the traditional methods of fine art print, opening an ongoing dialogue between these two groups.

Veteran Print Project is a workshop based-organization whose goal is two-fold: 1. Obtain and develop oral histories of a new generation of veterans 2. To connect local artists, specifically printmakers, with the veterans to create prints based on the oral histories. Through this process a dialogue is started between two very different groups of people. Initially focusing on student veterans and student art programs, Veteran Print Project seeks to challenge young communities to gain a broader understanding of the veteran experience, both while enlisted and after discharge.

Night-Vision Bonfire - Artist: Yvette M. Pino - Veteran: Micah Agee, US Air Force

Veteran Print Project believes that artist have a unique capability of communicating history visually. It is the goal of Veteran Print Project to assist in the development of these “Pict-Oral” histories and to display the creative energies that result from the collaboration between two iconic groups- artist and veteran.

http://veteranprintproject.com

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New Mexico Veteran’s Art Musuem

Lyle Dillie — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 04:37:56 +0000

I was looking through of some of the photo pages in this website and found some beautiful art that had a mix of Native American Folklore and American Patriotism. These particular pieces we from a November 2010 Showing. http://nmva.shutterfly.com/834

According to its website, “The purpose of this organization is to recognize, support, and promote the talents and skills of artists who are veterans or who are serving in the active-duty military or serving in the Reserve or National Guard forces.”

Check out more images and information at: http://www.nmveteransart.com

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See “A Soldier Burden” by Lyle Dillie at Veteran Arts Festival in Downtown Phoenix

Lyle Dillie — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:10:24 +0000

Please come and see this Amazing Piece and see the Art of other Veteran across the Arizona.

Thursday, February 9, 2012
9:00am until 1:00pm

Memorial Hall at Steele Indian School Park
300 East Indian School Road, Phoenix, AZ
facebook event

“A Soldiers Burden is an unique experience to acknowledge the sacrifice members of the US military are currently making being away from the family and friends. Some of our members of the military are on there 3rd, 4th and even 5th deployment to Iraq and/or Afghanistan, missing anniversaries, birthdays, childhood milestones and even their children’s birth. This piece has been created by Lyle Dillie, an Army veteran, with photos and sounds to create multiple videos on the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, an original musical score (by Steve Gamo) and hand painted visages of modern American Soldiers and Marines.”

for more in visit http://desertseadesign.com/projects/a-soldier-burden-video-art-installation/

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Roy L. Breckenridge – 2010 National VA Creative Arts Winner

Lyle Dillie — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:41:10 +0000

Very Patriotic and Stylish interpretation of the national bird and flag. Roy won the 2010 National VA Creative Arts Festival and Patriots Award.

Roy L. Breckenridge was born in November 1944 as the seventh of eight children. Growing up in the country, prior to the availability of instant entertainment, Roy’s innate talent provided an outlet for his imagination. His constant curiosity about his surroundings, his love of learning and his wanderlust led him to join the military as a U.S. Army Ranger. His military career enabled him to study the people, languages, cultures and wildlife around the world. His career spanned Europe, the Mediterranean, South America, the Pacific and included 3 combat tours in Viet-Nam where he was wounded several times, received multiple awards for valor including the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, five Purple Hearts, and the Vietnamese Honor Medal. Roy dedicates his awards to his brother Johnathon Three Trees, who presented Roy with his ‘life name’ “Lookingbull”; one who ‘sees’ things others cannot. Roy retired a commissioned officer.

After retiring from the military, Roy taught high school in an inner city school system until an accident ended those endeavors. It was at that point, during rehabilitation, that Roy decided to pursue the artistic talents of his youth. Being a natural, self-taught artist he experimented with several mediums until one of the oldest and most unforgiving media, ink, presented itself.

Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan

Lyle Dillie — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:11:31 +0000

Windows and Mirrors: Reflections on the War in Afghanistan is a traveling mural exhibit that makes a powerful statement on a nearly invisible reality. http://www.windowsandmirrors.org/

The exhibit consists of more than 45 large scale paintings by artists from all over the country that memorialize Afghan civilian casualties. The exhibit also includes images collected from Afghan high school students by Dr. Zahir Wahab, a professor at Lewis and Clark College, who asked young Afghans to draw images from their daily reality.

Pittsburgh, PA

January 27 – February 12, 2012 — more info on Pittsburgh Exhibit

Gallery 937 on Liberty Avenue, 2nd Floor

Gallery Hours: Wed and Thurs 11:00 am – 6:00 pm; Friday and Sat 11:00 am – 8:00 pm; Sunday 11:00 am – 5:00 pm.

The Pittsburgh exhibit will also feature artworks from the War Dialogues Project, in which refugees and military veterans of the same wars collaborate through art and storytelling to promote healing and understanding. The art on display at Windows and Mirrors represents a conversation between two Pittsburgh artists: a US Iraq veteran and a 17-year old Iraqi refugee.

The forty-five unique panels created by international artists and US students help us imagine the experience of Afghan civilians – from death and destruction to hopes for peace. Drawings by Afghan students in Kabul – collected in June 2010 – provide an up close look at life in a war zone. At over 900 square feet, this mural is not a single painting, but an oversized statement on the human cost of war. It is not the voice of one person, but that of an engaged artistic community. Their collective voice comes through with power and volume, speaking to us on both intellectual and emotional levels.

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Radical Vulnerabililty, NVAM Exhibit: Alejandro Villatoro

Lyle Dillie — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:13:40 +0000

The Radical Vulnerability Exhibit at the National Veterans Art Museum. It features work by veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Global War on Terror that explore their relationship to personal, political, and social vulnerabilities during a time of war.

Artist: Christopher Arendt
Artist: Edgar Gonzalez Baeza
Artist: Chantelle Bateman
Artist: Greg Broseus
Artist: Malachi Muncy
Artist: Regina Vasquez

I have taken a lot of photo from Iraq and Kuwait and I am inspired by the way Alejandro had arranged his experience in Iraq.

Alejandro Villatoro joined the Army Reserves in October 2000. Took part of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and just return from a year long tour in Afghanistan, Aug 10- Aug 11.

As a professional soldier who is taught discipline, respect for authority, and show no weakness I was touched by the children who are victims of war, they didn’t hide any emotions and I could no longer hide my own. – Alex

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