In your own back yard

Well, this is my second recent painting that will appear in Joe Bilby's upcoming book. That was the subect of my previous post. I'm really excited about that, but that's not the reason for this post.

Joe was kind enough to give me and the kids a personal tour of the Sea Girt National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey this weekend. If you live in the area and haven't been, you should get there. Joe's extra effort made it special, but there's a lot to see even without a private tour.

Their pride and joy is the 1861 12lbs. Napolean Civil War Cannon that, through volunteer effort, now sits on a brand new carriage with accompanying limber. Most it was made from scratch and seeing it's worth the trip alone. You'll also see reproduction and original uniforms from Dutch settlement days to the present. Photo's and anecdotes from the base's history abound. The biggest political rally (for FDR) occurred there. 100,000 people attended. New Jersey has a rich history and Joe certainly brings that to life.

This little museum also has the only potentially operational Civil War Submarine in the country. Stay tuned for more info on it, but let me tell you, this thing looks operational to me! Being a life long Jeep driver, I loved seeing their original Bantam model of that famous American 4 wheel drive vehicle! Only in a Jeep!

Finally, I was introduced to an artist (not personally but through his art) that I'd never hear of before. William Foley was just a grunt who turned out to have an amazing artistic ability. He started drawing in the field as a therapy for the stress of combat. He started drawing almost by mistake. He was a local New Jersey native and the subject of a community college interview not too long ago. I never would have heard of him but for this little museum in Sea Girt. Now I can't forget him. Check out the video here.

This place is a bike ride away from my house, but this was my first trip. We always overlook what's in our back yard don't we? What treasures do you have just steps (0r pedals) away?

First Painting of the New Year

I finally eked out a little time to do some painting again and did this study of an officer of the 3rd New Jersey Regiment from a photo I took at a Battle of Monmouth reenactment a few years ago. It was ironic too. There's a new book coming out about that very battle. New Jersey historian Joe Bilby has written the first book about it in about 100 years!

He's been the last word about NJ in the Civil War, but now he's turned to the 18th century to fill not a gap, but a yawning cavern. For some reason, New Jersey's role in that war has been under represented. He also chronicles the civil war aspect of the revolution here too. He's sent me a couple of chapters to review and I have to say, I hung on every word. In the first chapter he writes sketch of a theoretical encounter of a patriot militia raid on a tory militia that makes you wonder how great of a fiction writer he could be too.

Here's some other great history stuff coming up in the year ahead . In July, I'll be attending the 2nd Artist Preservation Group Gettysburg Military Miniatures show. As a board member, I'm very proud of what's already been done, but this year's show is really going to be special. This year we will be raising money to preserve the colors of the 149th Pennsylvania regiment. They lost them in a curious event during the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Read about it here.

My article about the colors of the 5th Alabama Battalion, who lost them on the 3rd day of Gettysburg, just appeared along with my painting of the event in the Company of Military Historians magazine. Some of my other work may be appearing in print in another book soon as well!

So, 2009 was kind of a crappy year. 2010 looks to be much better already (aside from the recent tragedy in Haiti). Let's hope so.

Merry Christmas

The other day I painted this study of a J.C. Leyendecker painting thinking it would launch me right into the Christmas spirit. It didn't. I just can't get into the spirit like I used to.

It all started as a pagan winter solstice party. What better way to celebrate the season that some revelry and debauchery? Folks seemed to love it, so the church decided they wanted in on it too. Some religious marketing guy came up with the brilliant idea to call it Chirst's birthday. Hey, birthday parties are fun right? "The church won't be a party pooper" they thought.

But they were the party pooper. Eventually, it became just a religious holiday. A pretty solemn one at that. When Washington's soldiers famously crossed the Delaware in 1776, they weren't thinking of presents, trees, eggnog or mistletoe. The Hessians weren't whooping it up either.

Along comes the Victorian era and Christmas changed again. The Queen of England marries a German bloke and suddenly there're Christmas trees everywhere. Then the jolly old elf himself gets a makeover by Thomas Nast. An old pagan friend reappears too. The mistletoe provides the otherwise repressed Victorians a little naughtiness! The Church steps up its game too, so there's a nice mix of the holy and the secular.

But the Church is no match for the Industrial Revolution and a rising middle class. Now almost everyone can buy and give (and receive) presents. Once the commerce ball starts rolling, the Church can't stop it. As far back as the 1960's, Charles Schultz and Dr. Suess noticed and took issue with the commercial/pagan takeover of Christmas.

And now Political Correctness, which has always had a sort of old USSR ring to it, has dealt the death blow. I'm not really a religious person, but I know that it's not the religious aspect of the holiday that inflicts such immense stress on people, it's the commercial part. That is a shame.

So, "Happy Holidays" folks. Looks like the pagans got their party back.

Cocktails, Conversation and Conspiracy

Let me introduce...or re-introduce Ian Carlyle. He's the main character of Will Hutchinson's latest book, "The Gettysburg Conspiracy". I did an illustration for Will's first book, "Follow Me to Glory" and was honored to revisit Ian again for the second book. It's fun (and difficult) to follow a character through the years with your pencil and imagination!

I was lucky enough to be invited to the book release party last Friday in, appropriately enough, Gettysburg PA. The party's theme was "Cocktails, Conversation and Conspiracy". It was a great event complete with a special complimentary "Conspiracy Cocktail" (ingredients secret of course), and a reading of Chapter 1 by the author. There was a second reading by Lincoln impersonator and scholoar, James Getty. He did a great job and it was kind of fun to see "Lincoln" sipping a Miller Lite after he was done. I had to point out that a Yuengling would have been more appropriate since it was established before the Civil War. Not sure that went over well though.

Anway, "The Gettysburg Conspiracy" is a cracker of a historical novel. There's a plot to assisinate Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg Address and our hero has to stop it. Will does a great job of, as he puts it, "flying under the radar of history." The story doesn't change history, but draws on it for drama and setting. Will knows his stuff too. He served in the Army and the Marine Corps, as well as being an avid Civil War reenactor. In fact, Will Hutchinson's life would probably make a pretty good book too!

So if you're looking for a good holiday read or a gift for a history geek buddy, this book might be just the ticket.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hunting the Jersey Devil

Well, it's mischief night here in New Jersey and the perfect time to post a spooky picture. This is none other than the famous "Jersey Devil" chasing down a deer! Make of it what you will, but I love the idea of a strange creature stalking the Jersey Pine Barrens. If you've ever been to the Pine Barrens you know it's all too easy to "see" strange things there. Bigfoot too. Seriously.

Back to Jersey's Devil; the Leeds Devil was born to Mother Leeds (did she have a first name?) in 1735. The story goes that it was her 13th child - no effective birth control back then - and she "hoped it is a devil." And it was. It had horns, wings, hooves and a horses head. Not exactly a Gerber baby, and Mother Leeds must have been mortified! As to the validatity of the story, there really was a Leeds family in Little Egg Harbor at that time. Hmmm?

A hundred or so years later, the Devil was spotted again. Commodore Stephen Decatur, hero of the Barbary Pirate wars, was testing artillery rounds in South Jersey when he spotted it flying by. Some believe the testing was only cover for his real reason for being there...to hunt the Jersey Devil. Um, maybe not. Joseph Bonaparte, brother of the more famous Napolean, reported seeing the Devil in Bordentown, NJ. This doesn't explain why the former King of Spain moved to Bordentown however.

Throughout the century he (the Devil that is, not Joe Bonaparte) appeared from time to time, stealing sheep and making a high pitched scream that would scare the, well, devil out of you! Then there was this crazy week in 1909. During the week of January 16-23 1909, he was spotted all over the area, including Pennsylvania. On the 19th, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Evans described the creature they saw on their shed roof:

"about three and a half feet high, with a face like a collie and a head like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long and it back legs were like those of a crane and it had horse's hooves. It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws on them."

Hundred of people reported seeing him that week. Newspapers covered the story, hunts were arranged and rewards posted. All to no avail. The creature couldn't be caught. He appeared again in 1927, gigantic now, pounding on the roof a cab while the terrified drive tried to change a flat tire. He still pops up here and there to this day.

According to njdevilhunters.com, the most recent sighting was on February 23 when a man was chased by a strange creature in his back yard and found foot prints on his roof. Last October it was seen in Jackson, NJ. Check out the eerie eye witness account here. There is a odd consistency to the various stories, so what's the verdict? Real or just a great legended?

Like Bigfoot, Nessie and all the rest, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Honestly though, I try not to think about it too rationally. I love the idea that there are still things in nature that we can't find, explain or control. A little mystery is a good thing.

And, who is to say that the Jersey Devil isn't out there somewhere. Happy Halloween!

Off the Boat

Off the boat. As a grandson of immigrants, it's a term I've heard often, as in, "Oh, his grandfather (mother) was off the boat." I've always understood a vague negative connotion with that term. Perhaps that's just my perception, but I was very proud of my grandparents. I couldn't help but see them in this painting as I worked on it.

On my mother's side, they came from Poland. Grandma Pawlikowski came through Ellis Island when she was very young and was married while still a teen ager. I never met my grandfather on that side. He took off, leaving this tiny but tough Polish woman with 6 mouths to feed. So, she ran a deli from the front room of her house and raised her kids in a happy environment. She sent two sons to WWII and one daughter to become a "rosie the riveter". Even after the deli closed, she continued to make her own bread, egg noodles, stuffed cabbage (glumpkis), and pierogies. When her husband died alone down in South Jersey, she had to identify his body as next of kin. When the coroner pulled the shroud back, she leaned over the dead man and whispered, "You can't run from me now, can you?" Anna really was a sweetheart, but as I said, a tough little bird too.

On my dad's side, they came from northern Italy. Irma, my grandmother, came through Ellis Island too but my grandfather took a more roundabout route. Pietro was supposed to become a priest, but that really wasn't on his personal agenda. He left the seminary school at age 16 and hopped a boat to Canada. There he took the unlikely job of lumberjack. It's hard to imagine this little Italian guy in plaid shirt swinging an ax, but that's what he did! Eventually, he crossed a train bridge, dangling underneath it when the trains came through, into the United States and made his way to New York where relatives set him up as a tile setter. Some of his work is no doubt still on the walls of the tunnels and subways stations where he worked. There, he also met Irma, who was from his home province of Friuli, and married her. Eventually, he saved enough money to buy a house in the suburbs, have three kids and start his own business, Linden Tile Company, which my dad also ran (me too, for a little while). Grandma was a party girl and Grandpa had a quiet dignity about him...though I don't think he was exactly a saint! Together they were quite a couple.

My grandparents where two, very different American success stories. There are millions more like them. They were given nothing but want they wanted most of all; an opportunity. Maybe the term "off the boat" should have a little more swagger about it, don't you think?

Recession good for History and Art?

Yeah, it sounds nuts but there may be an upside for historic sites and art museums in this lousy economy. Check out my latest posting on Great History and lots of other great articles.