Old Soldier Assemblage Sculpture

"...an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty."
The last soldiers of the First World War have left us now. The 100th anniversary of the outbreak of that war will be in August this year, and with that in mind a few recent finds called my imagination to create assemblage art. A modern television set color cap became a helmet, an old light bulb fixture from a now demolished building became the form of a soldier, his eyes staring with dazed rings created from antique Parcheesi game pieces -- glue and etched markings on the light bulb glass resemble gently falling tears. With a plastic toy gun the soldier stands at the ready in a field of daisy like upholstery tacks which, though surrounded by fencing made of metal nails representing the dangers of barbed wire in the field, has not yet turned to become the life sucking mud of the First World War trenches. There is hope. He will fight. He will win the battles that life sets before him and thus always remain a soldier.

 Though from a different war, the light bulb and theme of a soldier then called to my mind a famous phrase used by General Douglas McArthur in his farewell speech, "old soldiers never die". Around the wood base of the assemblage sculpture are those words pieced together from magazine cut-out letters pasted into place.

"I am closing my 52 years of military service. When I joined the Army, even before the turn of the century, it was the fulfillment of all of my boyish hopes and dreams. The world has turned over many times since I took the oath on the plain at West Point, and the hopes and dreams have long since vanished, but I still remember the refrain of one of the most popular barrack ballads of that day which proclaimed most proudly that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away."

 And like the old soldier of that ballad, I now close my military career and just fade away, an old soldier who tried to do his duty as God gave him the light to see that duty."

-- General Douglas McArthur in his farewell speech to Congress

►First World War Centenary http://www.1914.org/why_remember/

►Check availability of this artwork by clicking HERE.


*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt T. E. Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use please.

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Sociopolitical Goya

The Spanish painter and printmaker Francisco Goya (30 March 1746 – 16 April 1828) has been regarded both as the last of the Old Masters and as the first of the moderns. The subversive and subjective elements in his art provided a model for the work of later generations of artists, including Picasso. Known as a chronicler of history, Goya produced numerous thought provoking paintings, drawings, and etchings such as the one shown here.



The etching includes the title of "No se puede saber por que", which translates as "No one knows why", and it is one example of many sociopolitical artworks produced by Goya where the artist portrays the unexplainable horrors of war; indeed no one knows why such acts are performed by one human upon another of kind. A publication from 1914 further explains Goya on this matter...

"About the greatest of human illusions he has no illusion. In drawing after drawing he states without mincing matters his conviction that to fight is after all only to murder. I think that it is this insistence not merely upon strife but upon murder that gives these drawings a character of horror more emphatic than that of any other representations of warfare. And it is not only against the barbarousness of war that he utters his passionate protest, but also against its tragical illogicality. It is not the business of art to attempt to solve the problem of pain or to hazard guesses at the riddle of the universe, and that Goya showed a just sense of its limitations in preferring to exhibit slices of life rather than to attempt an interpretation of the whole. He tosses us these raw and palpitating fragments and leaves us to digest them as best we may."

See my Squidoo Lens, About Sociopolitical Art, to learn more about social and political expression in the arts.


*Francisco Goya. (2009, May 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:23, May 20, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Francisco_Goya&oldid=290994967

*The New York Public Library Digital Gallery
http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/id?1109956

*Goya - Disasters Of The War, originally published 1914
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles22/goya-13.shtml

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Painted Hand Drum Soon Minoan Dolphin

Minoan culture was a Bronze Age civilization in the basin of the Aegean Sea that some believe to be the origins of the myths of Atlantis. The Atlantean connection may indeed hold some truth due to the many technological benefits the society enjoyed and the relatively peaceful existence they encouraged. Developed on Crete in the 2ND millennium B.C., it is thought that the Minoan empire coordinated and defended bronze-age trade over a large area. Despite the powerful influence of surrounding artistic cultures such as Egypt, the Minoans developed their own highly distinctive styles. Minoan, and later Mycenaean, art is notable for its struggle between stylized and naturalistic motifs; However the colorful, near three-dimensional, natural style originated on the island of Crete. The famous frescoes found there are dynamic, fluid art filled with expressions of nature and daily life.

One of the most famous of motifs chosen by the Cretians was the dolphin. Just as those crafts-persons of the past painted motifs formed and curved to suit the shapes of vessels, I have done with the dolphin design on my new Minoan hand drum. I've hand painted many different types of objects using the dolphin frescoes as reference, but each piece is unique. The dolphin jumping upon this professionally made Remo drum was hand drawn without the use of a pattern or template -- only visual references and the guidance of fun.

It's the same type of drum I've painted unique, free hand designs on before; a Remo hand held frame drum. The Frame drum originated in the Middle East and is among the oldest of drum types. Frame drums can be played using the traditional style of striking with fingers, held with one hand and played with a soft mallet, or straddled between the knees like a bongo drum. Whether you are a professional drummer or just want to have fun at a drum circle with family or friends, the Remo frame drum will meet your highest expectations for sound quality and durability.



A finished example, Celestial Sol Luna (Sun Moon) drum

The Minoan Dolphin Drum is nearly ready. Though the acrylic paint is durable and long lasting, I've protected the artwork with an art fixative. Neither the fixative nor the paint adversely effect the lovely tones of the drum. I'm sure it will please the owner both as a music instrument and inspirational wall art for unique Mediterranean home decor.

*Original art images ©Tree Pruitt, unless otherwise indicated. Contact the artist prior to ANY use or for purchase information.

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Isaac Hayes; The Shaft, the Chef & a King

~ 1942-2008 ~

Isaac Hayes, a fellow BMI member, has always been a favorite entertainer of mine, as well as a person I admired with great respect. Entertainment legend Isaac Hayes has died at the age of 65. It may not have been a tragic accident that took the life of the latest celeb to cross over, but it was indeed a tragedy.


Having reached near Pop Culture deity status from his success with works such as Hot Buttered Soul and The Shaft movie soundtrack, Isaac Hayes was a soul singer, songwriter, musician and producer for over forty years in America. He was a key player in the birth of 1960's Southern Soul music, and gave us now classic songs such as Soul Man. Hayes' deep sexy voice later became THE sound of "gettin' it on", and only Barry White may have been more well known for putting the groove in smooth seduction.



In 1997 Isaac Hayes became the voice of beloved "South Park" character, Jerome "Chef" McElroy. Chef handed out lunch trays at South Park Elementary School, and had befriended the group of children who are the main characters on the show. Chef dished up more than food though, offering wisdom through song, served with a side of sex; a flash back, not throw back, of the open lifestyle of the 1970's. The character went a little like this ... create a stereotype of a white dude, then picture what that white dudes stereotypical imagining of a hip black guy would be and there's Chef! Isaac Hayes was good natured about playing the role, for the most part, though it often times seemed to be a parody of himself. Eventually his patience ran out when his Scientologist views clashed with the show. In 2005 South Park created a thinly disguised satire of Scientologists in its 10th season premiere on Comedy Central. Hayes left the show and continued with his work in other areas of his life.

A lesser known fact about Hayes is that he was also true 'resident royalty' for more than a decade. He was an actual coronated King! In the western Africa Ada coastal district of Ghana he was a member of the Royal Family. According to the Official Isaac Hayes website a http://www.isaachayes.com/ "instead of a palace, he built an 8,000 square foot educational facility through his Isaac Hayes Foundation (IHF). He is most certainly the only King on earth with an Oscar, Grammy awards"!


In addition to his music and television careers, Isaac Hayes was also well known for his concern with literacy. He and Lisa Marie Presley, a lifelong friend and fellow Scientologist, established a mission for the Central Library in Memphis in their hometown of Memphis. The mission now houses a LEAP center (Learning Education Ability Program), "for kids after school to learn how to study, to learn how to read and write." The IHF continues to partner with other nonprofit organizations to support global causes that serve community needs, actively promoting celebrity benefit concerts (like the Jam For Literacy at the House Of Blues in Los Angeles), Literacy Links 2000 (a middle school program in Memphis), and the Crusaders, a volunteer team of exhibition basketball players from all over the country who put on benefit shows for various causes.


In the spring 2003, one year after his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Isaac Hayes made a celebrated move back to his birthplace in Tennessee, where his body was found laying on the floor next to a treadmill five years later... today. A man may not do all that he is able to do within his lifetime, but a man who does all that he can with the life he is given graces us with his efforts.

-- artist Tree

*Photograph credits unknown.

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