Memorial

Charles John Andres 1913 - 2008
Student of Harvey Dunn, (himself student of Howard Pyle), artist, illustrator, teacher, and not least to those who loved him most, husband and father.




The converted side barn at the Oakes House, Berwick Academy, where Charles Andres taught his classes.

I had the privilege to attend the memorial service of Charles Andres, my high school art teacher, yesterday afternoon. (See this previous.)

I don't feel that I have been sufficiently close to him to elaborate further, except to say that the impact he had on his family and friends was obvious from the service, and that their love and respect for him was even more so.

His youngest son Mark read the following poem by Rudyard Kipling, and I can do no better than to reprint it here.

When Earth's last picture is painted and the tubes are twisted and dried,
When the oldest colours have faded, and the youngest critic has died,
We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it -- lie down for an aeon or two,
Till the Master of All Good Workmen shall put us to work anew.
And those that were good shall be happy; they shall sit in a golden chair;
They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with brushes of comets' hair.
They shall find real saints to draw from -- Magdalene, Peter, and Paul;
They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be tired at all!

And only The Master shall praise us, and only The Master shall blame;
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame,
But each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
Shall draw the Thing as he sees It for the God of Things as They are!



May those who loved and knew him find solace and encouragement in his memory. An era in the world of illustration has passed now from us.

Memorial Day Weekend



my Dad and two others, Army of Occupation, Europe



my Uncle and another Med Tech, possibly at West Point



a neighbor to my maternal Great Grandfather, Carl "Lieut" Nelson



my maternal Grandfather (on the left) with two other Merchant Marines



my Great Uncle in his Merchant Marine uniform

On Saturday, the boys and I went with their Boy Scout troop to place flags at the graves of veterans at the local cemetery. On Monday, the Scouts will march in the city Memorial Day Parade.

I get to be an artist, enjoy the religion of my choice and convictions, and have the hope of a safe future for my children because of all those who have served, are serving now, and who will serve in the future to protect our country.

May God bless them and protect those in the field.

End of Day Mother's-Day Post



My Mom and my youngest daughter!


Happy Mother's Day, and I hope you got to spend time with your family and to enjoy it well.


Friday Free Ad for Kate will return next week. My apologies, this Friday came and went before I could search out and post something...

Bombing of London, by Charles Andres

Sad News

I heard today from an old friend, who told me the the illustrator, Charles Andres, who had been my first art teacher in high school, passed away on Friday.

Some of his work can be found here. The interface is a little clunky, but it's worth a look. Choose a 'room' at the top of the image, then you can view the images in that area.

I remember the painting above, Bombing of London from his classroom/studio at Berwick Academy. He used it as an example of how to make contrast and composition work, since it had no color to distract the eye.

He was a man of humor and patience, an excellent teacher whom I did not listen to nearly enough, and from whom I learned more than from any other artist.


image copyright held by the estate of Charles Andres

Keep the Christ in Christmas...
...but take Him out of Easter

Apparently the story of Easter is too brutal to teach in Sunday School.



Well, for those of you who actually want to believe in something,

Happy Easter


And may you have the time to quietly contemplate the true meaning of sacrifice.

Best Public Service Announcement You'll See Today

Kim du Toit posts today's must read.

And there is nothing I can add to that, except maybe, say "Thank you."

Happy4th

Go read the links, have a hotdog or burger, watch some fireworks....

If you're reading this in the USA, be thankful for your freedom.

A Petition for Active Duty Military Personnel, to the Congress of the United States

Media Lies has finally had it with the antiwar movement's snarkyness. Antimedia has posted an online petition for active duty military personnel. If you are active duty, and believe that the Congress of the United States should show greater support for our troops, go sign the petition. If you know someone who is active duty, pass this info on.

The posturing of the Congress in our time of war has been an embarrassment to the US and a comfort to our enemies. They need to hear it!

The Glenn points out an article about how the Armed Services are appreciating their older recruits. I seem to remember when I was a kid reading that the average age in the Army in WWII was somewhere in the 40s.

There is a truism that I can't place my finger on exactly, which goes something like, "the old and cynical will always triumph over the young and idealistic." It may simply be that those who are older are less apt to risk themselves foolishly. When I was twenty I thought I was invincible. I would also street-race in the middle of the night with people I had never met. It's a wonder that I lived to grow up. When you are older, your mortality weighs more heavily on you, and your probably more apt to call in an air-strike than stick your head up when you shouldn't.

No offence meant to anyone young and in the military. Remember, I'm just old and cynical.

Artists in the Military

I don't know if I could have passed the physicals or endured Basic Training when I was 18 (I had recurring problems with bronchitis that was later diagnosed as being caused by a low level asthma), and I have always had a respect for our men and women in uniform. As I have grown older and realized just how much out-of-my-league their level of discipline is, my respect had grown. The safety of my children, and the future of my country are in the hands of noble and hardworking people.

One aspect of the military that I was always aware of, but that many are not, is that the military actively promotes and collects art. When I was a teen, I would read and re-read Up Front (1945) and Back Home (1947) by former Stars and Stripes cartoonist Bill Mauldin* and had other resources that showed military art. As a kid fascinated by everything World War II, with a dad who had been in the European Occupation after the war and who was an avid bibliophile, there was a lot of military art for me to see.

Today's Opinionjournal has a wonderful article on military artists and Dinfos (the Defense Information School) that is well worth reading. It is heartening to see how well the US Military supports its artists, including financially.

The money quote comes from Marine Artist Cpl. Annette Kyriakides Spurgeon,

"Artists are a dime a dozen; not everyone can be a Marine."

That's true.

Thank you Cpl. Spurgeon for being both, and all of your brothers and sisters from Dinfos in the military as well.



*(note, the entry on Bill Mauldin in Wikipedia is not entirely accurate, as it doesn't mention Back Home and says that Mauldin stopped using the Willie and Joe characters after the war, yet he did so in Back Home. As always, double-check everything on Wikipedia)