An artist's return, a re-enactor's kit

I've been derelict in my duties with regard to blogging. Will try to catch up soon. Meanwhile, here's something I've been meaning to post for at least a month or two...

As some of you may know, my Uncle David's career as an artist [click here for examples of his earlier work] was very nearly derailed by Parkinson's disease. After a 20-month hiatus, he took up his brushes again—and then ripped apart his basement to create a new studio: "Man, was that a lot of work. Everything is ten times more difficult when you have this blasted disease...so you really appreciate any accomplishment."

With "this blasted disease", one must be cautious about tempting fate, and David is well aware of the possibility of relapse, but things are going well for now and he continues to paint. Below is his latest: This piece, done in egg tempera, is entitled "13th Virginia Infantry" after the unit with which my brother re-enacts. The accoutrements are Greg's as well.

Organized at Harper's Ferry, the original 13th Virginia was Col. A.P. Hill's regiment, and one in which a substantial number of Marylanders served. Its re-enacting counterpart, as I think I've mentioned before, is involved in historical education as well as fundraising for flag and battlefield preservation. Greg and Uncle David have a mutual passion for history, and I know both would be pleased to think that this piece might do something to raise awareness of the many fields of conflict that have been and continue to be lost to suburban sprawl in the Baltimore-Washington-Richmond megalopolis.

And speaking of conservation, both Uncle David and my cousin Scott exhibited pieces (David's "Rain Barrel", Scott's "Balance") at an Earth Day art show hosted by the Howard County Conservancy and organized by Greg Mort. Will update here if I can find links, but no luck so far.