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    We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America
    We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America
    We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America
    Ebook163 pages44 minutes

    We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America

    By Mary Whyte

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    About this ebook

    We the people—these words embody the ethos of what it means to be an American citizen. As individuals we are a tapestry of colors and creeds; united we are a nation committed to preserving our hard-earned freedom. In this heart-stirring collection of watercolor portraits of military veterans—one from each of the fifty states—artist Mary Whyte captures this ethos as well as the dedication, responsibility, and courage it takes to fulfill that promise.

    Those who raise their hands to serve may join for different reasons, but all—along with their families—make the extraordinary commitment to place the needs of the country before their own. Whyte gives us the opportunity to meet and to see some of them—to really see them. Whyte's portrait of America includes individuals from many walks of life, some still active duty, and from every branch: women and men, old and young, and from a wide swath of ethnicities, befitting our glorious melting pot. From a mayor to an astronaut, from a teacher to a garbage collector, from a business entrepreneur to someone who is homeless, Whyte renders their unique and exceptional lives with great care and gentle brush strokes.

    We the People is not only a tour across and through these vast United States, it is a tour through the heart and soul, the duty and the commitment of the people who protect not only our Constitution and our country but our very lives. We can only be deeply grateful, inspired, and humbled by all of them.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherUniversity of South Carolina Press
    Release dateOct 23, 2019
    ISBN9781643360119
    We the People: Portraits of Veterans in America
    Author

    Mary Whyte

    Mary Whyte is an artist and author whose watercolor paintings have earned international recognition. Her works have been exhibited nationally as well as in China and have been featured in numerous publications stateside and in France, Germany, Russia, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, and Taiwan. Whyte is the author of two books published by the University of South Carolina Press—Working South: Paintings and Sketches by Mary Whyte and Down Bohicket Road: An Artist's Journey. She is also the author of Alfreda's World, Painting Portraits and Figures in Watercolor, An Artist's Way of Seeing, and Watercolor for the Serious Beginner. Whyte is the recipient of the Portrait Society of America's Gold Medal and the Elizabeth O'Neill Verner Award, South Carolina's highest honor in the arts.

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      Book preview

      We the People - Mary Whyte

      Introduction

      A Call of Duty

      "Freedom is never more than one generation away

      from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in

      the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected,

      and handed on for them to do the same, or one day

      we will spend our sunset years telling our children

      and our children’s children what it was once like in

      the United States where men were free."

      RONALD REAGAN,

      address to Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, March 30, 1961

      In many communities across America there are men and women who go about their days with quiet resolve and little expectation of accolades or recognition. They are the folks whose days are marked by the cows milked, patients seen, corn harvested, test papers scored, engines rebuilt, and children fed and put to bed. They generally go about their lot with steady purpose and without complaint, neither cutting corners nor cutting out early. They are perplexed by those seeking attention in a media-obsessed world and are sustained simply by knowing that theirs was a job done well and with honor. When asked why they took the path they did, some answer because their fathers chose this way. Some say it was because they had no other options. And others say it was because they wanted to make a difference in a challenging world. Regardless, whether by purpose or by accident, almost everyone I spoke to, including those I painted for the We the People project, told me that serving in the military ultimately changed them and made them a better person.

      Although I could not have known it at the beginning, what I experienced over the seven years I spent traveling the country and painting veterans would change my own life in unimagined ways, too. There were personal setbacks, financial concerns, and many promising plans that imploded. Paintings that took weeks to complete ended up being purposefully destroyed, then started anew. Ideas that had been sketched out and taped to the wall of my studio were tossed and replaced with others that reached deeper. The seemingly endless uncertainties, dead-end leads and unreturned phone calls finally began to come together, unleashing a cascade of newer ideas and energy. Traveling by myself to distant and unknown regions of the country may have seemed ill advised to others, but for me it became a wonder-filled expedition to the uncharted. I never knew in advance, one day to the next, where I would end up in each of the fifty states, or how I would get to my ultimate destination. And I certainly could never have imagined that, in addition to cars and airplanes, my means of transportation would also include a ferryboat, lobster boat, eighteen-wheeler, harbor patrol boat, cruise ship, taxicab, firetruck, motorcycle, three-wheeler, helicopter, pick-up truck, flatbed truck, plumbing truck, and a very, very slow golf cart. We the People was the most unplanned, the most haphazard, and the most exhilarating adventure of my life.

      It all started seven years earlier. I was driving west across Georgia with my friend Debbie, heading to an art center

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