thedrifter
06-02-08, 10:17 AM
June 2, 2008
Marine's photo inspires painting
HANOVER -- What started out as two Marines "goofing around" turned out to be a meaningful experience for a woman in Texas.
This bizarre story starts with Cale Jones, 22, a 2003 Licking Valley grad who is a lance corporal in the Marines currently stationed in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Snapping pictures one morning with fellow Marine Brandon Garner, of Mobile, Ala., Cale asked Brandon to cup his hands around the sun.
They got the picture on the first take and didn't think anything of it until they pulled it up on a computer. That's when Cale e-mailed the picture to his mom, Pam Jones. She in turn showed her friend, Loretta Frenton, who in turn sent it to her mother, Betty Pimm, of Sugar Land, Texas. Betty is an artist and asked permission to paint the picture.
It took Betty about six hours to paint it on a 28 by 22-inch canvas. The story about the picture and painting got around and soon Betty was interviewed for a story in the Houston Chronicle.
"Knowing it came from a Marine fascinated me," Betty said, according to the story in the Chronicle. "It looks like a heavenly body is shining on that soldier because of the glow on his arms from the rays of the sun. It's surreal."
She then took a picture of it and sent it to Cale.
"When she painted the picture, I was very surprised that anyone would want to paint it," Cale said in an e-mail interview. "It's one of those pictures that you just keep looking at and can't look away from it. When I received the copy of her painting, it gave me that same can't-look-away-from-it feeling. I think she definitely accomplished what she set out to do."
Replicating the photo on canvas turned out to be a moving experience for Betty. She thought of those serving in Iraq, their lives constantly in danger. She explained she felt like she was over there with them.
"It was just a real funny feeling that went over me, because I don't think we appreciate them enough," Betty said. "So this became my way of saying 'Hey, we're with you.' I get choked up when I even think about it, but that's how I felt when I painted that picture."
Betty has been so touched by the experience that she is thinking of rallying fellow artists to form some kind of picture-painting program for others in the military.
Cale is a communication technician for air traffic control, fixing and maintaining everything that has to do with communications. Any radio that is not operating properly, he pulls and breaks it open to find out which component is malfunctioning and then replaces it. His unit also is setting up communications systems by raising an air traffic control tower piece by piece.
"I have watched the sun rise almost every day since we have been here," Cale said. "One of the things that keeps me going is I know that the same sun shines back in Ohio and I know that I will be there soon to see my family and friends. The photo/painting reminds me in that same way."
Ellie
Marine's photo inspires painting
HANOVER -- What started out as two Marines "goofing around" turned out to be a meaningful experience for a woman in Texas.
This bizarre story starts with Cale Jones, 22, a 2003 Licking Valley grad who is a lance corporal in the Marines currently stationed in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Snapping pictures one morning with fellow Marine Brandon Garner, of Mobile, Ala., Cale asked Brandon to cup his hands around the sun.
They got the picture on the first take and didn't think anything of it until they pulled it up on a computer. That's when Cale e-mailed the picture to his mom, Pam Jones. She in turn showed her friend, Loretta Frenton, who in turn sent it to her mother, Betty Pimm, of Sugar Land, Texas. Betty is an artist and asked permission to paint the picture.
It took Betty about six hours to paint it on a 28 by 22-inch canvas. The story about the picture and painting got around and soon Betty was interviewed for a story in the Houston Chronicle.
"Knowing it came from a Marine fascinated me," Betty said, according to the story in the Chronicle. "It looks like a heavenly body is shining on that soldier because of the glow on his arms from the rays of the sun. It's surreal."
She then took a picture of it and sent it to Cale.
"When she painted the picture, I was very surprised that anyone would want to paint it," Cale said in an e-mail interview. "It's one of those pictures that you just keep looking at and can't look away from it. When I received the copy of her painting, it gave me that same can't-look-away-from-it feeling. I think she definitely accomplished what she set out to do."
Replicating the photo on canvas turned out to be a moving experience for Betty. She thought of those serving in Iraq, their lives constantly in danger. She explained she felt like she was over there with them.
"It was just a real funny feeling that went over me, because I don't think we appreciate them enough," Betty said. "So this became my way of saying 'Hey, we're with you.' I get choked up when I even think about it, but that's how I felt when I painted that picture."
Betty has been so touched by the experience that she is thinking of rallying fellow artists to form some kind of picture-painting program for others in the military.
Cale is a communication technician for air traffic control, fixing and maintaining everything that has to do with communications. Any radio that is not operating properly, he pulls and breaks it open to find out which component is malfunctioning and then replaces it. His unit also is setting up communications systems by raising an air traffic control tower piece by piece.
"I have watched the sun rise almost every day since we have been here," Cale said. "One of the things that keeps me going is I know that the same sun shines back in Ohio and I know that I will be there soon to see my family and friends. The photo/painting reminds me in that same way."
Ellie