"Fallen Leaves" is a work in progress dedicated to our fallen soldiers and those who have fallen alongside them.

My inspiration for this piece came one day as I was looking closely at the leaves that had fallen around the oak tree behind our house. That morning I had been reading an account of progress of the war in Iraq, and as I marveled at the subtle beauty and myriad scars on the leaves I couldn't help but feel that I was looking at a beautiful and moving visual analogy.

As I started on the work, I quickly came to realize that there is much more to these cast-off leaves than initially meets the eye. Many of the leaves have an intense beauty when enlarged just a bit, and an inch-long leaf enlarged to a wall sized mural reveals a stunning miniature landscape – a unique piece of visual imagery that stands alone without need of any further interpretation. Viewed at these scales, the scars accumulated by the leaves over their short lives, and the abrupt nature of their ending call to mind a sense of both the fragility and tenacity of life. It is an appropriate metaphor for a life taken by war, but one that also speaks to many of the losses that we encounter throughout our lives. 


I initially conceived of this project as a memento to our troops, and yet by any account the suffering that has happened in Iraq goes far beyond our soldiers. In spirit I am creating the works for all who have lost their lives during these conflicts - soldiers and bystanders alike. While this project was inspired by loss, our loss of family and friends, I feel strongly that these pieces have a character that transcends tragedy and that the beauty of these small fallen objects may help us see beyond our grief.

Listen to Nelson talk the Fallen Leaves project:

Proceeds to Charity

When I began this work my goal was to recognize and honor those who have fallen in service to our country. Over the life of the project, I will create one image for each soldier who lost their life during the Iraq war. As a way to honor individuality of each soldier, the full sized works from this project will only be printed once. Honor is important, but it takes more than respect to help people recover from their losses. Because of this, I have decided that a significant portion of the proceeds from the sale of the "Fallen Leaves" prints will be donated to charities in support of war relief and veteran assistance. When prints go on sale I will post details about which organizations the project will support. If you are part of a war relief group or veteran's support group and are interested in this project, please contact me.

Prints and Calendars

Prints from these images will be available for sale online and through select galleries. The first set of prints will go on sale in June, 2008. If you would like a print dedicated to a particular person from the service, please contact me.

 

You can purchase calendars from this project here.