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"The Summer Before The War" by Bruce Brown

Sketchbook:
The Summer Before The War

Digital paintings by Bruce Brown

"The Summer before The War #2" by Bruce Brown

The Summer Before the War #2

In 2010, eight years after the original series, I returned and reworked the poignant image of the little American boy at the beach, accentuating a darker sense of complexity than the original.

Artist's Note: I created "The Summer Before The War" series during the summer of 2002, when it became apparent that George W. Bush was "hell bent" on war with Iraq.

As I travelled through America that summer and fall, I was frequently struck by the almost etherial, out-of-time beauty that I encountered from the shores of the Pacific to the high mountains of the West. It was as if there was a rare, quivering poignancy in the air as America's mass media and its dumb-think President were beating the drums of war up to a frenzied pitch. (On the eve of the American invasion of Iraq, supposedly independent, non-corporate NPR actually claimed Saddam Hussein drank human blood.)

At the time, it made me think of stories I'd heard from my parents of the summer of 1942 -- and seen depicted in the film The Summer of '42 -- a halcyon, almost innocent time before the world changed forever. So here's a look back at America as it was in the summer of 2002, "The Summer Before The War."

* * *

The images in this series began as photographs, were rendered with a combination of artistic brushes in Photoshop 5, and finally hand painted with a Wacom Intuos stylus.

-- Bruce Brown
July 4, 2008


"Lost Lake, September 23, 2002" by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

Lost Lake (thanks to Terri Bumford)

September 23, 2002


"The Big Rock, September 22, 2002" by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

The Big Rock
September 22, 2002


"The Valley Below, September 12, 2002" by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

The Valley Below (thanks to Terri Bumford)
September 12, 2002


"Thunderhead Over The Corn, September 8, 2002" by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

Thunderhead Over The Corn
September 8, 2002


"Hydrangeas, August 26, 2002" by Bruce Brown, form "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

Hydrangeas (on the 10th anniversary of my mother's death)
August 26, 2002


"August, August 13, 2002" by Bruce Brown, form "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

August
August 13, 2002


"Fireweed, August 10, 2002" by Bruce Brown, form "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

Fireweed (thanks to Rena Becker)
August 10, 2002


"Off The Coast Of Tomorrow, July 12, 2002," by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

Off The Coast Of Tomorrow (thanks to Dale Johnson)
July 15, 2002


"Outward Bound At Sunset, July 8, 2002" by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

Outward Bound at Sunset (thanks to Marilyn Lewis)
July 8, 2002


"The Summer Before The War, June 8, 2002" by Bruce Brown, form "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

The Summer Before The War
June 8, 2002


"The Promise Of America (In The Distance), June 4, 2002" by Bruce Brown, from "The Summer Before The War" (2002)

The Promise of America (In The Distance)
June 4, 2002

"The Summer Before The War" © Copyright 2002 by Bruce Brown


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