 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Father Image: Artist Don Gray of Flagstaff, Arizona, stands beneath the giant image he created of the Father of Twentynine Palms, Dr. Luckie. (1995 Photo by Vickie Waite) |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The compassionate visionary Dr. James B. Luckie was a perfect subject for dedicated artist and illustrator Don Gray of Flagstaff, Arizona. His exquisite attention to detail and ability to create quietly dramatic, naturalistic portraits brought the face of the kindly Pasadena doctor and ghostly visions of his veteran patients (the "Lungers" of WWI, for whom he prescribed the desert to heal their lungs) to larger-than-life permanence on the 17- by 50- mural wall. Gray's portrait of Dr. Luckie, reminiscent of a Norman Rockwell painting, is an example of extraordinary talent in realism. The mural was a fine tribute to the man responsible for creating our early community of veteran homesteaders in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and the mural unveiling was probably the most reverent ceremony the Twentynine Palms mural project has experienced before or since. Oregon-born artist Don Gray maintains his art studio in Flagstaff, Arizona. The diligent artist, who paints daily, works in all media, from pencil drawings to oil/acrylic paintings and collage. He is also a fine art book illustrator and co-founder of Bear Wallow Publishing Company, which, among other projects, has published several high quality illustrated books of Western history. Noted for his strong sense of realism, his art has been featured throughout the West and Northwest for more than 25 years. Among his many credits are nearly three decades of paintings and numerous full-scale murals. Based on his work on our third historic mural, Gray was commissioned to return to California in 1998 to paint the second premiere mural, Cahuilla Village, for the newly founded Indio Mural Project in the Coachella Valley. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Any software, images, webpages, text, and other materials that are made available to use, view, or download from the http://www.oasisofmurals.com are the copyrighted work of Michael Collins or Vickie Waite or are public domain as noted and cannot be used without express permission of either Michael Collins or Vickie Waite.. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
