This Train is Bound for Glory

Closing out 2011, Ticket Book, a singular verse project, was sent to the local Alzheimer's Association to fulfill a fundraising request for art palettes to auction. Check it out in the viewing pane on the right. It's a two part work that integrates a model train layout collage on an artist's palette with a singular verse bound in a ticket jacket. The layout is called "A Life Laid Out" and honors my father who lived with Alzheimer's Disease for over a decade. The verse entitled "An Impression of Alzheimer's" describes his disease process of hoarding gone wild, a neurological exaggeration of his thrifty saving. Even in his disease, he was a singular man, who I miss very much. When I was contemplating what to do with the palette, I thought of collaging a brain since the palette shape was similar. So, I started in the realm of pink paint as part of the 10 layer collage process. While the piece was developing, I took a trip to Sedona and hoped the pink landscape would provide additional inspiration. Looking at the terrain, I found my pink. Then, a train went by, a very, very long train, and I thanked my dad for his gift of divine encouragement. He was an avid train enthusiast, so the deconstructed map reveals locations important to him in his life journey. From Key West to Cambridge, Cincinnati to San Diego, and points in between, my dad worked as a chief engineer in the aerospace program, earning a commendation from NASA while working at a small engineering firm. As the train runs around the track with the ghost of my dad in the engineer's seat, my mother sits in a boxcar with Denver a mile high above her as a hurricane touches down in the Southeast. My brother, my dog, and I all wait on a distant shore, as we did as children listening for the whistle of the train that would carry us West. Alzheimer's is a disease of memory loss. Perhaps in the process of recalling the very best times of our lives, we finally transcend our losses.
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