Early in the year 2007 as the numbers lost to the war in the Middle east soared into the thousands, I started thinking about doing a piece of work to commemorate the lives. Because of all the controversy, I wanted to put something in front of the house that clearly said I support the troops and I am against the war – a statement that can make the tempers flare. I worked on a couple of ideas that ultimately lead to creating 3000 Lights: A vigil for the American men and women who have died in the Iraq war. As an artist, realizing a concept is a delicious moment. The trouble is, I have way too many of those moments, actualizing any one of them is a challenge, I commit to so very, very few. With some trepidation, I decided to do this one . . . . on Memorial Day. When I realized that setting a date so far off in the future was another way of not doing it, I picked Valentines Day, about a month from when the idea began to gel. There was a huge life lesson in that small decision and then, came the self-doubt. I knew that the concept was good and exactly what I wanted the piece to do yet struggled with its value. I could go on and on about this, it’s another hurdle I have to face, how to write about my creative process, but I am going to put that off for now. The installation was a success, but not without many hours of hard work and the devotion of my family and friends.
In November, I installed 4000 Lights. The following year when the troops shifted to Afghanistan 2000 Lights to commemorate the lives lost in that war zone
