Posted: Nov. 11, 2009

Joanne Bowring paints to say, "Thank you."

The Wauwatosa artist creates portraits of soldiers, most from Wisconsin, who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan or died here after serving. She sends her work to the soldiers' families as a way of expressing appreciation.

"Their children gave up their lives," she said. "Everything is gone. It's lost."

Though Bowring has never met the soldiers she paints, she said, their deaths feel personal because her two children are about the age of many of her subjects.

"My heart goes out to a lot of the parents."

In addition to showing gratitude, her work serves as a form of protest, she said.

"I'm not a marcher, but I'm an artist and I know that through visuals I can make a difference," she said.

Local exhibit focuses on life

A collection of her portraits is on display in the Wauwatosa Public Library's Firefly Room through Dec. 31. Beneath each portrait is a newspaper article, obituary or funeral card describing the lives and deaths of each soldier.

"When you go in there, when you go inside that Firefly Room, you can just feel the loss of lives," Bowring said. "They're all so young."

But Bowring's art is more than just a way to mourn death, it's also meant to celebrate life.

"It's not a squeamish thing with me at all," she said. "It's a connection for me, with these young people."

Paired with some of the portraits are notes Bowring has received from the loved ones of the soldiers she has painted.

One such loved one is Lisa Bixler, a Racine resident whose 21-year-old son, Evan, was killed in Hit, Iraq, on Dec. 24, 2006. Bixler said she was completely taken by surprise when she received a portrait of Evan from Bowring.

"When I opened it up and saw what it was, it just took my breath away," Bixler said. "She captured Evan like he was right there."

Bixler said knowing someone else cares about the loss of her son helps ease the pain of his loss.

More works to come

Bowring, a retired art teacher who worked at Mount Mary College, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and Pius XI High School, makes each portrait using a method of her own creation that she calls "artography." The process combines digital photography with hand painting, preserving the subject's likeness while adding rich color and glow.

After choosing a subject at random from a list of Wisconsin's deceased soldiers, Bowring finds a photo of the soldier online. She creates a portrait using artography, and prints it onto a canvas. She sends the original as a surprise to the soldier's family and keeps a copy for herself.

So far, she has produced 21. She plans to keep going.

The day of the massacre at Fort Hood that left 13 soldiers dead and 43 injured, Bowring was hanging part of the exhibit at the library. She'll make her next portrait one of the victims, Staff Sgt. Amy Krueger of Kiel. After that, she's planning to take requests.

"Please let me know," she said to all families of fallen Wisconsin soldiers. "I want to do it."