“Brotherhood”

In the Summer of 2023, I was flying home on leave. I hadn’t been home in a while, and it was occupying most of my thoughts. I had joined the US Navy at the beginning of the year, and this was my first opportunity to travel and see my family again. It wasn’t all happy, though. The reason I was allowed to take this particular trip wasn’t as a vacation or a needed break from the service, but because my family had lost someone close to us. My Grandma, my Mother’s mom, had passed away.

It had been coming for some time now, and it wasn’t unexpected, but these things still have a way of leaving you with unresolved emotions and feelings of loss. She was a marvelous woman, and someone I have fond and cherished memories of. She wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but none of us are. But she followed God and put her best foot forward to lend an example to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren she left behind.

I wasn’t the only one who was able to make this trip, thankfully. For the first time in years, my brothers and I were finally getting back together again. We were once more in the same state. It had been a long time coming. My older brother, Andrew, had been living in California with his girlfriend, who is now his wife, and her daughter. He was able to make it home occasionally, but infrequent trips never seemed to be enough. On top of that, we weren’t always able to get the gang back together when he did visit.

I am the second oldest, and often the example my younger two brothers have looked to over the years. One such example of this is how, after I joined the Navy, I encouraged my brother, Daniel, to find some more purpose in his life and at least consider talking with the Navy recruiters to see if military life could be a good fit for him. I shipped off to boot camp, not knowing if he would actually take me up on that offer. After I got out, he then broke the news that he had enlisted and was leaving for boot camp 2 weeks later. I was and am immensely proud of him. Thankfully, through a stroke of luck, he was able to get a brief, special bereavement leave request approved to fly home in the middle of his training and join us for this moment.

My brother Sam is the youngest, and thus far, other than small, short-term jobs, has never lived outside the state of Utah. He’s a go-getter and one of the hardest-working individuals I know. And he’s also my best friend. When I get married, he will be my best man at my wedding, no question about it. He drove my Mom to the airport, where we were all finally reunited once again. It had been a long time coming, and a very special moment for us, and especially my Mom.

From left to right: Andrew, Joseph (Me), Daniel, Samuel

30 Jun, 2023 - Salt Lake City International Airport

As we walked out, talking and catching up, my Mom trailed behind. She does this a lot. She’s slow. But she stopped for a moment and took a few photos of her sons. Captured below is one of those photos. It’s not an incredibly remarkable photo by any means, but for us it means something. Four boys, back together again, as a family. We had changed and grown in our time apart, but we always stayed close to each other.

I eventually left and went back to my duty station after an exciting and emotional few weeks at home to continue my training and eventually fulfill my ultimate orders to Scott Air Force Base, IL, in support of the United States Transportation Command. An Air Force base is an interesting place for a junior enlisted Navy Sailor to go, but I adapted to the Joint Service Command and learned my place. I gained friends and became active with base activities, command engagements, and Navy element affairs. It was during the course of my normal duties that I discovered that the base hosted an art show every year, and submissions were coming up soon. I hadn’t drawn anything in a long time, but it was worth breaking out the pens and try to draw something I could be proud of. After mulling it over, I selected the above picture and got to work.

I worked hard. Focused on every detail to the best of my ability, and spent hours upon hours working through how to tackle this project. I ended up spending close to 36 hours of working time on this drawing, producing close to ~432,000 dots to create the image. I’m proud of how the drawing turned out, and especially what it means to me. I titled it “Brotherhood” in honor of my brothers and the reunion we were finally able to have after so many years. After framing the piece, I submitted it at the last moment on the final day of the submission window. I didn’t expect much to come from it; there are so many amazing artists out there after all. But when they held the open house to announce the winners, I was stunned to see that my drawing had not only won “1st Place Drawing”, but also “Best in Show”, the highest award at the show. I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to share my art with them, and now I can share it with you. Thank you for spending some time to read this, and I hope you enjoy all the pieces I’ve been able to produce thus far. Stay tuned, I’ll be submitting another piece to the show this year, and I have a feeling it’ll be far better than this one was.

“Best in Show” and “First Place Drawing”

2024 Scott Air Force Base Art Show

Scott Air Force Base, IL - 04 Oct, 2024