Description
When I first saw President Theodore Roosevelt’s face on Mount Rushmore his larger than life personality captured me. He was a statesman (serving as Governor of NY, vice president, and ultimately as president of the United States), conservationist, naturalist, historian, and also a writer.
His conservation work is what he was most proud of. He established the U.S. Forest Service, signed laws that created five National Parks, established laws to permanently protected 18 new National Monuments, established 51 bird reserves, 4 game preserves, and 150 National Forests. In all he placed nearly 230 million acres under public protection.
Roosevelt was a born leader and was the youngest person to ever serve as president. Before his presidency, his successfully leading the Rough Riders (included volunteer Ivy Leaguers, professional and amateur athletes, upscale gentlemen, cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, hunters, miners, prospectors, former soldiers, tradesmen, and sheriffs) in Cuba has yet to be duplicated. In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Metal of Honor for his actions in Cuba. Roosevelt had been nominated during the war, but Army officials, annoyed at his grabbing the headlines, blocked it. After his presidency and his return to civilian life, he preferred to be known as “Colonel Roosevelt” or “The Colonel” reminiscent of his Rough Rider days. He abhorred being called Mr. President and Teddy.
My inspiration for painting “The Colonel” was this enormous personality. Most historians still consider him in the top 5 of all Presidents along with Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Thomas Jefferson. I used multi-colored skin behind his spectacles to help recall his multi-talented service to this country and as a reminder of the country he was endearing to protect. If you look at his spectacles these colors are evident: purple (purple mountains majesties), dark yellow (amber waves of grain), blue (from sea to shining sea), and red (above the fruited plain).
