Hometown Pride

As America approaches the anniversary of our greatest challenge, I feel especially blessed to be a citizen of this fair land. We have overcome every adversity and obstacle that has attempted to erode the freedom and security we cherish. In Hometown Pride I’m trying to evoke the very essence of the American dream – the peace and precious freedoms that continue to be our birthright. In his celebrated Four Freedoms paintings, Norman Rockwell recognizes Freedom From Fear as one of the cardinal protections Americans enjoy. That is the spirit – the message if you will – of this proud painting.

In these two snug neighborhood homes, bathed in the golden light of late afternoon, shaded by massive trees and accentuated by a trellised garden. I hope to convey the simplicity and serenity of life in everyday neighborhoods across America. Despite the differences that distinguish community from community, region from region, state from state, there’s really so much we have in common. For this reason I have created a separate edition for many of America’s hometown communities, around 350 in all, and send it with love to each.

My prayer is that as you gaze down the sun-drenched lanes and past the neighborhood picket fences you will envision a summer afternoon in your own hometown. Perhaps you will sit, if only in imagination, upon the expansive porch at the right of the composition and listen to the sound of children at play and rickets beginning their twilight chorus.

Old Glory flies over the scene, reflecting the glorious light of sunset in its red, white, and blue. That beautiful sentinel, a standard that has proudly waved for centuries, promises and indeed provides, that most revered hallmark of the American way of life: united we stand.