Fall River artist Brian Fox honors veterans with his "American Warrior Series" artwork
FALL RIVER - With every stroke of his brush, artist Brian Fox knows he has a great responsibility.
"I want people to come away with an understanding of how selfless these guys are, the veterans, and to look at them and stop and just remember what they've done," said Fox. Out of his studio in Fall River, this talented artist is on a mission to capture the stories of veterans past and present through lifelike oil paintings. "I can't describe their sacrifice. It's other worldly to me what these guys do."
He's working a project called The American Warrior Series. To educate people on who these veterans are and the heroic acts they performed. Like Scott Neil, a 25-year veteran of the Army Special Forces whose life story was featured in the movie 12 Strong.
"I like how he captured the smile on my face because I loved my service. There's so many details and we worked painlessly day in and day out. Brian really captured the essence of what it meant to be in the moment," said Neil.
Fox spends countless hours on each painting of which he makes no profit. In fact, all of his artwork for veterans goes to support The Matt Light Foundation as a way of giving back.
Fox said 75-year-old two-time Vietnam veteran Harry Terrien inspired the project. "For me, it kind of draws me into the photo. I can see the feelings of the people, the characters of those paintings, the frustration, the exhaustion, the constant alertness, all those things that you felt during that particular time," said Terrien.
For Fox he takes his work so seriously because of the sacrifice veterans have made. "Veterans are a sacred class in our society. We gave up a lot of our young selves and our bodies, our minds. And the rest of our lives, time away from families, just to be on the vanguard for our country," said Neil.
