All Blog Posts
Rainbow over the Carousel
Rainbow over the Carousel by Cypress WillettI met Scott one night at a Carousel of Happiness/Warrior Storyfield fundraising event. I had been to the carousel once before, but it had been a while. I was in awe of all the things I had missed the first time around seeing...
Our Women’s Team
Women have always had a voice in the Warrior StoryField. Lately, that voice is growing even stronger. We now have a women’s welding team. Some are veterans, others are mothers, daughters, wives, or partners of veterans. Most of the women of the Warrior StoryField had...
Sanctuary of Story
Robert spoke to the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Space to “Be”
John Golden made this beautiful 30-minute film that gives an overview of the Warrior Storyfield's origins and highlights what is happening now. John joined our team to pursue his interest in making documentary films to tell...
Thousand Yard Stare
Sometimes the best way to thank a veteran is to write a song together... then sing that song. Listen to Rebeca Folsom sing the new song "Thousand Yard Stare" to Bob Lecy. Bob served as a medic in the Vietnam War. Here at the...
The Ranger & The Backpack
Wisdom For A Broken World This animated film and book is based on a true story of a war veteran. Told through the eyes of a soldier, this film & book weaves the story of how grief, loss and trauma are carried by everyone. Our invisible...
Matthew’s Question Mark
Questions Unanswered “Art is what it looks like when you put your inside outside of you” In this video Matthew Jarrett describes how he came to build a steel question mark wrapped in barbed wire. Then he treats us to a reading of a poem he...
Art for September Fundraising Auction
Art for September Fundraising AuctionSaturday September 17, 2022, Ann Sartori is hosting a fundraiser for the Warrior Storyfield that will include a live concert with Rebecca Folsom! There will also be an auction of beautiful art created by members of the Warrior...
A Short Story of the StoryField
Ten years ago, two combat veterans and an artist asked a tough question, “What does it take to come home from war?”
Storyfield Update
We’re finally beginning to shape the entire structure of the Dragons wings. Yowsa, these things just might fly someday!
Bob Speaks of War
Bob Lecy served as a medic in the Vietnam War. In this video he speaks of what it took for him to come home the war, the chaos, and the suffering that he saw.
Dan & the Boys
The first draft of the Dragon’s talon got a thumbs down.
Damien’s Dragon Tail
Starting from nothing, Damien is imagining the Dragons Tail into an expression of stability, balance and a projection of power.
Hiss of the Dragon’s Tongue
James Bzura has played an advisory role as one of the many civilian artists supporting the WSF project. Recently he stopped by to give us a painting he made of the Dragon, when it was still just a skeleton made of 1/2” steel bars several...
Where Do Ya Make the Cuts?
Dan, a master at shaping metal explains to Robert how to make gripping dragon claws from a chunk of steel pipe. We started with a simple clay model made by Shiloh. We’ll be making 16 gnarly claws each with its own unique twist.
Testing Our 8 ft Long Forge
“It’s like this,” Andy said “if we’re gonna make 7-1/2 foot feathers we need at least an 8 foot long forge. How about if Andrew and I figure out how to do that?”
Let’s Just Wing It
Interesting. We set the wing bones of the Phoenix at an angle that does not quite match our model. So what do we do? How about we just start laying in the feathers and well, just wing it.
Building The Dragons Hips
Some years back when we thought of ourselves as two medics and an artist. Denny, Bob & Robert. Back then we were the drive wheels moving the Warrior StoryField forward.
Building the Dragon’s Wings
Andrew and Robert are capturing the “weep” curve of the Dragons Wings. The “weep” is the natural shape that came from letting the frame of the wing hang freely in gravity. They are Was it Andrew that asked, If we just go ahead and mount...
Building the Dragon’s Shoulder
Bob Lecy is slowly building the “skin” of the Dragons shoulder with 1/2” bar covered with hundreds of small weld tacks. It takes a long time but now he’s starting to see the “whole shoulder.” Robert and Andrew are working nearby on the...
The Space in Between
Dave Schares lost his brother, Bob Schares to the Vietnam War over 50 years ago. He rarely, if ever, had the opportunity to talk about the emptiness that followed him for decades.
Lost Innocence
There are so many moving parts in the WSF right now. The wind is picking up. The sky is churning grays and blues to bluster and cleansing swirls.
The Warrior StoryField Project
I recently came across the first video we created about our project, from June of 2016.
Terry Discusses the WSF Project
Terry Rizutti, a member of our team, talks about what the sculptures represent for warriors.
Denny & Ben In the Field
Watch this video from the early days of the Warrior StoryField where two veterans from our team discuss what the dragon and phoenix mean to them.
Making our first “fire feather” for the Phoenix
The Challenge:
Imagine and create an 8 foot long “Fire Feather” for our Phoenix using whatever we have on hand.
Listen in as Trudi Howley, of the Inscape Quest Podcast Show, facilitates a conversation between Robert and the actor Andrew Jarvis about the use of dramatic space.
Celebration, Fire, Family
It started as a quiet day at the Warrior StoryField. Bob finished sculpted the Dragon’s neck heating, pounding and hammering 1/2” steel rods into a graceful curve.
There Is A Place
Almost 5 decades after his war experience Denny Sedlack uncovers “a crack in the on-guard” in this poem, There Is A Place.
A Butterfly For You?
Last week Ann posed an interesting question. “Could we make something simple? Could we make a butterfly? I want to give one to my daughter.”
Could Of, Would Of
Charles Harrienger’s poems walk us through the waving grasses of truth as known by a warrior who has “been there.” My “civilian mind” is eternally grateful to read and feel the hard earned wisdom of his “warriors mind.”
Listen in as Trudi Howley, of the Inscape Quest Podcast Show, speaks with Ann Sartori, one of Warrior Storyfield’s team, on Rethinking War.
War Buff
I met a young man today who talked about war.
“It is surreal that popcorn would be served
while watching bombs drop….
Sculpting the Dragon’s Ribs
Bob and Mike are both veterans of the Vietnam War. Bob sculpted 36 ribs for the dragon to create a perfect fit.
Butting Heads
Here’s a raw truth. Out at the Warrior Storyfield we often butt heads. Sometimes it happens for just a moment or two.
Remembrance
Denny Sedlack wanted to share this poem, Remembrance.
Robert Bellows Interviewed by Thiago Leao
Thiago had the pleasure of Interviewing the creator of the Warrior Story Field, Robert Bellows.
Ben Cardamone flew over 600 missions, mostly medevac missions, as a Crew Chief in Vietnam. In this interview he describes how his hands were in the blood everyday.
What’s The Point?
What happens when two Vietnam veterans and a civilian artist get together for a hot mocha and lunch in a parking lot? Questions like this pop up.
Reflections on Suicide from Robert
Is life worth living? That’s a question that keeps finding its way into our conversations as we pour our thoughts into the steel tissue of our sculptures.
Hammerin’ and Yammerin’
Wanna know what gets a combat veteran laughing? Give him a place to be, a team to love, and a common purpose.
The conversations stimulated by our work on the sculptures are the heartbeat of the Warrior StoryField project. They are unstructured explorations of our unspoken sometimes unspeakable stories. Listen in as 2 veterans and 3 civilians have a candid talk about suicide.
Id and the Run on Toilet Paper
Id and the Run on Toilet PaperCovid-19 and the Psycho-immunology of Panic We are living in memorable time indeed. This article is an exploration of one question: given the current situation, did you reach out for more toilet paper or more connection? I’m sure you’ve...
The Reality of War
War is ruthless. It brutally confronts our romantic assumptions and, in every sense, deconstructs the nature of our reality. War is an uncomfortable paradox and a systemic and enduring fact.
Reflections On Veteran Suicide from Denny
What Does Veteran Suicide Have To Tell Us? I am part of the core team of the Warrior StoryField sculpture project. Our team of veteran and civilian artists has been in regular conversations for the last six years on the issue of veteran suicide.
Fog, Friend or Foe
It’s 6 Am. The fog wraps an opaque vapor all around our home. The valley below is gone. The city is gone. The mountains are gone. Naked branches pierce the softness. A pair of robins dance on our porch scoping out a nest site.
Mystery In Our Skin
We’re on lock down. You know, the virus thing. Now, I’ve got lots of time to write. But I’ve been fighting the sadness of temporarily closing down the Warrior StoryField to isolate.
Isolate. Really? That’s what we’ve been trying to undo.
Reaching For The Marrow
Two Vietnam medics collaborate on the shape and attitude of the Dragons Talons. Its a lively conversation that lets you see why we love making art together.
We’re Courting Beauty That Ain’t Pretty
So, What is Beauty?
What we find beautiful, as we walk through the woods,
Is the twisted pine, the tortured cypress,
The delicate violet pressing its way through granite
Got a Grip on Where Its Going?
The Talons of the Phoenix and its hand-hammered log perch is the result of a collaboration of 10 members of our team. Dan DeJiacomo carried the lead on this project. We are now ready to begin adding the first feathers to the Phoenix’s legs.Got a Grip on Where Its...
Ours Was An Unlikely Friendship
Martin, a badass Navy Seal, spoke like a pirate guarding his treasure and rum. Martin, a fortified encasement that housed a warm and delicate heart. A heart so finely tuned that butterflies waited in line to feel its pulse as they lit on his fingertips.
What is Art?
Yes, we’re engaged in building two huge sculptures of a Dragon and a Phoenix. And so we wind up asking each other an obvious question: what is art? Is it therapy we asked? No, we’re not therapists. We don’t want to engage in therapy.
Denny Sedlack describes his journey of over 50 years to come home from war. His insights as a Corpsman in combat, and then as a physical therapist, counselor, father, grandfather and now artist may surprise you.
We Call Him the Heart Guy
We call him that because he has infused the wisdom learned in his war experience into the the structure and texture of the Dragon’s Heart. His Dragon Heart started out as clay. It’s image was pressed into a wheelbarrow full of wet ditch sand.
How We Got Started
Back in 2013, I was a civilian bystander.
Sure, I was concerned about our perpetual wars and the trauma that follows in their wake. But I was also strangely detached.
Hello!
Hello Friends of Warrior StoryField We started the Warrior Storyfield with just a few of us and a bit of wire shaped into a thin outline of a Phoenix and a Dragon. We’ve been hard at it now for 5 years. In that time we have built a community of veterans and civilians...
Creating The Dragon’s Heart
Creating The Dragon's Heart Mornin' Bob, whatdya want to work on today? "The heart" he said. "The Dragon's Heart". And, in a heartbeat we dropped into an important conversation. He spoke of how quickly he began tamping down his heart after arriving in Vietnam to...
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