Frisco artist 'brings soldiers home'

By DELANIA TRIGG, Register Staff Writer

“One of the most wonderful things in nature is a glance of the eye; it transcends speech; it is the bodily symbol of identity.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

The most remarkable thing about Phil Taylor’s paintings is probably the life in the eyes of his subjects.

Taylor is an accomplished artist and is the founder and the heart behind the Texas Fallen Soldiers Project (recently renamed the American Fallen Soldiers Project).

He paints portraits of servicemen and women killed in the line of duty at the request of the fallen soldier’s immediate family.

He even delivers the original to the family member’s hometown. Each portrait comes in a commemorative case stamped with the name of Taylor’s organization.

Although the detailed paintings never fail to impact the soldier’s family, Taylor admits there’s something special about the eyes.

For one thing, they are the only portion of the subject’s face which is rendered in color.

A Gainesville man got to know Taylor after he painted a portrait of his nephew, CWO2 Miles Henderson.

Jeff Gerkin, a Gainesville coach, said Taylor’s work transcends both sorrow and gratitude.

“It is impossible to put into words what this man has done for these families, unfortunately including my own. Phil painted a picture of my nephew who we lost in Iraq on 6 Nov. 2006. Since the process started I have found not only a friend but a brother. What Phil does goes so far beyond painting a picture. I can never repay Phil for what he has done for my family but I sure will never stop telling people about him... He’s a man of great talent, love, and honor,” Gerkin wrote of Taylor.

Taylor said since he did his first soldier painting, he’s completed 45 of the portraits.

Another 110 requests are pending, he noted.

He receives at least two requests for paintings every week since starting the project.

The Fallen Soldier Project began after two tragedies touched Taylor’s life.

“This started on May 23, 2007 after two losses. I lost a friend in Iraq — Cpt. Blake Russell and my daughter lost a friend, Ben Dawson. Ben was her prom date and he was killed in a motorcycle crash right here in Frisco,” he said.

His response to the tragedies was to paint portraits of the people who lost their lives.

He thought it might bring comfort to the grieving friends and family.

“Both responses were life-changing,” Taylor said. “After the notes and the phone calls, I recognized that the portraits could have a profound healing effect.”

The Texas Fallen Soldiers Project grew out of those two gestures of kindness.

Since then, the project has become a 501(3)c (nonprofit) organization.

His first goal was to paint Texas soldiers.

After receiving requests from all over the country, Taylor decided to expand his work to include soldiers from all states.

He paints each portrait himself — a process that takes about two weeks.

The first week is spent painting, reflecting on the soldier’s life, getting to know him or her through photos and contact with family members.

“The family receives an e-mail or a phone call every day when I’m painting their soldier,” Taylor said. “They share the stories of their loss and their pain, and I share that determination to reconcile that life back to the house (from which) he or she was taken.”

The finished painting is tastefully framed at another location and high-quality prints created.

“The family can have as many of the prints as they want,” Taylor said.

He never charges the family for the portraits.

“The families do not pay. They have already paid in full. We are funded by individuals and organizations that find this to be a valuable mission. Right now, the number one supporter of this project is me,” he said.

He doesn’t charge for the paintings, but the works are far from free.

According to his Web site, Taylor estimates about $5,000 goes into each one.

He admits that for now, he is the organization’s major supporter, but that may soon change.

The project now has two staff members who specialize in corporate underwriting.

Taylor’s wife Lisa is also a staff member and a dedicated supporter of the project, he noted.

He said he and anyone who works for him at the project must consider the responsibilities of being part of the organization before signing on.

“In everything we do, we want to honor and pay tribute to the fallen. Second we try, through the portraits and personal relationships, to comfort the families who receive (the paintings). They have a hole in their souls and we want to use every media outlet possible to help bring their soldier home.”

It takes longer to take in the photos in Taylor’s studio than one usually has during a brief visit.

The studio was once a game room in Taylor’s Frisco home.

But not now.

“You could say this room has become a studio,” he said.

Photos of soldiers are carefully positioned on a cloth covered pool table so they can be seen.

Taylor speaks of each one with reverence.

Ask him about any painting, any photograph and he knows the name of the soldier, the soldier’s hometown, how he lived, how he died and who he left behind.

On a recent weekday at his studio, Taylor had several portraits and prints awaiting delivery.

There are so many soldiers. And each one has a story.

Staff Sgt. Jimy Mack Malone is one of the heroes in Taylor’s gallery.

Jimy was from Wills Point.

A young man with soft brown eyes and a warm smile, he is one of many soldiers lost in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Not all Taylor’s portraits are of soldiers who were killed in recent wars.

Some are from as far back as Vietnam.

For those families, the grief is different, Taylor said.

It is no longer a jagged wound. The edges have healed over.

But the loss is no easier to contemplate.

“Families say the two things they want the most is to know their soldier did not die in vain for the cause of freedom. Second, they don’t want Americans to forget,” he said.

When some family members receive one of Phil Taylor’s paintings of their loved ones, the first thing they want to do is touch the canvass.

“Some people kiss the painting. Some run their hands over it,” Taylor said.

More than one recipient has been overcome with emotion.

When McKinney resident Natalie Craver received the painting of her husband Army 2nd Lieutenant Johnny Craver, a film crew captured the moment.

“He looks like he’s alive,” she tells Taylor.

The life-like qualities of his paintings are important to Taylor who’s been painting professionally for more than 30 years.

He’s painted beautiful celebrities such as Nicole Kidman.

He’s done paintings of the late Texas blues guitarist and singer Stevie Ray Vaughn.

He counts actors and politicians, athletes and musicians among his friends.

But Taylor said noted people are not his heroes.

“Our stars are the soldiers I paint and the families we serve,” he said.

For a time, Taylor said he considered adding another artist to the organization.

After interviewing some candidates he changed his mind.

“It’s not that they were not good artists,” he said.

It’s that they did not capture the spirit of the soldier in the way Taylor believed it should be done, he explained.

“The portraits are designed not to reflect my style of art, only the life of the soldier,” he said.

Phil and Lisa Taylor have made a commitment to the Fallen Soldier project.

But fulfilling one’s life mission is sometimes difficult.

“The all-consuming aspect of the project is sometimes trying for my family and for me,” he admitted.

But there is no alternative, he said.

“In the end, we’re all in,” he said of the couple’s work.

Vacations are mostly out of the question.

But Taylor said he and Lisa often find their only rest times are hotel stays during delivery excursions.

Extensive travel is a requirement.

The organization does receive help from a local airline.

American Airlines donates airfare, he said.

Taylor said he had several deliveries scheduled for the next few days.

He’s going to Odessa before heading east to deliver a portrait to another family.

Politicians and other dignitaries are often part of the presentation events which have been held in homes, state capitals and in offices in Washington D.C.

News crews have filmed dozens of emotional meetings between Taylor and the soldiers’ families.

Taylor has granted numerous interviews and spoken to members of the national media about his mission.

Wherever it takes place, the presentation is always a solemn time culminating in one powerful moment.

“The moment of emotional effect for everyone is when the soldier comes out of his box,” he said.

Taylor has painted many servicemen and women.

He said he never plans to stop painting the soldiers who walked a road most of us will never have to take.

“I’ll do as many as I can as long as I can. I will paint until I die,” he promised.

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