A first-person account from Private 1st Class Ed Biow on his experience as an artist in the Ghost Army — reporting to his non-artist platoon commander.

A platoon of artists fights the Nazis with imagination, color, shading, dimension, sound effects and imaginary artillery. They were led by an engineer with no patience for the disorderly world of art.

I wrote her words down that day in a small black book I carry around –because I could not believe what I’d heard.

Far from home, back where we began…

This 2-hour afternoon painting class felt like a poetry slam…

I never gave my students an assignment I wouldn’t want to tackle myself.

One woman told me she’d rather look at a painting of her bulldog than her husband. It was the dog who loved her totally and unconditionally.

…a personal definition of desolation.

Looking at the Lisa Pressman encaustic, “The Red Space”, I felt as though I was being drawn into endless depths and mystery.

A first-responder who can re-start your heart when you feel as though you’ve lost your way in a painting.