On the eve, before the Buckingham Warrior ships out to our supporters, customers and retailers - I get to stand back and reflect about what a fun life we all have and how insignificant are our troubles that we choose to own?
When I first started working on the Buckingham Warrior (a project that has been earned through mindfulness, labor, care and patience), I thought "Wow, what a great design! This will definitely work!" I was concentrating on the nature and spirit of manufacturing a collectible. The design turned me on and I thought our customers would be excited to see this unique character come to life. Fortunately, it seems they are. However, it was a "B" to "C" concept; a great idea that fits right in with our brand identity, and complex enough to create conversation, ultimately landing in customer's hands. It turns out the project, in spirit, is much more complex, much more layered and emboldened with a righteous spirit.
Gary Baseman is unique. He has been a pioneer in our community, a feverish personality, a champion of our realm. His fabric is art. He also is woven to certain strands of great and significant circumstance. Events which reshaped the lives of many, desperately wounded the world community and events so atrocious, they are deprived of any semblance of light. Gary's parents are immigrants from Poland. A country that was destroyed by Nazi Germany, preempting WWII. Gary's father was a local fighter. A man who took up arms, not part of any great or greater army but as a civilian fighting for respect and thwarting an evil injustice.
The Buckingham Warrior is the allegorical representation of his father. Along with it, a mythology adhering to his father's legacy.
Recently, Gary stopped in Rome. He created a provocative mural in an area known as Q44 (The Quadraro in 1944) - an area where thousands of liberal minded civilians were rounded up by the Nazi and fascist soldiers - either killed or sent to camps. Gary's powerful image of the Buckingham Warrior, a character infused with the spirit of righteous intent and protector of his fellow brothers and sisters, stands as both watchmen and reminder.
I'm proud to have contributed just a small bit to the memory of Gary's father and to those who suffered nameless. I say this with pure humility and respect. The Buckingham Warrior is a true and unveiled hero - even if just for all of our imaginations.
Available @ www.theloyalsubjects.com
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