Dave Wightman's Art
I am able, at last, to bring you pictures of some of Dave's artwork. The bulk of these came from Dave's mother, Velda through his brother Kevin and through the guys Dave served with in the Army. Most of those are rough sketches that he made in Viet Nam. The photo of Dave in Viet Nam on the photos page came through the courtesy of Dave's Army brothers in the 2/18th. They remember him fondly and have assured me that Dave did not suffer at the time of his fatal injury. They also corrected a bit of misinformation that I lived with for decades; I was originally told by one of his family that he was one of three men killed by the same land mine. I once went looking for information on the other two men, that is how I connected with the men of the 2/18th. They assured me that Dave was alone at the time, which is constent with all the data I was able to find.
The pictures of Dave's "Zig Zag" man sculpture, as well as the sculpture itself, came to me from Bob Johnson, whom Dave and I never knew in high school, but to whom I am forever grateful for his wisdom and thoughtfulness in keeping the sculpture and his generosity in sending it to me for caretaking. I'll put Bob's letter to me up on this site with a link to it on the home page.
The skull drawing was one of Dave's favorites. It's a good self portrait and the way he formed the skull out of the hand images is still amazing to me. I remember watching him work on this one; he spent a lot of time looking in the mirror and looking at his hand he worked his butt off for many days creating it. The key in the sphere and the door are interesting; they bring to mind the lyrics of Seal's song "Crazy"; "A man decides after seventy years, that what he goes there for, is to unlock the door. While those around him criticize and sleep... And through a fractal on a breaking wall, I see you my friend, and touch your face again. Miracles will happen as we trip. ........" Dave didn't get to wait 70 years to unlock the door, but based on my own experiences in the days after his passing, he found something good. When I unlock the door, I hope to touch his face again and be able to tell him that he was loved and missed.
Click on any image to enlarge it.
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