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"I am an artist… I am here to live out loud." - Emile Zola
 16x20 stretched canvas $400.00 |
Some Secrets about Aurence's paintings
Many things combine to make Aurence's paintings special to collectors. As Aurence's techniques have expanded, his paintings have taken on a life of their own. Linda Anderson, a well-known folk artist (who represented Aurence in his early years), says, “When I first saw Aurence’s work, I knew I wanted to have a painting and meet this extraordinary person... Aurence paints from the gut, very real and totally honest. I love his works. They just pull me in. There is absolutely nothing contrived about his paintings.”
"...Nothing contrived."
That is the first thing that makes his works special. In today's crowded folk-art world, everything seems contrived. Little is fresh or genuine. Seeing Aurence work everyday is always an experience for me. He spends hours on the tiniest details and, in line with his personality, goes about his work slowly and calmly. Some of his canvases are colossal, but he insists on using brushes that would normally be used for details and a few steps above. The exception is the background, which he sprays on.
Aurence's works have reached out to mainstream art collectors across the globe showing that it speaks to people from all walks of life; never confined to any specialty group like the works of so many other artists. His work is growing in recognition and popularity. Style, sincerity, the boldness of his colors, and the stories within the stories are what make his works so popular. His art is rapidly taking a prominent place in the history books-an account of one Marine's time in Vietnam, told in the only way he knows how-with a paint brush. His works can be seen in professional offices, homes, and museums around the country as well as in Italy, UK, Bahamas, US Virgin Islands, and Sweden.
Fireballs have been an important part of Aurence's paintings since he first began painting in 1994. His fireballs are predominant in all his works, even in his non-Vietnam paintings. He calls them, "Messages from Nam." He leaves the interpretations to the viewers but says they warn against another Vietnam. He also says they honor the fallen heroes. |
The first thing people look for in Aurence's paintings is White Dog. At Marble Mountain, a white dog hung around his hooch. The white dog was one of his lucky charms (you had a lot of them in Nam). There are three things one will always find in Aurence's paintings: his White Dog, fireballs, and his signature tribute to Danny Dean McGee. These three items are painted on Huey 091 (see story about her journey to the Smithsonian) along with the POW emblem in honor of Col. Ben Purcell and all the POW/MIA'S More on Aurence's White Dog and his White Dog Healing Award. |
Aurence sometimes adds one or two graves to his Vietnam paintings depending on the size. Each grave holds the name of a fallen veteran (other info from The Wall is written on the back of canvases). Aurence did this to weave the souls of the fallen into his works. |
When Aurence began painting he felt Hancock was a boring name. He had always liked the way the natives in Lawrence of Arabia pronounced Lawrence's name and, since his first name was Lawrence, he went with Aurence. |
The squiggly under Aurence's name and the two dots are not a cute completion to his painting. Aurence signed up for Vietnam (he was not drafted) under the buddy plan with high school friend, Danny Dean McGee. They went to Parris Island together and after two weeks, they were separated when Danny was assigned to a different platoon. Danny was killed in action and Aurence never heard from, or saw, his friend again after their separation. The squiggly is actually a "D" for Danny and the two hatch marks inside represent the same. Aurence signed his very first painting way before he began painting the war with the same signature and tribute to his friend. Aurence also honors Danny in other ways in his paintings that the average viewer may not see. |
In 2002, a Vietnam-era Huey literaly flew into our lives. She became part of our family. Aurence has been painting 091 in many paintings since 2002. People even request that he paint 091 in non-Vietnam commissioned paintings. Many times, he just adds them to non-vietnam paintings. |
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I will be doing a page for this helmet later on. We get so many questions about it I have added it at the bottom of this page for all you biker folks we meet. The POW emblem on the back of his helmet (no, you can't see it but it is there) was put there to honor all POWS/MIAS as well as Col. Ben Purcell (POW for 5 years in Nam and a great friend) who lifted off with Aurence on Huey 091, scroll to bottom of page to see lift-off) during the filming of the documentary.
Where did he get the helmet? A friend of ours used to be a Huey pilot instructor at Mother Rucker, and he gave the helmet to Aurence when the documentary company came to our house. Aurence had already been asked to paint his icons on Huey 091 for the filming so he figured he would paint his helmet, too (for his first ride in a Huey in around 40 years). It turns out that the pilot who landed 091 in our yard received instructions from our friend at one time. Small world. Naturally this helmet is not from the Vietnam-era but our friend is. He was a Dust-off pilot in Nam. Being a doorgunner in Nam, and having painted these same icons on the Huey that is on display at the American History Museum in DC, this helmet is very precious to Aurence, and so he decided to use it as a riding helmet.
