Roger's Purple Heart
by Ross Rice

A recent headline in the August 16th Houston Chronicle read “Short Of Purple Hearts, Navy Tells Vet To Buy Own.” Korean War veteran Nyles Reed, after waiting 55 years for his medal, received instead a certificate and a form letter stating the medal was “out of stock.” He could wait 90 days and resubmit his application, or buy his own, which he did, for 42 dollars plus state sales tax at a military surplus store.

A few days earlier, on the CBS Morning Show, Harry Smith choppered in onto a freshly-cut upstate New York field, where internationally acclaimed field artist Roger Baker has completed his “gift to the country,” a fully-realized, 850,000-square foot rendering of the modern Purple Heart, carefully mowed into green and purple clover. WWII veteran, Art Livesey, whose personal medal was used for Baker’s layout sketch, took a ride up for the aerial view. Clearly moved by the
scope and detail, Livesey reminds the television audience, “People should always remember the Purple Heart, and…what it means.”

While it seems mildly ironic to see that both of these stories should appear at roughly the same time, it’s safe to say that the Purple Heart is something every one of all political (and apolitical) persuasions can agree on: those who are wounded or killed on behalf of the American people deserve the American people’s respect and gratitude. As it turns out, Baker’s Purple Heart project came about due to the collaboration of artist and community, between the Purple Heart Hall of Honor in New Windsor and the Orange County Commission of Parks. And between lawnmower and grass.

Roger Baker seems, at first glance, an unlikely guy to pull it all together. With a pin-striped engineer cap, faded jeans and moccasins, he appears to be a guy who spends most of his time outdoors, working with his hands. A self-taught painter and sculptor, he got his start doing air-brush work on conversion vans and motorcycles. He branched out into striping cars and sign-work, which pays the bills if you’ve got the skills. Switching formats was no big deal. “You’re still applying your composition and your vision, so it’s just a matter of getting familiar with the [medium].” An avid hang glider, it occurred to Baker, swooping over a fresh-cut field, that a new larger-scale medium might be the next frontier for him. Ideas formed, permission to mow was granted, scale drawings were designed, and in 2000, the Statue of Liberty cutting was unveiled and the press came calling: CNN, NBC’s Today Show, The New York Times. Baker started to realize the scope of what he was creating. “I like....for the public to see it through the media, where everybody can get in a plane and fly over it....so you do things that turn the public on. You pick iconic things.”

Though he picks publicly familiar and popular subjects, they also reflect the interests of the artist. Elvis (2002) has particular resonance, having died on Roger’s birthday. He had tickets to see the King, who unfortunately died 2 days before the show. Baker didn’t get his money back. Later, for the 25th anniversary of Elvis’ death, Baker paid tribute by cutting him into a field, then took a picture from the air with a cheap camera (one that puts the date and time on the bottom of the shot), made a copy, and sent it to a Gracelandapproved Elvis Tribute Week image contest in Memphis. The picture won Best In Show, hands down. More media attention followed as a result.

After that, it was on to Albert Einstein (2003), Jimi Hendrix (2004), and the late motorcycle legend Indian Larry (2005.) After those projects, Baker took a breather, did some more commissioned work, and considered the next piece. “I didn’t know what I was going to do for a project. I had an early seven that were contenders. I was just ambling along, just waiting for some light to go off, and I was in Ellenville, down at the Freight House, an antique store, and I crossed paths with this guy who was one of the directors of the Military Order of the Purple Heart [Bill Bacon], and he handed me his card, and I saw the image.” The image caused a “light to go off.” Baker showed Bacon an aerial shot of the Statue of Liberty on the wall. Bacon was blown away, and plans were underway immediately. After a few meetings with the Purple Heart Hall of Honor and the Orange County Commission of Parks, Baker made his drawings, thanks to Mr. Livesey, a suitable field (Thomas Bull Park) was selected, and it was back to the tall grass for Baker.

Baker starts with a field two to three weeks after it has been hayed, when the grass is about six to ten inches high. He and his longtime assistants, Chris Flueck and Clyde Marel, arrive in the morning just after the grass dries. He paces off some measurements and starts stretching out reference strings. Lines are sprayed with a diluted lime/water mixture - enough to actually be beneficial to the soil. “Every design has a different approach. This piece had two different things going on....a lot of it was symmetrical, because it’s a heart... but the portrait of Washington wasn’t. You just figure it out. You say: hey, I’ve got an arc here, so what do I want to do? You wanna have someone reeling in the line at a certain rate, like, about this fast, as I walk. That’ll create an arc...I usually create a system for certain things, but it’s all different.” The fun part for Baker seems to be the process of figuring out ways to do what seems impossible: create something at ground level that looks right from the air - without actually SEEING it from the air.

The systems always seem to work. When it’s cutting time, Baker usually employs whoever is available and willing, regardless of experience and skill. But this time, Orange County came through in a big way (with special credit due to Brett Simmons, Commissioner of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation) by providing the Park Commission pros-- the guys who mow the golf courses, ballparks, and other public spaces. Four guys showed up, with full gear, and ready opinions. Soon, Baker had them orchestrated into Toro Picassos. “Usually I take the first perimeter cut, cause I’ll know whether the line’s off, or you put a bump in it just to make it look like a drawing....I’ll take liberties as I see fit, and I’ll just say [to the cutters] cut this section from here to here, cut it this way, and cut it this high.”

Everyone enjoyed the project, which had a serendipitous bonus. “What’s kind of cool about this field is that it was clover....it was all purple. It was amazing....the heads were starting to turn brown, so we whacked the tops of the flowers off, and it turned purple. So it’s truly a Purple Heart. It was not planned....I didn’t know it had clover until I was on the field.”

Then it’s time for photographic documentation as, like a Buddhist sand-painting, Baker’s work is ephemeral, fading away as nature takes its course. A helicopter is procured, and Anthony Puopolo arrives, camera in tow. Puopolo, who once came out to a shoot on a previous Baker project with legendary photographer Timothy White, tried his hand at aerial shooting, and quickly became the goto guy for Baker’s photos. He seems to have a knack for getting the right camera settings and angles, as well as directing the chopper. Visitors to Ellenville can see some of his shots on the walls of Aroma Thyme Bistro.

Still, for a brief time people can see the work first hand, in Thomas Bull Memorial Park, 55 miles northwest of New York City, in Orange County. Says Baker, “What’s really cool is that people come out and look at it at ground level and say, ‘I don’t like it, I can’t see it very well.’ Those same people will go back home, and they’ll see it in the paper, and they’ll tell their friends, ‘Oh, it was so cool....I walked on that!’”

Roger Baker doesn’t come off at all like a political guy, he makes no profit off of this project (other than publicity), and his feelings about the Purple Heart are genuine. “He’s a really talented artist, with vision, with compassion and emotion about what we stood for,” said Anita Pidala, executive director at the Purple Heart Hall of Honor. Baker: “I just thought about the veterans....that’s forever, that’s timeless. I mean, you get ill, you get injured or killed, it didn’t matter when, where, you’re out there doing your job, whether you agree with it or not. A lot of ‘em didn’t make it back. I’m not making a point or a statement, just honoring those guys.” Asked whether he was inspired at all by the War in Iraq, and he replies no, not particularly. It’s more about respecting the sacrifice of all who serve. “I’ve always avoided things associated with loss and tragedy, war
and all that.....[this project] forced me to take a look at it.” And share
it with the world.

Editor’s note: The cutting of the Purple Heart by Roger Baker was in concert with
National Purple Heart Day celebrations in Tarrytown on August 7. Not only was
it the 75th anniversary of the Purple Heart, but also the 225th anniversary of the Badge of Merit. The field project has also forged a new relationship between the Hall of Honor folks and the Orange County folks. According to Anita Pidala, the O.C. pro movers are maintaining the image at Thomas Bull Park. And Nyles Reed did finally get his medal, thanks to his Senator.