Tattered Flag Number 09 — Mixed Collage on Paper, 11.5 x 7.5

Here’s another one of Dad’s pieces that always stops me for a second—Tattered Flag Number 09. When I pull this one out of the archive, what hits me first is how many layers of thought are sitting inside it. Bits of handwritten text, fragments of collage, those sweeping graphite lines—he was building a surface that feels lived in, almost like a page from a notebook that’s been carried around for years.

There’s a looseness here, but also intention. Dad has a way of letting things feel accidental while actually placing every mark with purpose. The little flash of red in the center becomes an anchor, the thing your eye keeps returning to. And that pale lavender field underneath gives the whole piece an unexpected softness.

It’s a small work, but it’s dense—full of rhythm, gesture, and the quiet storytelling that runs through so much of his mixed-media pieces.