Veterans Day Print Release to Help Devastatingly Wounded U.S. Soldiers

OCEAN VIEW, Del., Nov. 4, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- A painting by Ellen Rice created to help U.S. soldiers devastatingly wounded in the wars overseas will be released as an open stock print Nov. 11, Veterans Day, online and at the artist's coastal Delaware gallery to benefit Operation Mend.

At Ease is the artist's response to the anguish and helplessness she felt the night the Iraq war began. As the war progressed, she learned about Operation Mend, a UCLA medical program that's helping reconstruct the faces, limbs and lives of soldiers severely disfigured in the wars overseas, and she knew what she wanted to do.

Four months and countless brushstrokes later, the result is a 40" x 16" finely detailed oil painting whose limited edition giclee prints have been raising funds, awareness, and unexpectedly, Rice says, bringing healing.

The day At Ease debuted, Rice watched as men stood quietly studying the original, often wiping away tears. "The young man in the painting has no visible wounds," says Rice. "But as we've come to understand, a lot of wounds aren't visible.

"One man who'd just come back from a year in Iraq, came to my gallery three times before he was able to verbalize his feelings. On the third day, he shared his story and told me he'd been walking the stretch of beach in the painting every day since he saw it and he felt better, like he could move on. He said At Ease had brought him healing. That's a response I hadn't expected, but it's one that makes my heart sing. It tells me I'm doing the right thing."

In At Ease, a young man who's recently returned from active duty overseas walks along the shore in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, finally "at ease" after a long deployment. Head bent in contemplation, he seems oblivious to the crashing waves around him. A seagull watches as the veteran of the 21st Century walks toward Delaware's WWII watchtower relics of the 20th. Sunlight shines through sea spray, creating rainbows, symbols of hope, over the waves. Overhead, an Air Force jet leaves a vapor trail as it heads overseas, a tiny bright speck in the sky carrying precious cargo back to war.

To date, Rice has raised almost $1,500 for America's wounded warriors through auctions and sales of signed/numbered, limited edition giclee reproductions of At Ease. Rice's new open stock giclees are the same archival quality, but at $60, less than one-third the cost and fit ready-made frames.

At Ease can be purchased at http://www.ellenrice.com, The Ellen Rice Gallery, 103 Atlantic Ave., Ocean View, DE 19970, and by calling toll-free 1-888-ELL-RICE (355-7423). Each print comes with the painting's story, is printed in the U.S.A., and can be personalized. Ten dollars of each open stock print, $25 of each limited edition, and 10 percent from the sale of the original oil painting goes to Operation Mend.

The average cost of helping one soldier through Operation Mend is $500,000.

Contact: Ellen Rice, 302-539-3405

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SOURCE Ellen Rice Gallery