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Tony Nichols, whose work will be part of the Veterans Art Exhibit next year, said that art has been both his work and his coping strategy\u2014and that he feels it\u2019s important for every veteran to find something that helps them cope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you get out, you\u2019ve given enough, you\u2019ve served enough,\u201d he said. \u201cDo what brings you joy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nichols retired in 2013 after 23 years in the Army, and has been working in art for the past 16 years. He said he joined the Army after college.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI wanted to have a little bit more adventure than I was having, so I enlisted in the army, and nine months later I was in Desert Storm,\u201d he said. In 2006, he returned from Iraq after 75 days straight of combat, in which he was advising an Iraqi tank battalion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was brutal, it was violent, and it was heartbreaking, seeing what men can do to each other, and you find out real quick,\u201d he said. Like many veterans, he said the return home was difficult. \u201cYou have to pretend it\u2019s never happened,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he struggled to process emotions and keep his drinking in check. For him, art was his coping strategy for what he said are lifelong ramifications of his combat experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt never goes anywhere. It\u2019s your ability to manage it,\u201d he said. He said his wife, Janet, and his children, Gillian (20) and Elleri (17) have been huge supports as he\u2019s found ways to manage his move from military to civilian life\u2014and so has art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During his time in the Army, he was also stationed in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and he said it was there that he got started in art. Their rental home didn\u2019t have window coverings, so Nichols decided to improvise, using dragon tear beads to make them. He said that was a gateway for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From there, he started developing a method of using small pieces of glass and a grouting process to mimic the look of a painting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to make an impressionist painting out of glass,\u201d he said. Most of his paintings deal with Kansas landscapes, flora, and fauna. \u201cIt inspires me every day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He started selling his work at farmers markets in the area, and has been taking commissions for the last seven years. He said art also allowed him to transition his career successfully after the military, even though finding work after a military career can be difficult, since so few people understand what being a veteran means or how the skills transfer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not an easy thing to go from being a Lieutenant Colonel to being an artist,\u201d he said. The majority of his technique is self-taught, he explained. He\u2019s always aiming for realism in his glass pieces, but he said the process of getting there has been a long one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI started out looking like someone in kindergarten drawing a stick man,\u201d he said. The key to success, for him, has been hard work. \u201cI have military discipline,\u201d he said. \u201cYou get up and you work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nor is discipline his work\u2019s only tie to his military experience. Nichols said his art is also his way of choosing what he puts out in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs you get farther away from (military experience), you know, there was a lot of evil that I dealt on my fellow man,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis is my way to give something back to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just want to make somebody smile,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that benefit starts with him, Nichols said. \u201cIt just brings me peace,\u201d he said of his work. \u201cThat\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said he encourages other veterans to try art or other activities to help them transition back to civilian life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s guys out there that needs something like that\u2026find something to keep your hands busy, stay off the bottle, you\u2019ll walk out of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n