Episode 418 Geoffrey Bowton Healing Wounds with Creativity Transcript

This transcript is from episode 418 with guest Geoffrey Bowton.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community. Whether you’re a veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and now let’s get on with the show.

Hey everyone. Welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today, my guest is Geoffrey Bowton. Geoffrey is an army veteran who has transformed his experiences and challenges into powerful works of art. From serving as a sheet metal worker to deploying in Iraq and Afghanistan, Geoffrey discovered his passion for art during his deployments, using it as a means to cope with the stresses of military life.

And today we’ll explore Geoffrey’s journey, his artistic processes, and how his work helps veterans and [00:01:00] their families. Um, Geoffrey, welcome to the show. Really glad to have you here.

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah, thanks for inviting me, Scott. I really appreciate a chance to get out to the world and talk about, talk to them about what my art’s about. And, um, yeah, so happy to be here.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, you bet. Um, and one of the things I, I, I. I found with myself personally, before I joined the army, I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body. Like there was no, I wasn’t into painting or sculpting or you name it. Like none of that stuff really jived with me. It just wasn’t my, my thing. Um, but there was a period of time afterwards where I just found like some peace in just sitting there and painting, and I can spend hours just sitting there painting the same thing and, um, you know, working on that.

And there was just that brief period of time, I found some peace there. And so, um, [00:02:00] I’m sure your experiences are maybe, maybe somewhat similar. Other people might, might experience that as well. Um, but. You know, I, you know, we’ll get, we’ll get more into that, I guess, in a little bit. Let’s, let’s start kind of take it back a little bit.

Start by talking about maybe your, your journey from, um, you know, like how you got into the army, um, and, and your experiences in the army and, and, and we’ll take it from there.

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah. Um, so I think it was, uh, 2008 when I enlisted. Um, so I’d spent 15 years, um, In Oregon, uh, Portland, Oregon as a sheet metal worker, um, going through an apprenticeship program. Um, you know, I was a, uh, apprentice and journeyman. Um, yeah, so that was a great experience, you know, and then after that was over, just went into different job sites, like to Intel’s, Romner Acres, Nike, Campus, um, Boeing, things like that.

So just different commercial construction locations. Um, but yeah, for me, work came slow in [00:03:00] 2008 and recession hit and, um, You know, that’s when I decided to join the army. I had, you know, bills to pay, things to do in life. So it was just important to kind of keep pressing on. But, um, you know, I was inspired to, uh, join in the time, um, that I, you know, in that moment, I guess.

So for me, that was just a pivotal change, um, from one career kind of stepping into another. Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, um, yeah, I can imagine a lot of people around that time period, uh, with the recession, jobs are maybe hard to come by, uh, not, things are just not going well in the economy, um, you know, and, hey, we’re, we’re fighting a couple of wars overseas too. We need some, help. Some people to put that way. There’s probably, um, you know, a bunch of people who kind of follow those same, uh, steps that you did.

Right. Um, now during that time period, like I just mentioned, we’re, we’re still in Iraq, Afghanistan, um, where it was going on. Uh, tell me about, uh, I know you [00:04:00] deployed, tell me about those deployments and maybe how, uh, some of those deployments influenced some of your transition into the artwork that you do now,

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah, um, so I joined the infantry. Um, I went to Iraq and, um, um, Bakuba and, um, kind of in between there and Baghdad, um, run a lot of patrols, doing stuff on the line. Um, so, you know, and also towards the Ir Iranian Iraqi border. Um, yeah. Yeah, that was, uh, an interesting experience. A lot of vehicle crashes, um, you know, during the election time, so things were kind of, you know, up and down, intermittent in terms of contact, things that we’re experiencing, um, yeah, and then so after that, we came back, um, kind of retrofit, um, spent about a year and then pushed back out the same battalion I was with, um, into Afghanistan and, um, shifted over to, uh, Southern province of Kandahar, um, RC South.

Um, I was on the, uh, command group detail as security element for the lieutenant colonel [00:05:00] and command sergeant major. So we kind of escort them all around to ensure us and, um, you know, getting those people to specific locations in our battle space. Um, so there’s two extremely different places. I mean, one very urban landscape.

This was, you know, out in the, you know, kind of an open fields, you know, in the midst of some, um, You know, kind of valleys around the mountains, um, where all the marijuana poppy grew. So there was a lot of activity in that area. Um, yeah. And I think that, that for me during that time, um, I became an NCO and my command sergeant major, he knew about my previous experience.

He’s like, wanting to know why I was so old. You know, I was 32 when I came in and I think I was 36 during my review. And I was like, what did you do before the military? I was like, well, I was a sheet metal worker. And he’s like, great. You’re my, you’re my R and U guy. What’s that? More, more work, basically. So repair and upkeep during garrison times, um, you know, fix barracks, do things for soldiers, but in country, um, you know, everything’s [00:06:00] makeshift out of wood, and so there’s a wood shop, we facilitate, you know, um, communal living environments, like a table, you know, chairs, things like that, um, coffee pot holder.

And that was kind of what started the initial idea of creating and crafting things. Um, so those skills from the metal world kind of translated in ways. Of course it was working with wood and whatever materials we had, but I think at the same time, um, you know, we’re coming in from, you know, leaving the wire a couple times a day, going back and forth.

And so in that kind of, um, kind of perpetual mode that the kernel was in, um, you know, is how do you check out from that job? Um, in the daytime, what do you, what do you do to kind of clear your head? And that was part of it was going down to this wood shop. We called it the whiskey wood shop. You know, our call sign was six whiskey for the truck.

And we, we do things like portable, um, portable bathrooms, like, you know, burn, burn bathrooms, um, burn shitters,

Scott DeLuzio: [00:07:00] Yep.

Geoffrey Bowton: and stuff to facilitate those cops and things that people didn’t have a lot on that, that hasty setup space. So, um, we’d bring them in certain things too, like. Wall locker elements to hang your kid on, like, um, stuff to put your clothes in, um, so that was kind of the gist of what we started, but, um, in the interim of that, I, I had this kind of creative background to working in sheet metal, I, I used to do like silhouette arts or handrail stuff on the side, um, after, after work, and that, that kind of rubbed off on me in this, in this setting to where I’m like, hey, you know, what about doing some iconography that, that, you know, You know, um, excites the area and I decided to take like our, our patch or second ID patch and make a large wood panel and paint it and put it on the, kind of the halls of the CP or, uh, we had a battalion crest that was really important to the sergeant major and we’d do like briefings or we’d We do the 21 gun salute for KIAs.

[00:08:00] We put this old beat up thing out there and he’s like, man, we need a new one. So I’m like, well, okay, I’ll, I’ll make a new one. And, um, kind of refit what was there. And so that kind of started the idea of iconography building that wasn’t specific to our needs. Um, Like I went into doing all kinds of stuff to like movie theaters, to gym equipment, to, uh, you know, putting iconography type panels, you know, like I said, um, with text or American flags, I mean, just odds and odds and things, but whatever we could come up with.

That would improve this environment. It was kind of on the agenda. And so that was where the artistic prowess came in was, Hey, this could be fun. Um, even down to the, the colonel’s like, well, hey, or the, the XL was like, Hey, our colonel needs something. Um, what can you do for him? And he loved the, the Stryker truck.

So I went to the burn pits and got truck parts and fabricated a table that looked like the Stryker truck.

Scott DeLuzio: Oh, cool.

Geoffrey Bowton: uh, Uh, put some plastic on top, had some [00:09:00] of the, uh, control switches, like a squawk box. It was like a little mini Stryker in his office, so when people come and visit and we talk about, or they talk about where they’re going, it was definitely a focal point to say, these are the trucks we use.

So, uh, it’s just kind of this landscape of creativity that would detach me from, you know, the rigors of going out and, um, getting in, You know, the enemy’s backyard and burning their, burning their fields, going out with the ANA, doing all these missions, um, had to check out. So that was definitely fun to, you know, have a different thing on this.

Moonlighting, I guess you’d call it on the side.

Scott DeLuzio: Right. Yeah. I mean, it. It was work, right? It definitely took some, some effort to do all of the, the things that you’re doing, but, uh, if it’s one of those things that’s enjoyable, that you can, uh, you know, sort of a hobby type of thing that you, you might enjoy doing anyways, um, that kind of That helps take your mind off of some of the things that are going on.

I mean, you’re in the middle of a war [00:10:00] zone, you know, there’s bad things happening all around you. But if you’re constantly thinking about that, that’s got to have a negative impact on you mentally. Um, and so being able to find that is pretty good. We had a, um, we were a National Guard unit, uh, when we deployed, uh, that I was in.

And, uh, We had guys who had all sorts of different backgrounds, uh, from mechanics to, uh, police officers to, uh, people who, uh, you know, did construction and different things like that. And one guy, um, he was really good working with, uh, uh, wood. He was, I think he was in construction. Um, and. One of the places that we would frequently go to is a, like a checkpoint that we had set up.

Um, it was just in the middle of the sun, you know, Afghanistan and the, the summers, the sun beating down on you. It’s, it’s awful. And so he built this shade, uh, thing. Like it wasn’t too, Complex. It was basically four poles and a roof, um, that, that was on top of it. Right. But he brought it out there, he set it all up and we had like shade and we were [00:11:00] like, well, this is a hell of a lot better than, than what we were doing before.

Um, you know, and so it’s those little things though, that just make the, the deployment that much more tolerable when, when you’re out there for, for all the guys, not just the people who are doing the work like yourself, um, but, but You know, those little things that, you know, yeah, it’s just a thing hanging on the wall.

Like you said, those, the iconography, right? It’s a thing that you, you hang up, you put there and, um, you know, it’s something that people look at, but if it wasn’t there, it would just be a blah, plain wall. And. I don’t know, like there’s, there’s something that kind of lifts your spirits a little bit, a little bit more when you look at something that’s well decorated as opposed to just plain nothing, you know, like a cinder block wall or just a wood wall or something

Geoffrey Bowton: pretty lonely, I guess, in those, in that landscape with, with nothing, right?

Scott DeLuzio: exactly. And so we even had one guy had, [00:12:00] uh, I don’t know, a wife or somebody from back home. He, he had them send, um, a small bag of soil, like, like you might get from home depot or something like that for a garden and a bag of grass seed. And we, we planted grass like we’re like, okay, this is American soil here in Afghanistan.

It was just like a little thing. Um, you wouldn’t even think that it would be that big of a deal, but it was like, we get, we, we can go. We can go walk on the grass and like, you know, feel the grass under our feet. And that was just a little thing, but it, it actually helped boost morale. It was pretty, pretty incredible, you

Geoffrey Bowton: did. It did. Yeah. We actually had a portion where we were making, um, like the triangle, um, containers, like the, that house a folded flag. So we’d fly a flag in country and then put it in the container and send it home to folks.

Scott DeLuzio: Uh

Geoffrey Bowton: so that was part of, you know, just boosting the morale. That was a lot.

That was ultimately a lot to do with it. If you had this amenity [00:13:00] beyond, um, what you think. Just thought was your, your bare bones stuff, like your, your gear, your, your, your assigned equipment and things like that. But when you have something beyond that, um, I mean, I even put a coffee pot holder in a Stryker truck.

I mean, I did like a wood panel in the Colonel’s truck for different switches. So it was the J J tech truck, we’d call airstrikes and all kinds of stuff from the command and control trucks. I mean, you name it as something like MacGyver, like, you know, like, Hey, can you do this? Can you do that? Um, It was partly on my agenda to either get myself to do it or task out.

We had a few other guys that were. We’re fairly savvy with tools and materials, and so, um, even down to, we left one base, we were at Passau for quite a while, and then, um, became combat ineffective and switched a little early down to a place called Spinboldak, and, um, we had a small little movie theater that on Saturdays would do near beer and cigars, whoever wanted to come around with the brass and watch movies, um, so that turned into a [00:14:00] bigger event when we got to Spinboldak, Um, a large, it was like 72 feet by my maybe 90 feet.

I think the, uh, I had like three, uh, T walls strung together. I think they’re like 16 or 16 foot tall and this huge 16 foot by nine foot screen that we project. Movies on to a built stadium benches. Like it was really nice. And so when people really needed that boost, uh, we, we go there, or like I said, the volleyball pit, we’d play games, do team comps, uh, just, it just definitely improved our, our, our, like you said, the morale for sure.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly. No. So that, that helps obviously while you’re, you’re in country, while you’re deployed, it’s not only helping you because you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re Doing the work and you’re, you’re working on these things and, and that’s a creative thing that you enjoy doing, but also help the, the morale of everybody who got to benefit from the work that you did, um, while you were there.

Um, what about after coming back home? Uh, did you face any [00:15:00] challenges, uh, during the transition back to civilian life and, and did art help? Play a role in any of that?

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah. Um, so I was pushing 39 and, um, either. Getting talked out of like, Hey, you’re, you know, been beat up, you know, for a few years now and either shifting reclassing. Um, I even thought about doing an engineering type job. Um, But it was like, what do I do with myself moving forward after this deployment after sustaining a couple of injuries?

Um, I just felt that I had this landscape beforehand. I had a career, you know, as a professional sheet metal worker for that period of time to 15 years. And I even slipped out of, um, medically discharging too. I just, I don’t know how that happened, but, um, we had three brigades clearing during coming back to post that I was at.

And, um, I just kept saying I have a job and I have insurance and I’m just, I’m going straight back to this, this world. And, um, so that’s, that was my option. I [00:16:00] opted out, I was happy to be alive, happy to be home. Um, and that moment was probably taking like, you know, 20 leaps backwards. I think if I would have continued on with what I was being asked to do, or really kind of fundamentally Thought the best, you know, what’s, what’s best for my interests at heart.

What do I need to do? Re you know, reclass or, you know, see this medical process. Um, it would have helped, but I think when I, I went, I mean, so I was home in December, I was in a sheet metal shop in April, you know, I had like a little bit of block leave time stacked up and, um. I extended that out, but I mean, I was, I was back in the shop four months after getting boots on ground in America.

So it was a very small transition back to civilian life. But the thing for me was I was so soldier mentality. I was so like focused on, you know, working and proceeding at a high level, um, that carried over into the civilian world. So it didn’t set well The union guys, um, you know, people were trying to cause [00:17:00] problems with me, getting in trouble with the boss.

Guys were coming up and, you know, banging hammers on tables watching me freak out or, you know, just trying to, um, understand who this person is. This, this person that went to war and came back, you know, so that was the start of me understanding what. Stigmas were I found out later in my art career, you know, doing research and making work.

But, um, yeah, it was difficult with, with workspace, um, going to the VA in Portland. I had troubles there. Um, you know, just also with friends and family. So it was just kind of a plethora of things that were unraveling that I was just trying to ignore, but focus on my previous career and, and, and that job, because I felt I’ll just get right back on track, but you know, I had mental health problems to worry about.

I had physical sustainment issues to worry about. Um, so all that time I was just, you know, working my way back up to finding the normal, um, rather than, you know, running from the problems. I should have [00:18:00] focused on that. But so for me, like two years after going back to the sheet metal job, you know, things were failing out and, um, they wouldn’t employ me anymore.

Um, they just said you weren’t fit to do, um, These, these kinds of duties, um, you know, there’s just expectations in the union. And, um, so that was difficult. You know, I’d lost my identity again. You know, I was the infantry man. I come back, I have this focal identity. You know, when I, when I came back, I thought, okay, I’m doing this now.

Two years later, that’s lost. Um, so it was a crisis for me that I was trying to, you know, be. Strong about, be tough about, um, have that fortitude barrier up and, you know, kind of steamroll through it all. Um, but it wasn’t working. So at that time I was certainly needed to refocus, um, and try to find something new with, with.

With, with life beyond like military and construction.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And that’s gotta be a difficult pill to swallow when, [00:19:00] uh, you lose that identity of the infantryman, right? And thinking, Oh, I got this all figured out. I’m just going to go back and do what I was doing before. But, uh, you’re, You’re not the same person that you were before. You’re, you know, first off you’re older.

Um, you had a lot more experiences, uh, through the, the military where you got more disciplined, more driven and that type of thing. But then, uh, that kind of clashes with the union mentality and I’ve, I’ve worked some union jobs myself, so I know what you’re, you’re talking about. Um, and you know, and then, then you find out that you can’t really do that type of work either.

Um, And then it’s like, oh, well, crap, that, that was my. My plan A, B, and C. Now, what are we doing? What’s next here? So, so what got you into kind of figuring out that maybe art was the way to, to go with that?

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah, I was really kind of [00:20:00] in question, you know, I was like, what, what is it that I can do, um, that I can moderate with my situation, you know, cause a lot of labor goes involved in being a metal worker, being an infantryman, um, you know, it’s a lot of, a lot of output. So I thought, well, how do I get into an office job?

Something that’s not as physically demanding, maybe I can, you know, focus from. You know, my brain instead work on, you know, intellectual side and not such the labor side. Um, but I kept thinking I had this inspiration from making creative things. Like when I was in Afghan, um, guys are saying, Hey, when we get back, you know, make me this, make me that I’ll pay you.

I was like, no, I’m not really interested in doing that. I was just fun to kind of, you know, improve our environment, you know, Like I said, improve the morale, um, and just have something to do mentally to find a stability. But so that, that was like a turning moment for me in the idea of, you [00:21:00] know, re, you know, like, where’s this redirecting?

How do I shift fire? Hey, that was something that was important to people then. Um, could it be important to people? In the veteran world, moving, moving forward, um, and, and focusing on something else. Um, and so I thought, well, I’ll just go to art school and see what I can do. Um, because I knew I had trade skills.

I knew I had this creative opportunity that, that those skills came out more. Um, and so I, I found an art school and enrolled using my, um, GI benefits, my post 9 11 GI bill. And, um, You know, that just kind of got me into academia and starting to learn more about, um, just how to use materials and tools in different ways.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And you know, back when you were in Afghanistan, you were, you’re doing it, you know, like you were saying, kind of. Passing the time, but also improving morale and that, that type of thing. And, um, you know, whether it came out, you know, perfect, clean, polished, all that kind of stuff. It was kind of like, [00:22:00] well, if it does great, that’s, that’s obviously the goal.

But if not, it’s not the end of the world either. You know, you’re not, no one’s, no one’s paying you to do this. It was, it was more of a kind of side project type thing. Um, you know, whereas, you know, now fast forward, you know, and. You know, there might be people who are paying you for the artwork that you do, and, uh, you want to Know that you’re doing the best that you can with the tools and resources that are available to you.

So learning all of that kind of stuff, learning how to use the different tools, which you may not have even known were available at, at some points where now, now you know them, you know, how to use them and it

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah,

Scott DeLuzio: produces something, uh, you know, obviously much better than, than you were able to do before. Um, you know, so the, the work that you do now, um, tell us about.

The, the types of artwork that you do and the types of pieces that you create, um, you know, is it [00:23:00] mostly commission based? Are you doing like, you know, kind of personal projects or, you know, what, what kind of work is it that you’re doing?

Geoffrey Bowton: I guess what I learned about in art school was, um, it was really the foundational space of therapy, you know, art therapy for me. Um, you know, teacher would give you a prompt, um, it would say, we need you to write about something that’s important to you and then make something out of materials that shows the idea of what that is, you know.

And so, you’re doing kind of two things. One, trying to check in with your thoughts and memories and, and, and finding context, but then secondly, reflecting in the, in the object that you create, like, was there, it was a painting, a sculpture, you know, what was it? And so I think every time I get a prompt in the classroom, um, it was just an opportunity for me to.

You know, I like to call it exfoliating. Some people say like composting, but just flushing the system of like these, these things that are in my [00:24:00] head, you know, these things that I’ve thought about for a while, you know, how do I process them? Um, I thought that was a great time to start doing that is just writing them out and then trying to reflect that.

And that was a challenge at first. Um, I hate trying to put it into words, you know, and try to like. Glorify this idea of what war is. I’m just trying to process the human experience and what I was like before, during, and after this timeline, you know, this event in my life. And I kept telling myself I felt damaged and I needed to be fixed in ways.

And I didn’t really know what that was. So for years, I was just, you know, exploring that idea. And I think when it came to building a thesis, um, that’s really, you start to look internally and, and understand what you’ve accomplished over your, you know, art education program, um, what’s speaking to you in this, in this regard, and what’s visually making sense to people that are embracing with the art.

And so there was a turning point where I was [00:25:00] just kind of randomly going from all different types of what you would see in art to a specific sculpting process where I would, I, I, One day I just dumped out my duffel bags and saw this gear and you know like the boots and gloves and a helmet or like a notebook I had stuff written down on but I was interested in making these things come to life and kind of do this transitional phase from there this used object it’s like this relic to me now it’s a dated piece of equipment in this timeline of the war like you look at world war one stuff it’s way different than now so there was a moment that I understood that There’s something to be said about this 20 year war and the gear we used.

Now, how do I depict these stories through this gear? And so for me, it was making the boots and talking about where we walked, putting the gloves on and making these gloves about what I did while with my hands, you know, that kind of thing, like wearing a helmet and getting shot at, like reflecting what that would be.

Look like if the round went through it, or, [00:26:00] um, I was also involved with, um, IED training. I was a master trainer for IEDs in our battalion, had to, you know, train the trainer and that kind of thing. And so I’d find bombs throughout the process and not blow myself up, but others were doing that. How do I, how do Process these weighted emotions off me.

Do I take a helmet and make it exploding outward like a bomb came through me? Or so it was just kind of going through these fractal memories, um, of deployment, uh, and, and trying to recontextualize it through a piece of art. And that’s when it fundamentally really started to put that piece, that puzzle back together for me.

And go, that’s right, we did this thing, or reach out and talk to somebody. Thank you for this. And do you remember we did that? And so the more you see that, um, conversation grow between your peers, um, you start to finally find yourself again in these ways. After rabbit holing all these ideas, you get out.

You’re just, I’m done with service. You forget. That’s what it was, is digging up all these kinds of memories. [00:27:00] And so right in the end, um, now that this work is out there and viewed in the public spaces, like in galleries or museums or, or where people can engage, um, that’s happening with them as well, where they see a boot that was a service boot and they go, Oh my gosh, I remember we did these things when I wore those boots going up this hill or whatever it was.

It’s always situational, but it’s that, that service component that you go, that’s the gloves, that’s the helmet, that’s the hat I wore. Um, just allows this access point that’s very different from other places you might be familiar with, like a Zoom call, or, you know, you go into the group circles and you wait to tell your story and you kind of tell some of it, but I think the excitement about this, this object that’s transitioned, it’s something very unique, it’s textural, it’s colorful, it’s got maybe a gash and some blood drips, or I’ve manipulated it to look Like it has some character to the object.

It’s not just a old boot. [00:28:00] Um, I’m depicting things. That’s when people really, um, let that guard down and start talking fundamentally about their experience where I’ve never said this to my mom. My, my, my, My partner, anybody that’s close to them. Uh, but in the moment it’s with a stranger about, Oh my God, this thing happened.

And sometimes people break all the way down. Um, so it’s a mixed bag, but I think that’s the power of this crafting and transitional space that the object goes through is it, it just puts it in a different kind of, You know, reality for someone like a surreality, like that intangible space to go, Oh, and start to discover for themselves what their service was without being forced or pushed.

It just presents itself. It’s really interesting.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. You know, you’re not the first person I’ve heard who, who’s described it this way. Uh, there’s another guest I had on the podcast years ago. Uh, and she was describing, she did like sculpting, like, uh, uh, not sculpting, like clay, uh, like [00:29:00] pottery. Sorry, that’s the word I was looking for. So still, still early for me.

Um, anyways, no, she, but she was doing that, that type of work and she was creating pieces that just like you said, it was starting a conversation. She maybe wasn’t. really all that comfortable with starting the conversation on her own, even with a therapist or things like that. Um, but her work would end up in, you know, art galleries and that type of thing.

And people would come by and they’d start talking about it. And, um, you know, maybe they were sharing their experiences of what they, they went through that type of thing. Um, And then she was able to kind of open up and start talking about it and describing how the artwork that she created, uh, kind of depicts some of the, the experiences that she had while she was in the military.

And so, um, I’m, I’m saying this because, um, I [00:30:00] want to emphasize that it’s not just you who has kind of experienced this, and for the listeners, um, you know, if you’re finding it difficult to put things into words, maybe, um, maybe there’s another way that you can express yourself, you can get that message out there, um, that you isn’t in verbal form.

You don’t, you don’t have to speak it, um, but you can put it out there. Maybe it, maybe it’s in a painting, maybe it’s in a sculpture, maybe it’s in a, um, you know, a pottery, maybe it’s in, you know, something, uh, some other form of artwork that It lets you get that message out there. Um, and, and I got to imagine it’s like getting a weight off your chest, right?

Like where, where you have all these things trapped inside, but then you’re able to get it out there into the world. And it’s like, now it’s out there. It’s not, uh, not on my chest anymore. It’s, it’s out there, right?

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah. Yeah. I think that’s what art [00:31:00] really is in its community space as a whole. Like that’s what I learned in going to school is you’re, you’re certainly sharing something and having an opinion about something as you create, manifest this idea and this object or what it is that you’re doing. Um, now that’s, that’s, what’s interesting about military is, is we’re, we’re trained and we’re talked.

To about keeping those things to yourself, being stronger than the moment. You’re only as strong as your weakest link. Like those things are kind of embedded where you have this fortitude barrier around you when serving. And that’s very necessary because of what you’re asked to do. The things you’re, you know, you’re associated with, you have to have a strong persona about yourself when, when carrying out the duties, there’s just no other way.

around it. I think when you disconnect from that and become this, you know, civilian again, becoming a veteran, there’s a lot of things you want to talk about. You want to get off your chest, so to speak, and just, um, discuss, but how do you go about doing that? Um, [00:32:00] and that’s what I found through art was allowing me to do that.

I wasn’t intending to do it. I wasn’t trying to do it. I just knew that these kind of link themselves together as if they’re necessary. To where, even if it was just for a brief moment, I had a chance to, okay, uh, process, put that puzzle back together, recall myself, kind of reconnect with that identity. Can I bring parts of those, uh, parts of those with me to the next venture that I’m on?

You know, what can I leave behind? What can I take with me? But without dissecting that, how do I know how to do that? Do you bottle it, rattle hole, or rabbit hole those things? Um, that’s the interesting part about art is it. Creates a conversation, whether you like it or not. It just, it is, whether it’s about your material, your experience, it’s just this foundational space that does that.

And so I think you put the idea of, you know, healing and therapies into the military mindset of like, this is a way to process, [00:33:00] um, it can lend people a new discovery about themselves, you know, to be honest. Um, yeah,

Scott DeLuzio: they may even discover, you know, like someone like myself who, I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body, uh, you know, pre military, right. And then. I had talked to somebody who, uh, was telling me how painting was a thing that, that he found to, uh, kind of help, just like you described, help process things and help, um, you know, kind of figure out some stuff that was going on with him and, and that was his form of therapy, you know, the artwork, uh, that, that he created.

And so I was like, well, I don’t know. Well, why not give it a try? You know, why, why not? If I go and draw something, um, you know, even if it was just sketching something, you know, a pencil and a paper, what have I lost, you know, I haven’t really lost anything other than a piece of paper, you know, like that’s, that’s not, that’s a small price to pay, I think, to figure out, like, [00:34:00] is this going to work for me, um, you And I found like after, after a little while, like at first I was like, just kind of fumbling through stick figure kind of things, like nothing special.

Right. Um, but then I was like, okay, let me give it an actual try and try to, you know, uh, actually create something. good. And I can actually be proud of, and I’m not going to want to just throw away and let me give it an effort. And I found that like, I kind of like after a little while, I kind of just got it, um, and was working for me.

I’m not saying that everybody’s going to be this way, but for me, um, had I never tried it, I never would have figured this out that. I actually do have some artistic bones in my body. Maybe not. I’m not perfect. I’m not saying that my artwork’s great and it’s going to sell for millions of dollars when, when I’m long gone, you know, like that, that’s not the type of stuff that I’m making.

But, um, but as I’m, As I [00:35:00] was picking up a paintbrush or a pencil or, you know, whatever it was that I was using to, to create something, um, I, I found that like everything else, all the noise that goes on in your head got quiet for a little while, and I was able to just focus on this one thing, um, And it, and it really helped to quiet some of that noise that wasn’t helpful.

It wasn’t like I needed to be reminded of that, you know, a terrible thing that might’ve happened, you know, 10 years ago or something. I like, I don’t need to remember that right now. It’s not helping me. It’s not moving me any closer to any sort of goal and all that stuff. For me anyways, I don’t know if this is everybody’s experience, but for me, that stuff kind of just got quiet because I was so focused on what it was that I was trying to, to do, um, you know, with the artwork. None of that stuff was really bothering me in that moment. Now, granted, I, [00:36:00] I put the paintbrush down, put all the supplies away and everything like that. And then eventually those things start to creep back in, but it helps me to Be in that moment, um, be focused on that one thing instead of constantly, forever being in my head with those, those negative thoughts and stuff, right?

Uh, I don’t know if that’s your experience or if other people have had similar experiences, but that, I mean, that was mine at least.

Geoffrey Bowton: I think it’s certainly a hyper focused place where I’m at in creating, um, I’m working with glass. I’m using to create these sculptures, um, it’s a casting process, um, and it’s not a solid glass object. They’re hollow vessels, um, and they’re, they’re made with small tiny shards of glass. And so it’s a very hyper focused task in the, in the idea of.

These frit, these little glass particles can move or fall around. So you want to [00:37:00] specifically put them in a certain way to depict its color, um, and create this, this, um, object by layering and stacking. So for me, it’s, it’s very important and it keeps me in tuned. And so that’s when, um, My, my thoughts will go into other places.

Once I’m in that hyper focused place, I’ll start to process other things because it’s just, you know, a task and purpose in front of me and kind of doing these things over and over. It allows me to go beyond the barriers of what the mental Blocks are, and get into this kind of like dreamlike state of mind of just going further down this conversation with myself about what it is that I’m talking about, um, I was doing some work where I was, uh, having a doctor’s model, uh, as, as a brain exposing the condition of post traumatic stress and, and what that looks like, or, or depicting the idea of suicide and.

What’s the rawness of that look like? I, I orientated a hand holding a service M9 service pistol, [00:38:00] pointed at a brain, um, discussing the narrative of suicide and just, you know, the, the numbers of suicide in relation to combat deaths over the 20 year war, it’s like a 4 to 1 ratio of like over 30, 000 to 7, 057.

And so for me, I’m just thinking of the people that I’ve, that I’ve worked with. I’d known and lost during service and then even after service in the veteran world. Um, you know, those were very difficult moments like thinking about that’s actually what one of my friends did. You know, they took that moment and, and ended their life.

Um, and so it became such a, a hardship time to think through that. I’d have to get up and leave the studio just kind of in tears going, I can’t believe this, this person’s gone now. Um, I can’t believe this happened last year or just the plethora. But it was necessary for me to kind of have a grounding space to think that this is the reality.

How do you, how do you show this in these contemporary spaces? I’m sharing my work, that it’s a rawness and reality that we as veteran or we as [00:39:00] service members are going through like this silent epidemic. So that’s just one kind of area that I’ve delved into beyond just the object making, how can I pursue the larger conversation about like suicide or, or stigmas, um, you know, depression and all those kinds of feelings that we, we, we are on, we have on reserve.

This art just is this pedestal idea of it’s in front of you to talk about. So there’s not a real, um roadblock in front of that it’s like access to this space um and so that’s that’s ultimately why I continue to make work is people that come into these areas um and engage with these kinds of narratives um really allows them to go beyond their own restrictions um and And I’ve had, you know, conversations about military sexual trauma too, things I’ve done in country when this child was involved or just, you know, you can name like the idea of what you think is the worst and someone’s going to have something out there that’s, you know, just as bad, if not worse.

I mean, it’s all over the [00:40:00] map, but yeah, It’s this kind of central point of going, Hey, we’re not alone. We’re in this kind of together. Um, and, and that’s just how I’ve seen art depicting this kind of the darker side in this kind of beautiful yet, um, raw type of, of, of, of exposure. You know, there, there’s, there’s something to behold about the people that do serve.

And what we go through, it’s just how do you contextualize and speak about those things coming back, you know, like, for example, Vietnam versus now, we’ve come some distance from the idea of what we’re doing, um, and who we are as people, but the idea of healing post service was never really a conversation until just recently, um, and seeing a lot more of these art kind of adventures out there for veterans, um, yeah.

In all different ways. So it’s not just kind of the singular thing that I’m talking about. Other institutions are out there, nonprofits, um, kind of raising the idea of, you know, getting veterans in a room, [00:41:00] doing stuff as a group, and, and just, you know, kind of sharing those, those stories in the moment. Um, it’s just an opportunity.

I feel really,

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I, and It’s helpful for the veterans, again, like you were saying, to kind of get that conversation starting, uh, you know, amongst the, the veterans, get, get them together in a room, have them look at the artwork and have the, the emotions, have the feelings, have the, uh, you know, the memories that, um, you know, it’s like, Hey, I’m not alone in this.

Um, you know, there’s, there’s other people who, um, you know, had, uh, Similar or possibly worse. Probably not, uh, you know, in some cases, but you know, in, in some cases there’s varying degrees of how bad something is. But I think at the end of the day, that that doesn’t matter as much as just knowing you’re not alone.

In whatever it is that you’re going through. Um, I I’ve said this before where, um, you know, if there’s two [00:42:00] people who drowned and one person drowned in 10 feet of water, another person drowned in a hundred feet of water, they both drowned, like no one drowned worse than the other in that case, right? Like they both had a pretty shitty death.

Like they both drowned. Um, but, um, You know, so I don’t like to compare, Oh, that person’s trauma is worse than that person’s trauma. It’s like trauma is trauma. And as far as your mind goes, like it’s going to affect you, uh, you know, one way or another. And if it is affecting you, um, you know, it’s, it’s helpful to be able to talk about it with other people who maybe went through something similar, um, to, to let you know, like I said, that you’re not alone, but also, um, move it to the civilian side where they may not have any idea.

What we went through because they never served in any, any combat capacity of, you know, outside of watching Saving Private Ryan, they have no concept of what war is or, or any of that kind of thing. Um, [00:43:00] you know, and they, then they, they can see artwork like the stuff that you’re creating, uh, and, you know, other people are, are creating.

And, um, They can start to see like, Oh man, like I didn’t realize that this is the kind of thing that somebody goes through. Um, you know, maybe that starts to help them understand why that veteran who lives next door or down the street or something is the way that they are. Um, you know, or a coworker who might be a veteran, you know, it just helps with that.

And then, you know, maybe there’s a little bit more compassion. Maybe there’s a conversation that can start, you know, something to. You know, raise awareness and help us move in the right direction. And, um, you know, I, I think it’s, it’s really a great thing that we have, uh, you know, folks like you who do, do create this kind of artwork and do put it out there, um, for, for the world to see, um, to, to be able to talk about it and, and raise [00:44:00] awareness of, you know, what, what we are going through.

Geoffrey Bowton: Yeah, I kind of refer to it as inviting someone to the front lines of military service. You know, they get to really see from the through the lens and the perspective of a soldier that’s done these things. Um, now they can kind of get an idea, but that doesn’t cover all jobs and all service. There’s so many things that we do.

Um, But, but I think it just provides like this, this landscape, a visual landscape to say, okay, it is a human experience that I can relate to. Um, I’ve been through trauma myself, but not in the military context. Now I went through a car wreck and some people died. This person went through a vehicle crash and a rollover and those people died.

They’re very similar situations, but in the idea of sharing that with, with each other, um, it doesn’t always necessarily make sense. Um, but when you, when you, What I’ve noticed through the art is, it’s just the idea that humans experience the same sets of emotions in all different [00:45:00] ways, so it’s just another, another lens to provide opportunity of, you know, What someone is going through and what they’ve done to, to, to correct themselves, heal, to get beyond those difficulties.

Um, and that has a lot to do with it, knowing that you’re not alone in these ways, um, yeah, it’s a very unique thing that, that happens, I feel. Um, so the more that people have this chance to expose themselves to military related art, which. It doesn’t seem too common unless you go to, like, a military museum, or you see a museum that has things that are, you know, arranged in this format.

Um, it’s not really a common thread that people go, I’m gonna go do this as a profession and make work about tragedies, and then, you know, have a career in life. It was never intentional, um, but it’s becoming something necessary, I feel like. The galleries, museums, um, that I do show work in, um, you know, that, that’s the idea of this conversation is growing beyond, you know, what surface level it was like, Hey, [00:46:00] there’s more to this that we can share with others.

So I just feel, you know, um, that it’s kind of a grassroots place, you know, um, Post 20 year war. And like I said, there’s more organizations, there’s groups that get people together to do things in the art spaces. So we’ll see. I mean, perhaps this, at least what’s happening now, sets up in the, in the future, more ideas for better conversation.

And this is perhaps what we’re going through now in comparison to, you know, Previous wars and how we were treated as, as, as personnel coming out of the service. Um, so it’s only in, in my hope that we can just better ourselves for the next man up mentality or that leave it better than you found it for the next person showing up, um, certainly help our country out, that’s for sure.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. And even if you just look at the way that, that folks were treated back in, you know, the Vietnam timeframe where they were coming home and they were getting spit on, they were getting called all sorts of crazy [00:47:00] names and they were, they were treated pretty terribly, uh, when they came home and it’s awful and it’s unforgivable, like you, you.

Shouldn’t treat folks that way just in general, like you don’t just, you don’t treat people that way. Um, but especially someone who risks their life to serve their country. Um, you know, you definitely don’t do that. Right. But stuff like what you’re doing, artwork, uh, other outreach programs and things like that, that are getting the word out to the community that, Hey, this is some of the stuff that people went through.

This is why, um, you know, We, we want to support the veterans and, uh, you know, give back to them because there’s, there is, there are problems that they are going through and, and we need to, to help them with those. Um, and so, um, you know, just raising that awareness, I think is, is huge, um, in inside and outside of the military, uh, community.

I think it’s a huge thing. And like you said, it’s going to help [00:48:00] all of us, um, you know, in, in society, not just all of us in the military and veteran. Communities. It’s, it’s going to be helpful throughout the, uh, um, uh, the society really. Um, before we wrap up, I know, um, you probably have some places that people can go to check out your artwork if they want to, um, you know, take a look at it and, and see, uh, the type of stuff that you do.

Um, you know, where, where can people go to find out more about the work that you do?

Geoffrey Bowton: um, so right now I’m at a place called Penland School of Craft. Um, I’m doing a three year residency. I’m just here now in the first, now my fourth month, I believe. Um, and so I’ll be, um, through their kind of social media platforms, um, through my social media platforms in terms of what I’m making and creating here, um, and how I’m working and integrating with the veteran communities, um, around, it’s, uh, Asheville, North Carolina is the, the, the, the, Closest, [00:49:00] um, connecting kind of city.

And, um, so I just recently returned from, um, the Walter Reed hospital in DC, the, um, National Military Medical Center. Um, and I had some, I have some work up in the NECO area, the, um, National Intrepid Center of Excellence is where all the TBI and PTSD patients go for art therapy, um, transitional, or actually they’re just, they’re active duties.

So they’re going in for like transitional recovery. Um, so. Bad TBI injury, they’re going through different stages of therapies through this kind of, um, you know, program that they have set up, but, um, and then I have some work at the, um, uh, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, um, it’ll be exhibiting there in the fall, um, and so there’s a piece about, um, that kind of what we were talking about earlier about, um, the things that happen to soldiers, um, or in my case, soldiers, um, Um, and then the work about, um, at the hospitals about [00:50:00] stigmas, you know, I, I used a army extreme cold weather mask and a army combat top to depict a figure.

And um, so it’s kind of loaded. I had 22 spikes on the head, referencing suicide, some other kind of, um, evocative things and depicting the pain or, or that kind of thing. But, um, you know, just, just going into further detail about. You know, what it is that people endure, um, like the stigmas, like, you know, they’re being cast out and called something and they don’t know what it is.

How do they understand what, what that looks like? Um, yeah, I think that just kind of, the more I, I focus on, um, the importance of being understood, that’s just kind of what generates the work. Um, and so I share work out of a place, um, or show work in a gallery called Habitat, um, or Habitat Galleries in Detroit.

Um, They’ve been showing work there for the last 50 years during the uh, studio glass boom from the 70s till now, so they’ve had all kinds of famous [00:51:00] artists from Dale Chihuly, I don’t know if you’ve heard of him, um, Josh Simpson, there’s a lot of like icons in the world of contemporary art that is shown there, um, so I’ve been with them for a couple of years.

Um, and then just trying to find new locations, new, new hospitals, new museums to share kind of the larger conversation about, um, just military service and what that looks like, um, through the glass medium. Um,

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And. I know the VA hospital near me, where I go, there’s plenty of artwork that is, I’m just assuming it’s done by veterans, but, um, you know, that probably serves a similar purpose to what we were just talking about. You know, I think that’s maybe the reason why some of those artists put the artwork in there.

Um, But also, um, you know, if you think about it, if, uh, just like in Afghanistan, when you were creating that, those pieces that some of them ended up on the wall or they were, you know, [00:52:00] decorations or, you know, things like that around the, the base that you’re on, um, it, it, Brightened up the place a bit, you know, made it a little bit more, uh, you know, sorry, a little less depressing to, to be there.

Um, you know, can you imagine just going into a VA hospital with just walls, no artwork, no nothing. And if you’re going into the VA hospital, you’re not exactly in the, probably the best place to begin with, you know, going into one of these places. So, um, you know, you, you, you see it. Kind of livened up a bit, you know, whether, whether it’s pictures or sculptures or, you know, whatever, it, it helps liven up the place.

And, you know, maybe it’s just, just that little bit that helps you, um, you know, through, through the day. So, so those, those things are great. And, and, uh, I think the places that you’re, you’re showing them, um, are, are also great. So, um, before we wrap up this episode though, I, I love to, uh, end episodes with just a little bit of humor.

Um, And [00:53:00] sometimes the topics are a little, little heavy and I want to try to end it with a little bit of humor. Whenever I have another veteran on the show, I like to do a segment called, is it service connected? Um, and that usually gets a laugh out of, uh, the, the veterans that I have. So it’s, think of it kind of like America’s Funniest Home Videos where we watch a short video of someone doing something stupid.

And then we, we, uh, kind of laugh. as I think only veterans can do, and uh you know service members and and uh we go from there. So I’m gonna share my screen with you so you can see what I’m looking at here um and right now for the audio only listeners um it looks like. I’m gonna try to describe it as best I can. This is a relatively short video, so it’s not going to be a whole lot of description going on. If you want to see it, go check it out on YouTube or wherever, wherever else we have the video portion of it.

But, um, looks like there’s an open window, looks like some training facility. I’m [00:54:00] not sure exactly what. Kind of training facility. Um, obviously the camera view that we’re looking at is trained on it. Otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing it. There’s another guy off on the side. He’s recording it too. So something stupid is about to happen.

If you got multiple people sitting there with their, their cameras out, uh, recording something is definitely about to happen. So, uh, let’s take a look. It’s like a guy’s jumping out of the window and he falls and not, I don’t know what he has wrapped around his arm. It’s like some black, uh, padding or something.

And he jumps out the window and just like lands on his shoulder. Um, not his feet. I don’t know like who taught him how to jump through a window, but that is not how you do it. Um, so that, that was not good, um, for, for that guy. If, if anything, he might have some shoulder injuries from how, how he landed or something

Geoffrey Bowton: Almost looks like they did like a, uh, aid mock up. Like, you know, this patient’s got her arm broken. They put the splint on, maybe they’re training and decides to jump out the [00:55:00] window on the intended broken arm.

Scott DeLuzio: he jumped out the window and landed on the arm that was all like bandaged up or whatever like I don’t know that maybe it was actually bandaged or something I don’t know like maybe that was it actually I’m kind of looking at the screenshot of the video and it It looks rather thick for something like that.

It might even be, you know, you ever see like the, the dog, uh,

Geoffrey Bowton: Oh, right. Yeah.

Scott DeLuzio: training and stuff, and they, they, they have those big padded, uh, things on their arm, it might be something like that.

Geoffrey Bowton: He’s jumping from the dog out of the other room. Maybe he’s

Scott DeLuzio: from the dog. He’s like, screw that. I don’t want this dog biting me.

Geoffrey Bowton: definitely service connected if that’s the case. If he’s leaving a threat and he falls out and busts his arm,

Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, he’s definitely in uniform. Uh, you know, everyone else seems like they are too, uh, around this area. Um, so whatever he was doing, uh, I guess as long as he wasn’t being totally stupid, um, [00:56:00] which it looked like from the video, but there may have been a reason. We can’t see inside the building.

So there may have been a reason he’s jumping out. Um, I mean, regardless, like you land on your feet, not your shoulders. Like, I don’t know.

Geoffrey Bowton: Gary’s future.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, well anyways, uh, Geoffrey, thank you again for taking the time to join us. Uh, really do appreciate it. And I’ll have the links to everything that you mentioned, uh, you know, your website and social media stuff in the, uh, the show notes for all the listeners to check out, um, but thank you again for taking the time to come on.

Really do appreciate it.

Geoffrey Bowton: Thanks. Thanks so much.

Scott DeLuzio: Thanks for listening to the Drive On Podcast. If you want to support the show, please check out Scott’s book, Surviving Son on Amazon. All of the sales from that book go directly back into this podcast and work to help veterans in need. You can also follow the Drive On Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and wherever you listen to [00:57:00] podcasts.