ArtPrize 2025: Isaiah and Samantha Reynolds’ ‘Field of Poppies’
Published Digitally 9 Oct. 2025
By Justin Tiemeyer - Contributing Writer
Alto resident Isaiah Reynolds enlisted in the Michigan Army National Guard in 2002 and deployed for combat missions in Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan. With no education or work in the field of fine art, Reynolds is not your typical ArtPrize competitor, and yet, “Field of Poppies,” which he co-created with wife, Samantha Reynolds, is on display at Veterans Memorial Park.
The Reynolds’ entered ArtPrize with the assistance of Art for Honor, a veteran-centered art organization that shares the perspectives and stories of U.S. veterans through various mediums. Art for Honor applied for the Veterans Memorial Park location, and that is where all of their members showcased their art.
Reynolds has no formal training in metalwork, but when his son enrolled in Frank Leasure’s blacksmithing program with Tuckertown Forge in Lowell, the whole family became interested. His son has other ideas for a full-time job these days, but Reynolds did not move on. He intends to make King’s Cross Forge, the family blacksmithing business, his primary source of income when he retires from the National Guard.
What started as a handful of metal flowers turned into one flower for each month that Reynolds spent away from his family, due to his military service, and that “Field of Poppies” turned into a conversation about the sacrifice the family of each service member makes.
“Though we, as service members, sign up and do this stuff, the effect on our families is rather significant,” Reynolds said, “and a lot of people don’t realize that. Births, funerals, any of those types of things - I wanted to bring some awareness to that.”
For those wondering, “Why poppies?” the poppy has been an important symbol for veteran organizations, dating back to World War I. On many of the most terrible battlefields, the ecosystem was decimated by artillery fire, leaving behind a barren no man’s land. After combat had concluded and the earth had a chance to recover, the first plants to return were poppies.
The year 2025 marks 23 years of service for Reynolds. His oldest child is 17, and his youngest is 16. The way the math works out is that every moment for the entirety of Reynolds’ children’s lives, there has been a threat that dad might not be home for an important moment, and it is heartbreaking.
“I was lucky enough to actually be there for both of our children’s births,” Reynolds said. “I came home on leave three days before my daughter was born, was able to be there for her birth, and stayed an additional four days after her birth. After that, I travelled back to Fort Hood immediately and left to go over to Kuwait.”
Aside from her birth, Reynolds missed the entire first year of his daughter’s life. They used the messaging app, Yahoo Messenger, while he was deployed, and she was able to hear his voice. They tried to take videos and send them back and forth, but that was all she knew of her father during that time. When his son was born, Reynolds was lucky enough to be able to use Skype regularly.
Each soldier joins up for a different reason, and Reynolds joined the Army National Guard for the sake of his family. “When it comes down to it, as far as me personally, everything I do is for my family and for the ones that I love, to protect them and to provide for them,” Reynolds said. “I really don’t feel like I’m doing anything out of normal character for myself personally.”
These poppies, to Reynolds, are a tool, and that tool’s purpose is to spread awareness of the sacrifices people make. Reynolds thinks it is nice whenever a soldier returns to a parade and is thanked for their service, but these ceremonies ignore the void felt by loved ones, who are trying to maintain a normal life. Families, he believes, are good at keeping the weight of their own sacrifice hidden, but the sadness of the time apart and the fear of potential loss, in the line of duty, is always there.
“We believe in our hearts that wherever we go is where God’s protection is there for us,” Reynolds said. “Bad things might happen, but our love for them is always there.”
Reynolds’ project is about raising up the families of service members, and what better reason to raise up the work of his wife, Samantha, on “Field of Poppies.” Samantha has a degree in graphic design, and, per Reynolds, a much better-trained eye. It was Samantha who painted the poppies to represent the hope of peace following seemingly endless war.
“Field of Poppies,” by Isaiah and Samantha Reynolds, is on display at Veterans Memorial Park for the entirety of ArtPrize, and folks interested in voting for it may do so using Vote ID 53510. “Field of Poppies” is also for sale. Those interested in following more of the Reynolds family’s art may do so using their Facebook page King’s Cross Forge.
