WILLIAM PHILLIPS - LIMITED EDITIONS L-R

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Last Chance

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Late Season, Block Island

Bill and his wife, Kristi, traveled to Block Island, Rhode Island, to research the local inns and found themselves at the Atlantic Inn, owned by Brad and Anne Marthens. “The inn gives you a feeling of Block Island as it must have been many, many years ago,” says the artist. “It has that laid-back feeling of a classic New England inn.”

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Lest We Forget

Countersigned by Gen. Curtis E. LeMay; B-17, signed by Bill Lawley; B-24 signed by Andrew Low; B-26 signed by James Farrell; P-51 Mustang, signed by Robin Olds; P-47 Thunderbolt, signed by Hub Zemke; P-38 Lightning, signed by Gerald Brown

In a single print, "Lest We Forget" tells the story of the authenticity, nostalgia and collectibility. The print is actually composed of seven different Phillips paintings. The central image is a contemporary scene: a church yard not far from Peterborough, England. The memorial statue is dedicated to the 8^th Air Force. Overhead streaks an 8^th Air Force F-111 on a low-level training mission. The boy?  As Bill Phillips says, he's part of a generation that hadn't even been thought of during World War II. Yet he and his generation are the beneficiaries of the sacrifice made by so many airmen during that conflict.  Surrounding the main image are six smaller pictures that are historical in nature; they take the viewer back to the height of the Eighth's action in World War II. Formed in August, 1942, this air armada struck time and again at the enemy's heartland, providing air power for the eventual liberation of Europe.  Signing the central image with artist Bill Phillips is Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, whose B-17's and B-24's provided the strategic might for Allied Forces. The smaller pictures all show classic aircraft in action, and are signed by famous flyers.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Lethal Encounter

Countersigned by Colonel Leo K. Thorsness and Colonel Harold E. Johnson

On April 19, 1967, then - Major Leo K. Thorsness, and his back-seater, Electronic Warfare Officer Captain Harold E. Johnson, in the words of another officer, "took on most of North Vietnam," all by themselves. The Greenwich Workshop is proud to commemorate their courage with the third release in the American Patriot Series - Lethal Encounter by William S. Phillips.

"I wanted to capture that moment when they switched on the after-burner of their F-105 Thunderchief," says Phillips, "enabling them to outrun their pursuers after hitting the lead MiG-17 with 20mm-cannon fire." The result is an exciting, beautifully realized aerial warfare "freeze frame" countersigned by Colonel Leo K. Thorsness and Colonel Harold E. Johnson.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Lightkeeper's Gift

Renowned aviation and landscape artist William S. Phillips not only painted this nostalgic wintertime image of an aircraft and lighthouse, but also wrote an accompanying poem, fittingly holiday-like in its style. 

Twas the week before Christmas of 1929,
and pilot Bill Wincapaw was running out of time.
With instruments out and fuel on low,
Wincapaw was relieved to see the lighthouse below.
Oriented anew, he flew from light to light,
out of harm's way and safe for Christmas night.
When clear skies returned and a new day shone,
he retraced the course he had recently flown.
Approaching each lighthouse, flying close as he dared,
he dropped gifts by parachute, each carefully prepared,
to thank the lightkeepers who spared him that night
so Wincapaw could make just one more flight.

This true tale's still told - though the years pass by swift - of grateful pilots, a "Flying Santa," and The Lightkeeper's Gift.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Lightning From the Sun

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
The Long Green Line

Here comes the U.S. Army! A flight of Bell UH-1 Hueys hammer through a misty, monsoon soaked Vietnam valley in the central highlands, heading for a landing area. These utility helicopters became the first "gunships" when a trooper stood in the open door, armed with a machine gun. Later the HueyCobra appeared - slim, speedy, agile, and dangerous, with heavy armament including a forward firing 20-mm machine gun.

Bill Phillips says no veteran of the fighting there will ever forget the unique sound of a flight approaching. A faint, distant muttering would fade in and out as bends I the valleys muffled the sound. It would grow quickly to a sudden thunder, rumbling between hills, echoing the length of every glade that the helicopters darted through on their way to or from the target of the day.

"Of course every Vietcong for miles around heard the Hueys, just as our troops did. They could prepare a welcome for them with small arms fire. Or they could clear out," Bill reminisces.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
The Long Ride Home

In The Long Ride Home, Phillips sets the P-51D flown by Lieutenant Colonel Wayne Blickenstaff, and the B-17's he's escorting, against a sea of serene clouds and the colors of the sunset to signify the oncoming end of World War II.

"It's late 1944," Phillips explains. "It's been a long day and a long mission, but soon the fighters will return to base for debriefing and rest. I wanted to get that across with just the light and color." He succeeds in conveying the hope these pilots must have felt as they returned to safety. The men may have been tired, but they were also satisfied with a job well done. The final gift was getting back to base in one piece.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Low Pass for the Home Folks

On a trip to Germany, Bill and his wife Kristi discovered a hillside war memorial. Surrounding the monument were framed photos of local young men who had been killed in World War II. Bill was particularly moved by one photograph of a fresh-faced boy, his arms around a cow. “This was no jack-booted Nazi. This was a farm kid who loved his home and went off to fight for it, just as American boys had done.” The boy’s story began to develop in Bill’s imagination: the young German had gone into the Luftwaffe and learned to fly fighter jets. One day, early in the war, the boy and a friend had buzzed the home valley in their BF-109s. “I guess all pilots have done that, in every country.” Bill checked with a German pilot, who said the practice was strictly verboten — “…but of course we did it.”

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Moonwatchers

Renowned aviation and landscape artist William S. Phillips created The Moonwatchers to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of his marriage to his wonderful wife, Kristi.  "The Moonwatchers is a celebration of commitment and enduring romance," he explains. "It is a love story that speaks of love in its various stages. You cannot help but wonder how many times our moonwatchers have held hands and shared dreams as the seasons passed and each new moon waxed and waned. Here, on a warm autumn afternoon, the couple sits quietly with their dogs, gazing out across chapters of their lives. Here is the house that has heard the laughter of children. There is the church where they married; in the distance, their moon."  Each of the components of this nostalgic view is a symbolic chapter in the lives of our moonwatchers. And there, off in the distance, is the Phillips hallmark - a solitary aircraft enjoying the lunar view from aloft.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Next Time Get 'Em All

P-40's of the American Volunteer Group dive on a bomber formation of Japanese "Sallys" over Burma. These fighters were the famed "Flying Tigers," army and navy pilots who in 1941 signed a contract to fly for the Chinese. They resigned their American commissions (with President Roosevelt's blessing), sailed for Asia, and furnished, at last, solid competition for the veteran "Eagles of Nippon," who had ruled the skies over China since the mid-1930's/

The AVG didn't get into action until after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Then its squadrons got a cram course in tactics from their famed commander, Col. Claire Chennault. Fight in pairs, he told them. Hit and run, turn, and hit again. The new P-40s were daubed with Chinese markings and shark mouths, and were soon at work. Here, during one of many Japanese raids in early 1942, Bob Neale and a wingman catch the Sallys cold.

The Flying Tigers shot down all but a couple. According to AVG legend, the pilots' usual noisy post-scramble exultation was somewhat cooled when Chennault said, "Next time get'em all."

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
No Empty Bunks Tonight

Tail End Charlie, the last plane in an aircraft formation, is usually most vulnerable to attack. The crew of 478, however, has survived flak, fighters and bone-chilling cold of high altitude battle to complete yet another in a long series of missions. Ahead is the welcome homecoming of debriefing, hot meals and a warm bed. On this mission there will be no empty bunks for the crew of 478.

The 478 of No Empty Bunks Tonight was a B-24 of the 578^th Bomb Squadron, 392^nd Bomb Group, 2^nd Division, Eighth Air Force based out of Wendling, England in 1944.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
No Flying Today

The renowned aviation artist, captures a B-17G of the 390^th Bomb Group 569^th Bomb Squadron sitting peacefully under a blanket of snow at its home base in Framlingham, England.

As happened on many occasions during World War II, a cold moist air mass has moved south from the Arctic, covering both England and the Continent in heavy clouds and snow. On this day at least, there would be peace for the bomber crews as well as for those against whom they flew.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
On Wings and a Prayer

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Over the Top

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
The Phantoms and the Wizard

Three F-4 Phantoms, tucked in tight, howl over wintry Wizard Island, Oregon. Since this is a national park, this unit of the Air National Guard needed official permission for a low flight - at Bill Phillips' prodding.

"This painting takes place in my own backyard," says Bill, who lives in southern Oregon. "The colors are so extreme - pure white and deep blue - that my aerial photos seemed like black-and-whites.  I skied in later for more controlled photos and to sketch the area I'd be painting." He also painted the formation flying lower than Crater Lake National Park would ever allow. "Don't try this," he warns. "Only an artist can do it, and only on canvas."

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Phantom Thunder

paper

Flying through storm-tossed skies, Phantoms of VF-96, the Flying Falcons, return from a strike over North Vietnam. Aircraft #5800, ShowTime 100, was the ‘CAG bird’ flown by LT. Randy Cunningham and LT(JG) Willie Driscoll when, on May 10th, 1972, they downed three MiG-17s, adding to their previous two. They became America’s first Vietnam aces.”

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Ploesti: Into the Fire and the Fury

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Point Bonita: Last Light

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
A Prayer for My Brother

Note:
Bill created this image following 9-11.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Range Wars

An F-14, the navy's big, all-around fighter, pours on the coal as two A-4s from another squadron give chase. The F-14 Tomcat has a variable-sweep wing. Swept back, it allows a speed beyond Mach 2. Extended, it gives the plane a stable approach for a carrier landing.

Both the F-14 and the old reliable A-4 are two-seaters, and Bill Phillips, invited to Miramar, outside San Diego, by the navy, logged time with an A-4 squadron as it went through its exercises over the training range.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Rejoice

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Return of the Red Gremlin

Countersigned by pilot Paul W. Tibbets, bombardier Thomas W. Ferebee, navigator Theodore J. Van Kirk, flight engineer/top turret gunner Herman Haag, ball turret gunner Zackie T. Gowan, Jr., and assistant crew chief Charles H. Peach

After the success of Dawn, the World Forever Changed, his powerful image of the Enola Gay - a print countersigned by command pilot Paul W. Tibbets, as well as Thomas W. Ferebee, Theodore J. Van Kirk, and other crew members - William S. Phillips proudly depicts another famous aircraft crewed by Tibbets, Ferebee, and Van Kirk. "I was pleased to create this image," the artist says, "which honors the Red Gremlin and the men associated with her."

To honor this B-17 - which led the first 100-airplane daylight raid on occupied France and flew General Eisenhower to Gibraltar to command the invasion of North Africa - the print is countersigned by men who flew and maintained the aircraft during her illustrious career. Accompanying the print is a specially made gold bullion patch based on the Red Gremlin's unique nose art.

The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a twin-turbine engine, single rotor, semi-monocoque fuselage, rotary wing helicopter. The medium-lift utility or assault helicopter was the winner of a United States Army competition in the late 1970s to replace the Huey (UH-1) family. Although the two final competing designs were both developed to Army specifications, the UH-60 was selected over an entry from Boeing-Vertol. It would go on to serve as the basis for variants in service with other branches of the US military. The Black Hawk can perform a wide array of missions, including the tactical transport of troops, electronic warfare and aero medical evacuation. In air assault operations it can move a squad of 11 combat troops with equipment, with advanced avionics and electronics provide increased survivability and capability.

In Phillips' Returning Fire, the Black Hawk crew assigned to the 101st Airborne takes evasive action and releases flares and machine gun fire after being fired upon during a sortie late in the day over Iraq.

WILLIAM PHILLIPS
Revelation

Within a few minutes, the sun and heat along the South Rim have relinquished their grip, replaced by pounding torrents of rain.

Then, as swiftly as it began, the rain ends. The roar of the deluge is replaced by individual droplets falling from the boughs of Ponderosa Pine. The world is still, the rumble of thunder recedes and the fragrance of sage and wet earth surrounds you. Suddenly, a single beam of light flashes into the Canyon and the grand finale begins as sheets of rain reflect back a growing rainbow. Isis Temple shines forth as the sunlight pushes eastward, giving its warmth once more before evening, blessing us with the Canyon’s never-ending revelation.”