Aviation Art Happenings Since August 2011

As I wrote earlier, I will try to recap what has been happening with my aviation art during the last two years…..Actually the last time I wrote about my aviation art was February of 2011, when I received notification that two of my paintings were accepted into the 2011 ASAA International Aerospace Art Exhibition. That show was held at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, where paintings were displayed on two levels in their lobby area. My painting Afternoon Delights won the 2nd place award in Aviation Week and Space Technology’s General Aviation category. The image on the left shows me with Taylorcraft Heading Home.

With Lt. Col. James C. Warren on the left, and Col. Charles E. McGee on the right

Also in 2011, I went to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where I assisted at the CAF’s RedTail Project/Squadron Traveling Exhibit. The RedTail Squadron’s mission is to share the inspiring legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first African-American military pilots and their support crews. There were matted prints of my painting Tuskegee Tales for sale at the booth. While there, I met a couple of very special gentlemen, Lt. Col. James C. Warren and Col. Charles E. McGee and was able to spend some time talking to them while they took in the airshow from the shade.

In June of 2012, I had a painting accepted into the 2012 ASAA International Aerospace Art Exhibition at the AirZoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Swat Valley Aid is my first helicopter painting and is based off of a photograph taken by my nephew Matt Wesenberg who was a CH-46 pilot at the time. At the same time, just 30 minutes away in Battle Creek, Afternoon Delights was a part of the 25 year ASAA Retrospective Show. To top off this whirlwind trip, I got to fly in a variety of different aircraft, took in two smaller airshows in Wisconsin. I also toured the Golden Wings Flying Museum, where I met Greg Herrick and presented him with Stinson Sunrise, a painting of his Stinson Tri-motor amidst a dramatic morning, which now hangs on his office wall.

Stinson Sunrise – Pati O’Neal
18″ x 24″ – Oil on canvas

Which leads us into 2013.