This Independence Day thing works both ways, I guess. Americans are celebrating their Independence from Great Britain and Great Britain, I suspect, is celebrating the same thing, at least these days. As a person with a foot in both camps, I'm just happy to celebrate whatever is going. Any excuse for burgers and beer.
But that's today. Yesterday, the 3rd, was a celebration of another sort. The Guild of Aviation Artists had a presence at the Wheels and Wings day at the Museum of Army Flying, Middle Wallop and I was privileged to be there. The event was in aid of the museum, which, like all such organisations, has suffered during the seemingly eternal lockdowns of the last 16 months. There was a good turnout of some fabulous vintage cars, motorcycles and aircraft. During the run-up to the day, there was some consternation regarding the great British weather which promised the usual drenching and possible thunderstorms, but as Saturday dawned, the rain did not materialise and at points the sun actually appeared.
There were 7 Guild members in attendance, each with a selection of paintings and / or drawings in various media for display and sale. We pitched up in the vicinity of 0800, which meant that some of us had a pretty early start. The Welsh contingent left Llanelli at 0400 in John Wynne Hopkins' beautiful black Land Rover Defender for a 4 hour drive. That's dedication. They had a long trip back home at the end of the day as well, so applause all around for the "Taffia". I almost felt guilty about my piddling 50 minute drive. We all tackled the chore of putting up stands and hanging pictures before the general public arrived. With amazing foresight (or luck) our erstwhile organiser, Rob Hames, arranged for us to be in the Beer tent, which meant a guaranteed footfall of punters during the day, not to mention a source of liquid refreshment for starving artists.
We had a stack of Guild brochures and catalogues from the last (2019) annual exhibition at the Mall galleries to hand out as one of the aims of the day was to recruit new members for the Guild, an effort that met with some success. Rob's girlfriend Diane assumed command of the PR duties and kept us all in line during the day. Artists are an unruly lot and need a firm hand at the controls.
The artworks shown were an interesting mix of media and subjects that went down well with the visitors (and why not? Aviation art at a gathering of vintage aircraft? Sounds good to me.)
There was a great deal of appreciation on the part of the public and a few sales were made, which brightened up the atmosphere.
We were located just adjacent to the aircraft parking area, so had a good view of the aircraft as they arrived. A flock of Chipmunks, Tiger Moths, Austers, Pipers and some rarer birds all showed up despite the low cloud. We didn't have an opportunity to go out and sketch any, but we did wander about and take plenty of reference pictures. More than one Artist was heard to mutter "There's a painting in that." The highlight of the day, aircraft wise (at least for me) was the arrival of an absolutely pristine Travelair 4000 in the markings it wore during the early days of the Airmail routes in the US. One of the rarer American biplanes, there are only a few on this side of the pond, so great to see.
I think that Rob did a superb job of organising the day and it was great to meet and catch up with members who haven't been seen in person for a good long time.
Here are a few snaps to give you a taste of the day.
A well earned pint at the end of a great day: Left to right - Rob Hames, Jack Froelich, Richard Hawkin, Martin Perman, John Wynne Hopkins, Ieuan Layton-Matthews, Tim Jenkins.
Our flag was flown with pride, but with all the hay bales around, we looked like a Wurzel Gummidge convention.
All set up and waiting for the first punters.
My Contribution to the day’s display.
Avgeek’s delight: TravelAir 4000 - a rare bird indeed, though an invasive species in the UK.
I’m certainly looking forward to any chance to do this sort of thing again. Sketching days are coming up too. Looks like it’s going to be a good year after all.
Take care and keep painting.