Sunset Recovery USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier at sea
Sunset Recovery
by William S. Phillips

Where is the nearest carrier? is often the first question from a President when a crisis erupts overseas. A powerful instrument of diplomacy and military might, the Navy’s carrier battle group has been the United State’s reaction-force-of-choice since World War II.

Collectors, naval and aviation enthusiasts all react in a similar fashion when William S. Phillips turns his painter’s eye on these seagoing airfields. All eight of his previous Fine Art Editions featuring carriers have Sold Out at the Publisher and are only available on the secondary market.

“An aircraft carrier is exciting beyond belief,” beams Phillips. “It’s the tip of the spear and it operates that way. It’s dangerous and it’s exciting. Nothing is static. Their size is phenomenal. The sense of mission and camaraderie from the engine room to the flight crews is inspiring. For the rest of my life, I’ll jump at the chance to get on one whenever I can.”

“In the late 1970s, I had the chance to deploy on the USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) out of San Diego, but this scene could be anywhere in the world because sunsets are universal at sea. Coming on board a carrier is tough no matter what time of day it is. They call flight operations at this time “Pink Ops.” Technically, it is a night operations, but I’ll tell you, landing in any kind of daylight beats coming aboard before absolute dark. The CAP aircraft, both coming in and going out, are early versions of the F-14.”

There is a Fine Art Edition of Sunset Recovery for every type of collector. There is a special and very limited over-sized 37" x 28" MasterWork™ Giclée Canvas edition of only 25 pieces. A more moderately sized yet beautiful 28" x 21" Fine Art Giclée Canvas and a traditional Fine Art Giclée Paper at 24" x 18" are also available. Don’t miss out on your opportunity to own one of William S. Phillips much admired aircraft carrier editions.


Sizing & Pricing

Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Limited Edition Giclée Print:
limited to 200 s/n. 24w x 18"h. $195 

Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Limited Edition Giclée Canvas:
limited to 75 s/n. 28w x 21"h. $495 
(Gallery wrapped option for additional $30.)

MasterWork™
Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Limited Edition Giclée Canvas:

limited to 25 s/n. 37w x 28"h. $895 
(Gallery wrapped option for additional $30.)

 

About William S. Phillips

“Aviation was my first artistic love,” says William S. Phillips, “but my true, enduring love remains my Christian faith, home and family. So it is my pleasure to combine all of it in my work. The historical aviation subjects, I research; the contemporary and nostalgic subjects, I live.” Phillips grew up loving art but never thought he could make it his livelihood. At college he majored in criminology and was a smoke jumper during the summer. He had been accepted into law school when four of his paintings were sold at an airport restaurant. That was all the incentive he needed to begin his work as a fine art painter. With law school no longer an option, firefighting supported Phillips during the early stages of his artistic career.

Bill Phillips is now the aviation artist of choice for many American heroes and the nostalgic landscape artist of choice for many collectors. Bill’s strengths as a landscape painter are what gave him an edge in the aviation field: respect and reverence for a time and place. When one sees his aviation pieces, thoughts are about the courageous individuals who risked their lives for our freedom. In Bill’s nostalgic works, the viewer understands fully what that freedom is . . . the precious values that make life worth living. After one of his paintings was presented to King Hussein of Jordan, Phillips was commissioned by the Royal Jordanian Air Force. He developed sixteen major paintings, many of which now hang in the Royal Jordanian Air Force Museum in Amman. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum presented a one-man show of Phillips’ work in 1986; he is one of only a few artists to have been so honored. In 1988, Phillips was chosen to be a U.S. Navy combat artist. For his outstanding work, the artist was awarded the Navy’s Meritorious Public Service Award and the Air Force Sergeants Association’s Americanism Medal. In 1991, three of Phillips’ works were chosen as part of the top 100 in “Art for the Parks,” the prestigious annual fund-raiser for the National Park Service, and one painting received the “Art History Award” from the National Park Foundation.