Space Oddity is Stunning!

Whatever imagery came to mind when you heard the verse ...Here I am floating in a tin can far above the Earth... from David Bowie's Space Oddity it will never be the same after viewing Space Station Commander Chris Hadfield's video created 255 miles above our planet.

If raising the human spirit through the potential of man's accomplishment was the only compelling argument for the exploration of space, this would make the case.

Illinois READS Project Chooses Gustafson's Mother Goose Book

Illinois READS Project Chooses Gustafson's Mother Goose Book

Scott Gustafson at the Illinois READS
launch March 13, 2013

Scott Gustafson's book, Favorite Nursery Rhymes From Mother Goose, was selected for the birth-to-four-year-old category for Illinois' first-ever statewide literacy project. Many statewide literacy organizations including teachers, schools and libraries are planning events in support of the literacy effort.  
ILLINOIS READS officially launched on March 13, 2013 at the Old State Historical Capital building in Springfield, IL. Scott and wife Patty attended the ceremonies along with other authors, Illinois Lt. Governor Sheila Simon, Secretary of State and Illinois State Librarian Jesse White, and Illinois Legislators.
Favorite Nursery Rhymes From Mother Goose was published by Greenwich Workshop Press in 2007 and they published his book Classic Fairy Tales in 2003. Scott Gustafson is working on a third book in this series, Bedtime Stories, which Greenwich Workshop Press will publish in fall 2014.

James Christensen's "Low Tech" to hang in Jet Propulsion Lab's New Space Building

James Christensen's "Low Tech" to hang in Jet Propulsion Lab's New Space Building

Christensen fine art editions collector Steve Cunningham recently donated a framed edition of James Christensen's Low Tech to the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA. Receiving the gift, from the left, is Stephen Kulczycki, Deputy Director of Communications and Education for JPL, and  Dr. Charles Elachi, Director of the JPL. On the right are Mr. Cunningham and his daughter, Mrs. Tracy Pellegrino, an employee of JPL.

"I donated Low Tech to JPL because of the spirit of the barnstormer and, as the poster says, 'Before there was high tech, there had to be low tech.' It seems appropriate that the framed print now hangs in a place of honor in JPL's new Space Building."

Gilleon Sale Sets New Record

Hair Apparent by Tom Gilleon

Tom Gilleon entered fine art rare air with the sale of his painting Hair Apparent at The Russell Auction in Montana this past week end. When the gavel finally fell, the 50” x 50” work of contemporary American Western art, initially estimated to sell for between $50,000 & $60,000, fetched a staggering $225,000!  

"I think it was a smashing success," said C.M. Russell Museum board chairman Joe Masterson of the auction. "The whole weekend was a tremendous success. It exceeded our expectations."

"I had absolutely no idea there was that much interest (in the painting)," said Gilleon.

"That's why we have auctions," said auctioneer Troy Black.

Mark Tarrant of Altamira Fine Art in Jackson Hole, said, "Collectors love art and recognize it is an asset class. It's a good place to put their money."

Gilleon’s record of Sold Out editions here at Greenwich mirrors the excitement for Tom’s original paintings we are seeing in auction such as this. Congratulations, Tom! We couldn’t be prouder. We love it when good things happen to good people.

Doolittle Raider and Workshop Friend Passes

 

Rising Into the Storm

Maj. Thomas C. Griffin, navigator on a B-25 bomber, the Whirling Dervish, in the daring air raid on Japan led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle in 1942, four months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died in Fort Thomas, Ky., on Feb. 26. He was 96 and lived in Cincinnati.

Griffin at the time of the Raid

 

 He died in a veterans hospital, said Tom Casey, a friend and the manager of the Doolittle Raiders, as the airmen who flew on the raid came to be known. The raid, the first American attack on Japanese soil, followed a string of Japanese victories in the Pacific that had demoralized the American public.

“The Japanese had attacked us, and we were mad,” Major Griffin said. “We wanted to hit ’em back.” The 80 men who volunteered for the raid were told only that they would be involved in a terribly dangerous mission.

They were to fly 16 B-25s from the deck of the U.S.S. Hornet — the first time the land-based bombers had been launched on a raid at sea — to strike military and industrial targets in Tokyo, Yokohama, Kobe, Nagoya and Osaka. But a last-minute change in plans, resulting from an encounter with a Japanese vessel, meant the planes would not have enough fuel to reach designated landing areas in China.

Engaging the Enemy

Despite heavy antiaircraft fire and pursuing planes, all 16 bombers made it out of Japanese airspace. After escaping Japan, the planes ran into a storm, further draining their fuel supplies as darkness fell over unfamiliar terrain. Most of the men, including Major Griffin (who was a lieutenant at the time), bailed out over China.

Major Griffin escaped Japanese capture and later participated in more bombing runs before he was shot down in 1943. He was held in a German prisoner of war camp until 1945.

Doolittle Raid Ebook



Thomas Carson Griffin was born on July 10, 1916, in Green Bay, Wis. His decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three oak leaf clusters. He is survived by two sons, John and Gary; four grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. Major Griffin was a cosigner on numerous William S. Phillips' fine art editions. His death leaves four surviving Doolittle Raiders.

Terpning Crow Camp Stands out at Heritage Auction

 

Crow Country

 

Plunder From Sonora & Crow Country where the top lots at the November 10^th Heritage Western and California Art Signature Auction. Selling for $962,500 and $662,500 respectively, these two Howard Terpning originals stood out amongst very respectable western art company. Works from Bierstadt, Russell, Hennings, Fechin and Leigh were also featured in the auction. Ed Beardsley, Vice President of Fine &  Decorative Arts at Heritage states, “Not only did we offer some of the most recognizable names in Western art, it was arguably some of their finest work and observant buyers recognized that. It was a standing room only crowd bringing lovers of great Western and California art to Heritage’s world headquarters (in Dallas).”

Plunder From Sonora

Terpning’s Plunder from Sonora was published as a Fine Art Canvas in 2003, is Sold Out at the Publisher and can rarely be found on the secondary market. Crow Country will be released as a Fine Art Canvas in December 2012.

Combes Soysambu Legacy on Film

Guy Combes  and the Artists for Conservation are in Vancouver BC for their annual art show where they introduced a new documentary The Soysambu Legacy-Art and Conservation in Africa's Rift Valley. This film follows the story of artist Simon Combes and the efforts of his son Guy Combes, and widow Kathryn Combes to carry on his legacy through their art and conservation programs. The film features the stunning landscape of the 48,000 Soysambu Conservancy where Simon was raised (then known as the Soysmabu Farm) and the efforts to integrate it as a vital link in a the Rift Valley eco-system

Guy's work is on display at the 2012 Artists For Conservation Festival and can be found on the Greenwich Website at Guy Combes Fine Art Studio.