| She wouldn't take no for an answer: Bessie, Sandra, Willa, Janet & Beverly mixed media 18"x 30" $700.00 |
| Brevet No.36 mixed media 7.5"x 9.5" $400.00 |
| Louise Thaden mixed media 8"x 10" $400.00 |
| Raymonde de la Roche mixed media 7.5"x 9.5" $400.00 |
| Evelyn Sharp: Sharpie mixed media 20"x30" $900.00 SOLD |
| Three Who Paved The Way: Beryl Markham ink on paper 8"x 8" framed 20"x16" $300.00 |
| Ruth Nichols & Moya Lear mixed media 7.5"x 9.5" $400.00 |
| Amelia, myth & reality graphite & oil pencil 11"x14" $400.00 |
| Linda Finch mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| Bessie Coleman mixed media 8"x10" LOST by UPS |
| Apparition-Amelily silverpoint drawing 46"x 46" $3,000.00 |
| Follow Your Dream serigraph ed.24 28"x 17" $475.00 |
The story behind "Celebration of Flight: Women in Aviation" I have created more than 70 paintings, drawings & prints to honor women in aviation starting with 1910 on to the present. The work in this series embodies my missions to preserve a living heritage of women in aviation by commemorating the lives of these remarkable women and to inform today's art audience about the women who were inspired to follow their dream as Amelia Earhart admonished all women of the 1920s and 1930s to do. Starting in 1996 I have been on an fantastic journey. It's all about the fascinating women in aviation, from 1910 when the first woman was licensed to fly on to the present. My journey began with Amelia Earhart and the Atchison Art Association. The first works were of or about Amelia. Currently there are 39 women in the series, Celebration of Flight: Women in Aviation and there are dozens more that I hope to add. Some are famous; some are not. However, all of them are important to the history of aviation and the history of our country. I have been learning about women in aviation since 1996. There are still times that I am stunned by my own ignorance of these lovely ladies. I have read literally dozens of books, looked at dozens of websites, talked to dozens of women pilots. Believe me, I haven't even scratched the surface. There is a history of our country that has never been revealed in scholastic texts. In late 1996, in anticipation of the Amelia Earhart Centennial Celebration (1997), the Atchison Art Association (Atchison, Kansas) asked me to exhibit my art work as part of the celebration. I also juried a show of women artists and taught a sketching class to young people. Part of Amelia's history is that she loved to draw and often sketched on the river bluff in front of her grandparent’s home, now the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum. Several young people and I sat in the grass for the drawing class on the river bluff, across the street from the Birthplace Museum; while doing that I had a startling encounter with a woman who looks like and may be the reincarnation of Amelia. It was like seeing an apparition. Her name is Lily. I began calling her Amelily as we became friends and she an art patron. The large silverpoint, "Apparition", records that experience. Another image resulting from my participation in the Amelia Earhart Celebration is "Soaring Spirits." As I became immersed in the Earhart project, I read more about Amelia, I became interested in other women aviators, and lastly wanted to know about flight in general. I learned about the "Ninety-Nines," the international organization of women pilots founded by AE, Louise Thaden and 97 other women pilots on Nov. 2, 1929. I discovered that an art patron who lives in Western Kansas was a '99.' She is in the silverpoint drawing, "Soaring Spirits," on the left. My reading on aviation went international when a neighbor and pilot recommended I read "West with the Night" by Beryl Markham. What a fabulous character, skilled pilot and adventurer! Beryl is the second face from the left in Soaring Spirits. The third woman is Willa Brown Chappell, aviator, politician, educator and activist, the first woman to fly with the Illinois Air Patrol. The tiny face, upper right, is Amelia Earhart. On the right is Beverly Sharp; I did not know Bev when I did the drawing, I just knew she was a '99.' I chose her because she had an attractive face, looked like a 'real' woman, the kind of woman who followed her dream. To my delight, Bev purchased the silverpoint from The Icarus 2003 exhibit in Nags Head, NC. She was then the International President of the '99's.' A few months later, I went to Atchison to meet her, a treasured experience! She passed away in January, 2006. She signed her notes and e-mails, Blue skies, Bev. The collage-painting 'Blue skies, Bev' is my tribute to her. There are many women who were as good or, arguably, better pilots than Amelia Earhart: Louise Thaden, Bessie Coleman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh were all highly skilled pilots. However, Amelia was a great pilot plus courageous and adventurous; she was loved by her compatriots. She inspired those around her and she believed that adventure was a worthwhile goal in itself. She mentored young women, giving talks at colleges and universities, encouraging them to 'have a dream and follow it.' She was an inspiration to my mother-in-law, a young secretary, who saw Amelia parading through downtown Boston in an open car; she was an positive example to my mother, born in 1907, who knew that she could challenge the world order for women, could do anything with her life because Amelia Earhart (and other women pilots) proved that women could compete. A great deal of myth has built up around Amelia since her disappearance, some of which is speculation, much of which was publicity. However, she was a real person, down-to-earth and ordinary, yet exceptional. Amelia helped send a message to countless young women: Follow your dream. She was an inspiration to thousands of women all over the USA. Her reality? She dared to dream; she dared to fail. |
| Soaring Spirit oil pencil 26"x17"$550.00 |
| Under Her Wings, We Soar acrylic on paper, 40"x 26" $1,650.00 |
| If you have a story or information about women in aviation, I would love to hear from you. Your comments & questions are always welcome. Click on my name to send me an email: jgeer@geerkellas |
| Anne Morrow Lindbergh mixed media 7.5"x9.5" $400.00 |
| Patty with the SunnySmile mixed media, gold leaf 8"x 10" $400.00 |
J. Geer Kellas' Celebration of Flight: Women in Aviation Paintings, Drawings & Original Prints |
MIXED MEDIA Collage may have: digital photos printed on transparent or giclee paper, graphite, origami paper, acrylic paint, pastels, copper, silver & gold leaf, silverpoint drawing. |
| Fay Gillis Wells mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| We've come a long way, Baby, mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
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| Three Who Paved The Way: Janet Bragg ink on paper 8"x 8" framed 20"x 16" $300.00 |
| Click on an image to enlarge. Click the name-link to go to her biography. |
| Amelily 223 mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| Legacy-triptychPatty & Louise, Chrystal & Bessie, Suzanne & Amelia mixed media on canvas 40"x 66" $3,000.00 |
| Olive Ann Beech serigraph 12AP 5.25x 3 9/16 $75.00 |
| Sonya Finch mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| Blue Skies, Bev mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| Beautiful Blue-eyed Ladies: Beech, Thaden, AE, Wagstaff, Webb, Jessen mixed media on canvas-triptych 30"x 60" $2,200.00 |
| Lisa Cotham, 99 Extraordinaire Mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| Ann Holtgren Pellegreno 1967 & 2009 mixed media 8"x 10" $400.00 |
| Suzanne Asbury Oliver mixed media 8"x10" $400.00 |
| Olive Ann Beech, laughing silverpoint 10"x8" $300.00 |
| La Roche, Coleman, Markham, Earhart, Beech, Jessen, Wagstaff, Hughes,Coleman,Cole silverpoint drawings 6"x 4" $200.00 each |
| Nancy & AEBM mixed media collage 6"x 4" $200.00 |
| Patty with Cassidy & Ripley mixed media collage 8"x 10" SOLD |
| Gene Nora & Olive Ann silver point & mixed media collage 8"x 10" $400.00 |
