Two firsts:
Raymonde
&
Queen
Bess
mixed
media  
16"x12"
$500.00
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
Moya, Bessie & Peggy
mixed media on linen 20"x52.5" $1,250.00
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
Karen, Peggy, Sally, Susan &
Diane  mixed media 14"x 19"  
$500.00 SOLD

              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
Three Who Paved The Way:
Bessie
Coleman
ink on paper 8"x 8"
framed 20"x16" $300.00
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
Anonymous WAS a woman:
Louise,Bobbi,Bessie,Sharpie,Harriet,Patty,Ame
lia  mixed media 9"x18"  $500.00
Legacy-triptychPatty & Louise, Chrystal & Bessie, Suzanne & Amelia
mixed media on canvas 40"x 66"  $3,000.00
Counter
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