U.S. Air Force accepts painting from local artist

The Bristol Press

November 6, 2008 10:35 PM EST
By Sarah Wilson, Press Staff

PLYMOUTH — Plymouth native Raymond White recently had his 12th painting accepted into the U.S. Air Force art collection at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. attended by the Secretary of the Air Force and the Air Force chief of staff.

"It's quite a big deal to actually ever get a painting accepted," White said.

The honored painting, "Last Mission," portrays 1st Lt. Brian Boeding of the 103rd TFW from East Granby standing with his A-10 Thunderbolt before his last mission in Iraq.

The painting took White four years to complete.

White began creating military art during the Vietnam War, as a combat illustrator for the "Gunfighter Gazette."

White is the owner of Artworks Art Center, Home of the Nutmeg Artists, in Plymouth.

"My bread and butter is helping kids," White said.

He teaches painting and other art forms to youth with autism and attention deficit disorder.

Source

The painting was already published (and probably for first time ever) by the Hartford Courant on September 21, 2008:



... together with the following picture and info:



Raymond White of Plymouth was a combat illustrator for the Gunfighter Gazette, while in DaNang, Vietnam, and is a member of the United States Air Force art program. As a member of this program, he is one of only 150 eminent artists nationwide charged with the long tradition of recording, for posterity, the historical record of aviation history from World War I to present day.

His painting on the cover, "The Last Mission," depicts Lt. Brian Boeding of the Connecticut 103rd Fighter Wing with his A-10, serving in the Iraq War.

Note: This painting is related to the 103rd FW's Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment to the 387th Air Expeditionary Group at Prince Hassan Air Base (H5), Kingdom of Jordan. Depicted is A-10 81-0960. For more details about this deployment check my factfile A-10 Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom - Part II.

Ray's paintings can be viewed on the U.S. Air Force Art Collection Website in the following section

Ray's online bio