Aviation art: John Page

Air Classics, Oct 2000 by Thompson, Jim

THIS ARTIST SPECIALIZES IN CAPTURING MOTION IN HIS ART WORK

John Page was born in Sussex, England, during 1947. From the age of three, he was encouraged by his mother to draw and paint. By the age of ten, his first drawings of horses and portraits began to show his natural talent. At ten, John and his family emigrated to Canada where he won numerous prizes for his work. This culminated in one exhibit being hung in the Canadian National Exhibition Center in Toronto.

Upon returning to England, he went into engineering but maintained his love for art by joining a local art society. Encouraged by talented artist John Brangwyn, he went on to win prizes for his landscapes, Attracted to aircraft, John joined the Guild of Aviation Artists where he quickly became an associate member. It was not long before his paintings were at annual exhibitions in London. By the late 1980s, he won the coveted John Pooley Sword Award for a painting of a large landscape depicting hang gliders. Since receiving this award, John's success has gone from strength to strength with his paintings of aircraft being published in the Guild of Aviation Artists book Five Ages of Aviation. British Airways at Heathrow has two of John's paintings hanging in their executive boardroom. BA's Chairman Lord Marshall has commissioned John to complete a series of works for other international locations.

In 1995, John launched his first international limited edition print entitled V-1 Blast Inverts Tempests. "Bee" Beamont is the pilot who flew the aircraft in the painting. The Hawker Tempest Mk. V was the fastest propeller-driven fighter below 20,000 feet and was very successful in destroying Hitler's vengeance weapons. John comments, "The painting was created from a plastic 1/72nd scale model I built. I was inspired to do the painting after reading Wing Commander Roland Beamont's excellent book My Part in the Sky. He has an amazing background in aviation including flying Hurricanes in the Battle of France, becoming an ace during the Battle of Britain, test pilot, tank destroyer with Typhoons, and becoming a wing commander at the ripe old age of 23." Near the end of WWII, Roland became a POW. After the war, he was chief test pilot with British Aircraft Corporation and piloted the Canberra, Lightning, TSR.2, Jaguar, and the Tornado. He has also written twelve books on aviation.

With the Tempest, Beamont was extremely successful with low-level tactics on railways, airfields, and armor. The Tempests of No 150 Wing at Newchurch destroyed an amazing 632 V-1s.

On engaging a V-1, Roland recalled, "You see the cannon strikes on the buzz bomb and a few flashes. Then, suddenly, the whole sky goes black and red and you duck. Everyone who has blown up a winged bomb at short range finds himself on his back when he comes out the other side, probably because the aircraft goes through an area of complete vacuum, which turns the plane upside down. There is not much damage to the aircraft except for partly burnt off fabric on the rudder and elevator."

John's latest publication is from his painting of the first land vehicle to exceed the speed of sound, an event which took place in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada on 15 October 1997. Once again, the painting manages to capture all the motion and excitement of an historic event. John's prints and paintings may be purchased by contacting Charisma Fine Arts, POB 1568, Cochrane, Alberta, Canada T0L 0W0. Telephone (403) 851-2088.