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The little four year old boy leaning on the Hamilton Standard
propeller of a
visiting Douglas Y1B-7 of the 7th Bomb Group's 31st Squadron, is
the artist
seen across the street from his home in May of 1933. Keith
Ferris was born
into the U. S. Army Air Corps, the son of a career Air Force
pilot who served
his country from 1925 through 1955. The artist grew up on
the grass flying
fields of the 1930s and matured on those of the 1940s in the
midst of the
massive effort that fielded the huge air forces that were to
bring down the Axis
Powers of World War Two. It never occurred to Keith that he
would never
serve as a pilot in the Air Force. While an aeronautical
engineering student
at Texas A&M, he moved to enter the Air Force as a
flying cadet. He found
that an allergy to some of the required inoculations had
effectively ended that
dream. He changed his career goals and, putting to work his life
long experience
drawing aircraft, he immediately joined the Air Force's Training Publications
Unit at Randolph AFB as a
civilian apprentice
artist.
Keith had chosen art as his way to stay close to the Air Force
and his beloved flying machines.
The dawn of his art career coincided with the 1947 establishment
of the United States Air Force
as a separate service. He left Civil Service to serve with Cassell Watkins Paul,
a civilian art studio
in St. Louis under contract with Air Force Publications. When
the Air Force ceased its outside publications contracts, Keith
moved to the New York market as a freelance artist to serve the
advertising, public relations and historical documentation needs
of airframe, engine and avionics manufacturers and their
advertising agencies, aviation trade publications, the military
and aviation museums. He continues to serve this clientele.
Becoming a member of the Society of Illustrators in
New York in 1960, Keith was introduced to its Air Force Art Program.
He has served on SI's Air Force Art Committee for most of the
years since. He
served on SI's Board of Directors as Government Services
Committee Chairman for over 15 years, as
SI's Executive Vice President for two years, and continues as
Honorary Government Services Chairman.
A 47 year veteran of the Air Force Art Program, Keith has
flown in and participated in the missions of
almost every jet aircraft type in the Air Force, and done so not
only in the United States, but in Europe,
the Atlantic, Pacific, Middle East, Southwest Asia, the Far
East, Southeast Asia, the Southwest Pacific
and Antarctica.
In addition to his administrative duties with the program, he
has donated an annual minimum of six
weeks of his time to the Air Force plus his 60 major paintings
in the Air Force Art
Collection.
His 25 foot high, by 75 foot wide B-17 mural and 20 foot
high, by 75 foot wide Jet Aviation mural in
the National Air and Space Museum, as well as a large
body of work in government collections and
in civilian hands, attest to the wisdom of his decision to
choose art as his way to stay near his airplanes. Please join us as we continue the adventure!
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All
images at KeithFerrisArt.com are covered by
Keith Ferris copyrights. Reproduction of images
by any means, without written permission, is
strictly prohibited. |
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