Hi there,
 I would like to send a belated ' Happy New Year ' to all at ' SWA ' and a special thank you as you colluded with my wife on ' Philip West’s ' magnificent Primary Target print as I had been wondering if I would ever get one. The print is in excellent condition and one of my all-time favourites I have long admired Philips work but have never been in a position to obtain them but now that the daughter has nearly finished school let the floodgates open!

  All artists have a defining print and I think this has to be the one for Philip he just gets better and better. Anyway many thanks for all your efforts and stealth between yourself and my wife you truly are a supplier of the finest quality and expertise along with customer care and discretion at all times that all art supplier should adhere to, keep up the good work and I look forward to doing business again (That is unless you and the wife have other ideas.) again my apologies for the late praise.

Kind regards Geoff Mcaviney.

A DAY TO REMEMBER

Would you like to meet and listen to talks by:

Flt. Lt. Geoff Wellum DFC. Former Battle of Britain pilot, veteran of the Malta Campaign and now best-selling author.

Captain Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown RN whose test-flying career included a world record 487 basic types of aircraft and a world record 2,407 aircraft carrier landings in fixed-wing aircraft. Name a German WW2 aircraft and Eric will not only have flown it, he will also be able to describe to you every bit of it in great detail!

Both men gave sell-out talks for us last year and are back by popular request; if you joined us then, you will know how fantastic their talks were. If you missed them, I’d go so far as to say this is probably going to be your last ever chance to listen to two of the most enthralling talks you could ever wish to hear.

Postponed from our last event due to family health problems and an added bonus for us this time is, we are being joined by Flt. Lt. Rusty Waughman DFC, former 101 Special Duties Sqn. Lancaster pilot. If you don’t already know, 101 Sqn. was tasked with the most dangerous of all missions, escorting other bombers and jamming the radar between German fighter pilots and ground control. 101 Sqn lost more aircraft than any other in Bomber Command.

Three amazing men. Three thrilling talks. Just 150 seats at £7.50 each.
Will you be one of the lucky ones to join us on 20th April 2008 at The Hilton Hotel, Bagshot Road, Bracknell RG12 0QJ Tel: 01344 424801. Coming a long way? If you mention this event the hotel has a B&B rate of only £65 per room.

Tickets can either be ordered online at www.swafineart.com or by post:
SWA FINE ART, PO BOX 3915, BATH BA1 0BD or Telephone 01225 444929
– but to avoid disappointment, please do not delay. Tickets and further details will be sent one week before the event. Doors open 10.00am and the event will end by 4pm. All previous events have sold out. Prints, paintings and books will be on sale all day.

Guest speakers details can be found below.

Order online here:

TICKETS AT £7.50 each

Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC joined the RAF with a Short Service Commission in August 1939.  He joined92 Squadron flying Spitfires in June 1940 at the time of Dunkirk. He flew throughout the Battle of Britain, later completing over 50 fighter sweeps and escorts over northern France and Belgium until August 1941.  He then joined 65 Squadron as Flight Commander in March 1942 operating over northern France and flew off Aircraft Carrier Furious on operation Pedestal, to Malta. (Geoff was a Flt. Lt. during “Operation Pedestal”) He returned to the UK as a test pilot Gloster Aircraft and finished the war as a Pilot Attack Instructor. Geoff was credited with three destroyed, four probables and several damaged and was awarded the DFC in July 1941.

Geoff’s Best Selling book “First Light”, recalling his wartime flying career, is highly recommended by SWA Fine Art. To give you some idea of the popularity of this book, sales to date have exceeded 500,000 copies! Copies to buy and have signed by Geoff will be available on the day.

Captain Eric Brown R.N. had a 31-year career in the Royal Navy, and is the Fleet Air Arm’s most decorated pilot. After a distinguished operational tour flying from Britain’s first escort carrier, he was selected as a test pilot in 1942 and then served at A&AEE Boscombe Down before being appointed as Chief Naval Test Pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, where he remained for six years. During that time he commanded the Enemy Aircraft Flight, the High Speed Flight and finally the prestigious Aerodynamics Flight.

During the Korean War he served as a test pilot at the US Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River for two years. While in his appointment as Head of the British Naval Air Mission to Germany from 1957-60 he was seconded to the Focke-Wulf Co. for a spell as their test pilot.

In his test-flying career he has flown a world record 487 basic types of aircraft, and made a world record 2,407 aircraft carrier landings in fixed-wing aircraft. He is a past President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and a Master Pilot of Russia. In 1995 he was inducted into the US Navy’s Carrier Aviation Test Pilot Hall of Honor, the only non-American to have received this accolade.

Flt Lt Russell (Rusty) Waughman DFC, AFC, volunteered for the RAF in 1941. After training in Canada, he qualified as a heavy bomber pilot. In November 1943 he was posted to No 101(Special Duties) Squadron at Ludford Magna. He completed a tour of operations, which began during the ‘Battle of Berlin’, where they did several operations. Surviving a mid-air collision, only to write the aircraft off on landing, ‘Rusty’ and his crew on a subsequent flight had a miraculous escape when their aircraft was blown upside down, over the target, at Mailly-le-Camp; they also survived the Nuremberg raid on 30th March 1944, when 97 aircraft were lost – including about one quarter of 101 sqn strength that night.

All speakers’ attendance on the day will be subject to their good health

Young Brave & Beautiful

by Tania Szabó

 A book to celebrate female war heroism

Violette Szabó GC, a Special Operations Executive agent of World War II, of whom Odette Churchill said "she was the bravest of us all", is finally and uniquely to have her story told by her daughter, Tania, her daughter.

The book, at all times stirring and, at times, heart-rending, brings to life with wonderful insight andminute description of what it was like for the

average Frenchman and woman to live under the oppressive yoke of the German Gestapo and their willing acolytes, the French Milice, as well as the two missions of Tania's mother Violette in Nazi controlled France.

Widowed at the age of 21, after the death of her husband Adjudant-chef Etienne, an officer in the French Foreign Legion, who was killed in action at the battle of El Alamein, she volunteered and was accepted as a special agent into the Special Operations Executive (SOE)

Captured by the Germans shortly after D Day, her experiences in being interrogated, shuttled and incarcerated in various camps is vividly told, finally ending at the age of 23 with her execution at the notorious Ravensbrück concentration camp.

Her bravery brought her French and British military honours including the George Cross awarded to her posthumously and presented to Tania at Buckingham Palace, at the age of 4, by King George VI.
  
For further details and information visit: www.jerseywartunnels.com

Spitfire Magazine

is a specialist international magazine produced by the Spitfire Society and is distributed on subscription twice a year.  Its readership includes Society Members, active and retired aviation personnel, aviation trade,Spitfire/Classic Aviation rebuild industry, students and teachers, organisers of air displays, artists and art dealers, publishers of books, recorded music and videos, enthusiasts, and historians.  It includes regular in-depth information researched by professionals, quality colour
photographs, technical information, and up-to-date information on aviation events.  For subscription details please contact http://www.spitfiresociety.demon.co.uk/  
Highly Recommended.

Purely Nostalgia
Online Nostalgia/Transport Monthly Magazine - online

This monthly online free magazine has an ever-growing readership of the nostalgia and transport genre. To take a look at what they do go to: www.purelynostalgia.co.uk

Frequently Asked questions

You may find the following information of help when selecting the print(s) of your choice. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email us.

Limited Eition Prints
A predetermined number of prints published from an original piece of art. The quantity of prints published can vary from edition to edition and publisher to publisher. Typically, an edition will be 500 or less. The fewer there are the rarer the print. Each print is individually numbered. e.g. 15/850

The signature.
Every limited edition print bears the unique signature of the artist. This signature is the artist’s seal of approval that the print is a faithful and accurate reproduction of his original painting. Over the years collectors have demonstrated their enthusiasm for prints countersigned by pilots and/or crew members. Wherever possible we try to accommodate this preference, but sometimes it is either impractical or prohibitively expensive. e.g. when the relevant people live overseas.

Remarque
This is a small original drawing or sketch made by the artist in the lower white margin/border of the print, either to the right or left of the print title and caption. Generally, an artist would not Remarque more than 50 prints in an edition, each one of which attracts a premium price because of its uniqueness. i.e. no two drawings will ever be exactly the same. Remarqued prints tend to be the most valuable and prized of any edition.

Two examples of Stephen Brown’s Remarques.

Three examples of Philip West’s Remarques.

Artist Proofs
These are published in addition to the main edition and signed as Artist Proof or A/P. Traditionally these prints are reserved for the artist’s personal use, and usually do not exceed more than 10% of any one edition. Nowadays, most publishers and artists make this allocation available to collectors at a slight premium.

Paper quality
We use 300-gram (350 gram since June 2003) acid free paper of the finest quality (in accordance with ISO 9706), manufactured using Elemental Chlorine Free Pulps and vegetable based lightfast inks not less than BW7 on the lightfast scale Printing process. We use four-colour Offset Lithography, the most widely used form of printing today.

Secondary Market
Once an edition has sold out, the prints normally begin to attract a higher value, based on how quickly the edition sold out and the present demand for the print in question. Collectors will sometimes offer such prints for sale through an advertisement at a price they feel the print is now worth; this is known as the ‘Secondary Market’. It is always worth giving the artist’s publisher a call to see if they might know where you can find a specific print.

Sold Out
When this term is used by SWA Fine Art Publishers it indicates we have sold out of that particular print. It is possible, though, that one of our retailers or distributors may still have a copy in stock and we will always be happy to put you in touch with the one nearest you. Please contact us in the first instance.

Framing / Mounting
We recommend that prints are “Conservation Mounted.” This will help preserve the life as well as the value of your limited edition print. If you take your print to a framer be sure to take your time over the selection of both the mount and frame, keeping in mind the décor of the room where you propose to hang the picture. Cost’s vary enormously depending on the size of the print, quality of frame chose, your location, etc. For one of our standard sized prints the frame could cost upward of £50. Due to the difficulty in shipping framed pictures we regret we are unable to provide prints already framed.

US$ etc prices.
Due to the constant change in exchange rates we are gradually removing US$ prices from our web site. If yiou would like to find out how much one of our prints is in your local currency you might like to use this web site for
a quick and easy comparison.  http://www.xe.com/ucc/