William Phillips

William Phillips

William Phillips - Painter of American Nostalgia. A small town is like a pocket mirror reflecting events taking place in the world at large. This is where history really happens, in the families of our neighbors, in our own living rooms, over the course of decades.

William Phillips chooses this intimate stage to chronicle America’s past and present in his nostalgic series of landscapes set in the idyllic small town of Phillips Bay. This charming village is everyone’s dream hometown, where we all want to raise our children and eventually retire. A town of church socials, band concerts and Fourth of July parades, where everyone is free to find their dreams and live them.

William Phillips painted his first nostalgic piece, a painting of an old car with a rumble seat crossing a wooden bridge, in 1975. The Phillips Bay series of landscape paintings was introduced in 1998, and since that time he’s explored the neighborhoods of Dogwood County in loving detail, from the 1930’s through the difficult days of WWII, to the present day. Each painting holds clues that reveal the era it depicts—look for vintage autos and boats, or the evolving infrastructure and landscaping of the village itself. Phillips’ fans know to look for an aircraft in his paintings; a friendly little nod to his other love, aviation.

He was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1945. His talent for drawing and his interest in aircraft both emerged at a very early age. As a boy of twelve he would go to Van Nuys airport and watch the California Air National Guard F-86’s take off and land; he rushed home to try and sketch their sleek lines in motion.

Phillips’ love of flight led him into the Air Force. He was stationed at a number of bases, including Tan Son Nhut, where he spent many afternoons sketching the various aircraft on the base and the beautiful clouds that gathered daily during the monsoon season. After discharge Phillips attended Southern Oregon University, majoring in law while living and working at a firestation as a student firefighter. He worked for the City of Ashland, Oregon, as a city firefighter for twelve years, then spent another four years as a wildland firefighter, continuing to hone his painting skills all the while.

The turning point came when four of his WWII aircraft paintings displayed in a restaurant sold. This gave him the impetus he’d been waiting for to put his new law degree aside and follow his heart to a full-time life as an artist.

Over the course of his amazingly successful thirty-year career in aviation art, Phillips’ thrilling portraits of military and civilian aircraft have placed him firmly at the top of this competitive field and garnered national recognition, including a one-man show at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. This retrospective show of over forty paintings subsequently toured the country to great acclaim.

Sadly, Phillips works so diligently on his art that he no longer has time to fly or to ride the Harley shovelhead in his garage. In these turbulent times, demand for his comforting Americana pieces is sky high. From the cherished classic, “Summer of ’45: And All Creation Rejoiced”, to his exciting new Lake Tahoe piece, "An Evening to Remember at Thunderbird Lodge", you’ll want to pick out your own favorite neighborhood in Phillips Bay and move right in.

William Phillips lives in Ashland, Oregon, with his wife, Kristy, Noah the Sheltie, Victor the cat and a black bear that often visits about breakfast time and has been known to make himself comfortable sitting on the garden bench on the lawn…

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View New Releases, Books, Rare Pieces Available, Limited Editions, Open Edition Prints, Rare Pieces

New Releases

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Bound for Home New Release $ 225.00

Toward the Setting Sun $ 395.00

Dauntless Against a Rising Sun $ 1250.00

Limited Editions

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Accompaniment to the Symphony of Spring $ Multiple Options	Afternoon Departure at Stoney Point Light $ 395.00	Among the Columns of Thor $ 295.00
And The Light Shall Prevail $ 195.00	Apple Creek Yacht Club $ Multiple Options	Best Seat in the House $ Multiple Options
Cape Neddick Dawn $ 195.00	Channel Dawn $ 225.00	Chasing the Daylight (Canvas) $ 850.00
Christmas Eve at the Ahwahnee $ 450.00	Christmas Leave, When Dreams Come True $ 595.00	Christmas on the Eighth $ 235.00
Christmas Traditions at Watchman Hill Inn $ 450.00	Courtyard $ 165.00	December of 45 $ 195.00
Denali Summer $ 725.00	Early Morning Visitors $ 195.00	First Boots on the Ground $ Multiple Options
Fish Tales at Beaver Camp $ 525.00	Give Us This Day $ Multiple Options	Guardian at the Gate $ 495.00
Hill Country Homecoming $ 195.00	Ill Hold You in My Dreams $ Multiple Options	Into the Arms of the Dragon $ Multiple Options
Late Season, Block Island $ 550.00	Moonwatchers $ 795.00	New Sound in an Ancient Canyon $ 725.00
Out of the Squall Line $ 850.00	Phantom Thunder $ Multiple Options	Point Bonita: The Last Light $ 185.00
Pride of Arizona $ 225.00	Reflections $ 495.00	Revelation $ Multiple Options
Sleigh Ride at Apple Creek $ Multiple Options	Summer of 45 $ Multiple Options	The Heavens Proclaim His Glory $ Multiple Options
The Tender Cares of Autumn $ Multiple Options	Westbound: A Date with the General $ 1295.00	Winter Symphony $ 2450.00

Rare Pieces Available

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A Christmas Eve Delivery (Framed) $ 1095.00	An Evening to Remember $ 1200.00	An Evening to Remember (Framed) $ 1185.00
Evening Song (Framed) $ 2500.00	Heartland (Framed) $ Multiple Options	Rejoice (Framed) $ 3395.00
Storm Watchers (Framed) $ 1095.00	Sunset Sentinel (Framed) $ 1325.00

Open Edition Prints

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A Prayer for My Brother $ 70.00

Books

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Into the Sunlit Splendor $ 85.00

The Art of William S. Phillips $ 60.00

Rare Pieces

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A Christmas Leave, When Dreams Come $ Call	A Prayer for My Brother $ Call	And Now The Trap $ Call
Caping the Tico $ Call	Chasing the Daylight $ Call	Christmas Eve at the Winchester Inn $ Call
Clipper at the Gate $ Call	Confrontation at Beachy Head $ Call	Dawn of the Liberators $ Call
DUSTOFF: Angels of Mercy $ Call	Evasive Action Over Sagami Bay $ Multiple Options	Fifty Miles Out $ Call
Going in Hot $ Call	Home is the Hunter $ Multiple Options	If Only in My Dreams $ Multiple Options
Into the Teeth of the Tiger $ Call	Intruder Outbound $ Call	Last Chance $ Call
Lethal Encounter $ Call	Low Pass for the Home Folks $ Call	Moonwatchers $ Call
No Flying Today $ Call	On Wings and a Prayer $ Call	Ploesti: Into the Fire and Fury $ Call
Return of the Red Gremlin $ Call	Spring Fling $ Call	Sunward We Climb $ Call
The Beginning of the End $ Call	The Dream Fulfilled, Where the Love $ Call	The Lightkeepers Gift $ Call
Thunder and Lightning $ Call	Time to Head Home $ Call	Victory Pass $ Call
When Prayers are Answered $ Call	Winter Visitors at Kringle Inn $ Call	Wintering Over $ Call