ERNIE BOYETTE
Ernie was born to poor parents on a sweet potato farm in Green Cove Springs, Florida. The family raised chickens, rabbits and agriculural foods. The last of seven children, his father died when he was two years old. Growing up, Ernie always helped his mother and encouraged her in her self-taught wildlife painting. When she passed away in 1985, she left him her art supplies and some blank canvasses.
Bored with a job he disliked, he decided to figure out how to paint one night in 1986. He pulled out his mom's "art stuff" and started. Never having an art lesson in life other than what he was taught in public school, Ernie did about ten paintings over the next several years. Trained in marketing, in June 1991, he decided to try art as a business. Convinced he had talent, he swore he would be making his living from his artwork, writing and photography.
Not knowing what he wanted to paint, he liked airplanes and military so he tried that. He started painting one airplane after another. In the spring of 1993, he received his first commission from an F-18 Squadron stationed at Cecil Field, Jacksonville, Florida. Commander John "Lites" Leenhouts employed him to do a black and white Limited Edition of their squadron aircraft.
In 1994 he started his series "Famous American Aviators". His first prints were his heroes, George Gay and Robert "Bob" Scott. Between January 1991 and December 2000 he painted no less than 150 paintings. From March 1993 to September 2000 he published 42 Limited Edition prints along with 36 poster prints. In the fall of 2002 he was commissioned by Cook Cleland's family to paint all three of the F2G Corsair racers that he flew in the late 1940's at the Ohio Air Races. Cook won the Thompson Trophy in 1947 and 1949. Ernie had worked with Cook in 1997 with a print of the SBD dive-bomber he flew in WWII.
In March of 2003 Ernie was officially knighted as a “Knight of Vision” for his efforts in telling the stories of Great britain's famous aviators. Sir Ernie Hamilton Boyette now signs all his original paintings as Sir Hamilton.
His artwork is now marketed nationwide in aviation museum gift shops including the Smithsonian. In November of 2006 his artwork was selected by the new Pearl Harbor Museum, Hawaii, to be sold in their gift shop. Ernie's artwork has also appeared in the Aviation History magazine and his prints are marketed worldwide.
Ernie Boyette S/N Limited Edition Print "SB2C Divebomber pilot Harold Buell"
Limited Edition 12" by 18" Print Signed and numbered by the artist and co-signed by SB2C Divebomber pilot Harold Buell
Harold "Hal" Buell was born on November 4, 1919 in Keokuk, Iowa, the only son of Waldo and Gertrude Buell. Orphaned at age four, he was reared in Iowa and attended Parsons College in Fairfield Iowa.
He began flying at Parsons in the fall of 1939 as part of a government civilian pilot training program. Wishing to continue flying as a career, he realized that military flight training was the best way to go and joined the Naval Aviation Cadet program in January 1941.
Commissioned an Ensign with Wings of Gold a month before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Harold was assigned to VS-5 on the Yorktown arriving only two weeks before the Battle of the Coral Sea where he flew scouting missions. At Midway he flew scouting missions off the Saratoga. Buell’s squadron was then assigned to the Enterprise for the Battle of Guadalcanal. In the Battle of Eastern Solomon’s, the Enterprise was badly damaged and Hal, as a part of an eleven-plane group, landed on Henderson Field, Guadalcanal staying to fight daily with the Marines there for a month during the bloody siege of that island.
Back on the Enterprise in a new squadron, VB-10, Harold participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz, and in November, defense of Guadalcanal before returning to the States for rest and reassignment in mid-1943.
Assigned to VB-2 based on Hornet, Buell returned to combat in March 1944. As leader of his own division of six planes he called "Buell and Company", they began a period of destruction of enemy ships and shore targets; it wasn’t long before Admiral Jocko Clark was calling on "Buell and Company" to take out especially tough Japanese targets, both ashore and afloat. Historians have told Hal that "Buell and Company" sank more enemy tonnage than any other six-plane group in the Navy.
On June 20, 1944 flying Helldiver number 48, Buell led his group off the Hornet to attack a Japanese carrier task force west of the Marianas. As the enemy carriers were over 300 miles away, well outside of normal strike range, chances of making it back aboard in the dark with a fuel shortage were slim. Arriving over the main Japanese force, Hal requested permission for "Buell and Company" to attack the Japanese carrier, Zuikaku. The large carrier was cruising in an eleven-ship formation 15,000 feet below. At 12,000 feet, the antiaircraft fire was so intense, he was aware that he might not make it through it. With his dive brakes already fully extended, he closed them causing his Helldiver to literally fall out of the sky toward the target below. Harold knew that the brakes might not reopen and thus he would not be able to pull out of his dive! With the Zuikaku growing larger every second in his sights, Harold was now out of the antiaircraft pattern. He reached down and pulled the lever to reopen the dive brakes. By the grace of God they opened! The Zuikaku was turning desperately to avoid the attacking Helldivers but Hal carefully followed it in his dive and fired his bombs at point blank range followed by his group. Several hits were made on the carrier with two of the three bombs of Hal's finding their target. While pulling out of his dive Hal was hit by AA fire in the right wing which ripped open a large hole; fragments of the shell hit Hal in the back, causing a minor wound. Although severely damaged, he returned to Task Force 58 in darkness and crashed on the Lexington.
Hal Buell had more actual combat time with VS-5, VB-10 and VB-2 based on the Yorktown, Saratoga, Enterprise, and Hornet than any other dive-bomber pilot in the Pacific War with Japan. He participated in sixteen battles, raids, and invasions during three war cruises and a Guadalcanal combat tour with the Cactus Air Force.
He was decorated over twenty times including the Navy Cross, Silver Star, three Distinguished Flying Crosses, eleven Air medals, two Purple Hearts, four Presidential Unit Citations, and the Navy Unit Commendations.
Harold Buell retired from the Navy as Commander with 21 years service. He then earned three college degrees including a Ph.D. from Florida State University. He retired again after a 20-year second career in Florida mental health work, college administration and teaching.
All artwork is subject to availability at time of order. Although seller strives to remain currrent as to inventory, seller reserves the right to cancel a sale if item is no longer available at time of purchase.
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