"A Good Night's Work" - James Dietz - Military Art

After graduation from Art Center College of Design in 1969, Jim began a successful career as a commercial illustrator in Los Angeles. The subject matter varied from automobiles to action scenes to romantic book covers. A steady flow of work from New York enabled the Dietz' to move to Seattle in 1978. It was at this time that he took his first concrete steps toward fulfilling his dream to specialize in aviation art, at that time an almost unheard of genre. Since then, aviation art has played an increasingly large part in his career. Jim Dietz's clients include Boeing, Bell Helicopter, Allison, and Flying Tigers, to name just a few.

Jim has also branched out into the fine arts field with his aviation art. A strong following has developed for his originals and a growing number of limited edition prints have introduced Jim's name to print collectors worldwide. Four of Jim's originals were put on display in the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Naval Aviation; one of the paintings was presented by the Navy League to then Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman. A regular contributor to the Air Force Art Program, Jim's work has been featured on the cover of AIR FORCE magazine.

Jim Dietz has been honored with several gold medals from the Los Angeles Society of Illustrators and has won Best in Show in three successive years in the EAA Aviation Art Show. In 1988, at the second American Society of Aviation Artists forum, Jim was awarded the "People's Choice Award" for his painting selected by forum attendees. Major showings of Dietz's originals have recently been held at the EAA Museum and the San Diego Air Museum. His work is found in a number of private and corporate collections.

James Dietz Signed & Numbered Limited Edition Print "A Good Night's Work"

“A Good Night’s Work” – This print of 11th ACR Troopers at the break of dawn processing detainees and uncovering a cache of munitions is dedicated to the Troopers serving with the 11th ACR who gave the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Iraqi Freedom III. The Troopers listed below represent the best ideals upon which freedom is founded: SPC Casey Laware, CPL Tyler Dickens, CPL Kevin Price, CPT Stephen Frank, CPT Ralph Harting III, SGT John Smith, SPC Bryan Barron, SSG Saburant Parker, SPC Daniel Varnado, CPL Audrey Lunsford, SGT Adrian Orosco, SSG Milton Rivera-Vargas, SPC Javier Villanueva, 1LT Robert Oneto-Sikorski, SGT Jacob Dones, SPC Brian Derks, SSG Luis Pena-Romero, SGT Travis Cooper, SGT David Murray, SGT Mark Maida, SFC Randy Collins.

In the Spring of 2004, Coalition Forces, led by the United States Military, were engaged in a vicious counter-insurgency fight in the newly liberated Iraq. Just a year earlier, the Coalition had invaded Iraq and crushed Saddam Hussein’s armies in historical proportions. Cessation of major combat operations had been declared only 43 days after the war began.

The mission to uproot Saddam Hussein’s ruling party was complete and Saddam himself in custody. The task of assisting Iraqis in the establishment of a stable government and rebuilding the country’s infrastructure and economy lay ahead. Elements inside of Iraq were vying for control and influence in the yet-to-be established government, and many subsets of these elements would use fear, threats, and violence to manipulate the citizens of Iraq to comply. The Coalition, as the liberators of Iraq, were inherently involved in the struggle for establishment of a democratically elected government.

It was behind this backdrop in the Spring of 2004 that the Soldiers of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment “Blackhorse” stationed at Fort Irwin and the National Training Center, California were ordered to relinquish their role as the trainers of soon-to-be combatants and begin their own training for future counter-insurgency operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III.

In June, 2004 the 58th Engineers deployed to Camp Victory near Baghdad International Airport and Camp Cuervo in Southeastern Baghdad. In January 2005, 1st and 2nd Squadrons as well as the Regimental Headquarters deployed to Iraq. 1st Squadron (Ironhorse) deployed to Camp Taji in Northern Baghdad and later moved to Camp Liberty near Baghdad International Airport. 2nd Squadron (Eaglehorse) deployed to Forward Operating Base Kalsu, 35 miles south of Baghdad. The Regimental Headquarters deployed to Camp Courage in Mosul taking on the role as Headquarters, Task Force Freedom and Multi-National Division North West (MND-NW). All units were deployed for approximately one year with the last elements of the Regiment returning home to Fort Irwin in February 2006.

The scene depicted in this breathtaking print is of a typical combat patrol conducting a cordon and search. Over the course of an evening, many of these cordon and search missions would be conducted. Planning for these missions would start as much as a month in advance to literally just hours prior to execution. On the night of the mission, a patrol could raid up to fifteen targets searching for suspected terrorists and hidden weapon caches. These operations often began in the late evening and ran into the early morning thus lending credence to the print’s title, “A Good Night’s Work.”

In the print we see a patrol leader reporting to his higher headquarters his current situation while in the HMMWV’s turret a gunner provides local security for Soldiers as they exploit a discovered weapons cache. To the patrol leader’s left is a Soldier removing an artillery shell from the discovered cache while to the immediate rear are four Soldiers with shovels looking into a hollowed out parcel of ground. Further back, we see four local nationals guarded by Blackhorse Troopers. This particular scene allows us to presume that these men were the suspected terrorists targeted by the evening’s operation and the cache found was their supply of weapons and munitions used in their attacks against Coalition Forces. To the far right, stands an M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle providing added security over the entire scene.

The entire scene depicts the difficulties faced and overcome by Blackhorse Troopers during their year long deployment yet resident in their demeanor is the calm professionalism and resolve in accomplishing the mission.

This 25 " by 15" image size print, limited to 250, is signed by the artist.

This print is also available as an Artist Proof (limited to 100) - $200

All Limited Edition prints are signed and numbered (S/N) by the artist. Limited Edition prints are restricted to a certain number. For example, if 400 prints are made from an original painting, once they’re gone, that’s it. There is no limit to the number of open edition prints of a particular painting. That’s why Limited Edition prints are more expensive — and more valuable to collectors — than "open" edition. Rare objects are more valuable.

An Artist’s Proof (AP), generally, is the first 5% - 10% of the Limited Edition prints that come off the press. This status is noted on the print. Collectors prefer APs because their value increases even more than a Limited Edition as time goes by.

All Limited Edition 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.