"Maj. R. Bruce Porter-Marine Night Fighter Ace"-Jim Laurier-Hellcat Art

Artist Jim Laurier is a native of New England, growing up in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil and throughout his life he has worked in many mediums creating work on a variety of subjects over the years. He attended Paier School of Art in Hamden, Connecticut from 1974-1978 and has been working professionally in the field of Fine Art and Illustration since graduating with honors from that school.

Jim prefers to work in oils on linen or canvas, with realism in his paintings being the goal. A long time aviation enthusiast and pilot, one of his favorite subjects is aircraft. He combines his love of history with his flying experiences to create some of the most realistic and historically accurate aviation paintings seen today. He is widely known for his technical accuracy and attention to detail, which have become the trademarks of his work.

Jim's paintings have been displayed at various museums, air bases, and art shows since 1992 including one man shows at The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia (2000) and The Franco- American Society in Manchester, New Hampshire (2001). He has art work hanging in The Pentagon and other work on permanent display at Military bases and from the Eastern U.S. to Hawaii.

Jim has won awards at juried art shows including two Par Excellence Awards from the Experimental Aircraft Association, an award from the U.S. Naval Air Museum, The Hooper Award for Editorial Excellence, and an award from the Simulflite Training Center in Dallas, Texas. Jim has also become a prolific illustrator of military subjects and his work can be seen in many books, magazines, and calendars.

As he moves into the future, Jim will continue to paint and illustrate military subjects, but he will also complete new work in different areas such as maritime art, wildlife and landscapes, and other subjects of his personal interest. He believes it is important to explore other themes to grow and excel as an artist. The challenge for an artist should be to consistently strive to improve his or her work and to always seek new knowledge towards that end.

Jim Laurier Signed & Numbered Limited Edition Print "Maj. R. Bruce Porter - Marine Night Fighter Ace"

Maj. R. Bruce Porter flew Grumman F6F-5N Hellcat night fighters in Squadron VMF-542N during the Battle of Okinawa. Equipped with a radome on the starboard wing, these Hellcats prowled the night sky searching for Japanese aircraft that were sent out to destroy American ships, airfields, and other installations. On the ground, U.S. radar stations would identify targets on the screen and vector the Hellcats towards them. The Hellcat's airborne radar was only really effective when they were within a couple miles of the target, so the ground radar controller would stay in communication with the Hellcats until the pilots were close enough to visually identify the Japanese aircraft. Usually, the exhaust flame from the Japanese plane would give them away and the Hellcat would move in extremely close and, still undetected, deliver a fatal burst of 20mm cannon fire. It took incredible flying skill and nerve to fly a night fighter, and only the very best pilots were selected to do this job.

Maj. Porter scored a very rare double night kill on one mission and became an ace. He is depicted climbing out of Yontan airfield on Okinawa for one of his night missions.

This 26" by 22-1/2" overall size print, limited to 550, is signed by the artist and co-signed by Marine ace Col. Bruce Porter.

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. If the Limited Edition is 400 s/n, there would be 20 -40 APs. Collectors prefer APs because their value increases even more than a Limited Edition as time goes by.

A remarque is a pencil drawing done in the white border area of an art print. The subject of the remarque can be decided by the print buyer or the artist. Each remarque is piece of original art which adds to the value of the print by making that particular print unique and exclusive from the rest of the prints in the edition.

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.