Official 2013 EAA Oshkosh AirVenture Fly In Air Show Event T Shirt Design by Kimberleigh & Paul Gavin Gavin Arts

Official 2013 EAA Oshkosh AirVenture T-Shirt Design

The Official 2013 60th Anniversary EAA Oshkosh AirVenture Fly In Air Show Event T Shirt Design was created by the MCAS Miramar Air Show T-Shirt and Poster artists Kimberleigh & Paul Gavin who are Gavin Arts.  Paul displays his art at the Fisherman's Restaurant on the San Clemente Pier.  Kimberleigh is the fabric and T-shirt design genius.  The Gavin’s first aviation related co-creation was the 1993 MCAS El Toro AirShow and since then they have designed over 100 award winning event specific images for events including the MCAS Tustin LTA Blimp Hangar Open House, Chicago Air and Water Show, Joint Service Open House at Andrews AFB (now Joint Base Andrews), the Aerospace and Arizona Days at Davis-Monthan AFB, March ARB Air Show and the SanFrancisco, San Diego and New York City Fleet Weeks.  Kimberleigh also designs the Father Serra 300th Birthday California Missions Shirts and the Mission San Juan Capistrano Swallows Day Shirts and Posters.  This  2013 60th Anniversary EAA Oshkosh AirVenture Fly In Air Show Event T Shirt Design features classic EAA Aircraft including the B17 "Aluminum Overcast", 2013 AirVenture performers, an aircraft for each EAA category, and the Historic Pioneer Airport.

Support General Aviation and the EAA Scholarship program.  Order yours now!  

Paul will be at the 2013 EAA Oshkosh AirVenture July 29 - 30 to sign shirts.
Check back for more info.


 

San Clemente Coastal Commuters and Air Shows

Pelicans over the San Clemente Pier

All day multiple groups of Brown Pelicans have flown over the San Clemente Pier in their usual elegant and brilliantly fluctuating formations.  These “Coastal Commuters” are magnificent creatures and represent the best in flight.  They are always an “air show”;  as they pass in my mind I hear the roar of jet engines.

Coastal Commute

Speaking of aerial demonstrations, today's traditional Indy 500 military jet flyover was performed by civilian aircraft this year.
“Sequestration” mandated DOD budget cuts has grounded all military flight demos including the Thunderbirds & Blue Angels.

These cuts will also affect the MCAS Miramar Air Show with which we have been involved for years.  What’s happening for 2013?  Although the Blues won’t fly the base is still pressing forward to plan and execute the show.  The final decision will be made in July.  As for the pelicans I’m glad they’re ignoring Sequestration memo.  Their budgets are in order.

The Start of Gavin Military Art, Design Support

Paul at four years old holding a model airplane.
His future trademark Ford F1 Pickup is behind him. 

Many have asked how we started supporting the military with our work.  It actually began before I was 3.  We lived in Sacramento near the flight path of civilian and military airports. Trying to draw airplanes flying overhead I still remember actually seeing a B36 and thinking how huge it was.

In 1957 we moved to OC.  I was four and what an “aircraft bonanza” it was!  We lived near both the Marine Corps Air Stations Tustin and El Toro.  MCAS Tustin, the Blimp Hangars (also know as LTA  - Lighter Than Air) was the Marine Corp's helicopter base, and MCAS El Toro was the fixed wing base.  I drew planes and helicopters for years.  Our neighbors were Marine Corps families.  There was an awareness of the Vietnam War that became clearer the older I got.  So did how poorly veterans were treated during and after the war. 

I loved the huge Blimp Hangars.  While painting Orange County landscapes in the late 1970's they and MCAS El Toro were prominent in the orchards and fields of the Irvine Ranch.  This led to paintings of the bases and supporting the Marines and events of MCAS Tustin, then the MCAS El Toro Air Shows and then military events across the country.   

Kimberleigh also grew up in Tustin with Marine Corps families and when we married in 1993 she joined me in doing art to support the military.  I married a girl that not only understood and supported the military but also one that drew airplanes and very well!

Marine Corps Air Station, Tustin - The Blimp Hangars - LTA - 1988

Did you ever go to the El Toro Air Show?  Did you know that it was the largest and most attended Military Air Show in the Country?  Do you miss it?  If so the Marines moved south and the MCAS Miramar Air Show happens in October each year.  (We also do that event design.)  Interested?  Check the official Miramar Air Show web site.