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The Art of Living Collection

The Airman

The story behind the Airman . . .

In his own words...

"I yearned to be an aviator having grown-up under the landing paths of both Logan Airport and Squantum Naval Air Station in Boston, Massachusetts. I was accepted into the Aviation Cadet Program in 1943 and received my pilot wings and bars in 1944. I requested to be trained on the Martin B-26 Marauder (medium bomber) and upon completion of training was assigned to the 344th bomb group, Ninth Air Force. Flying out of bases in both France and Belgium, I completed 25 missions over Germany with my crews.

The self-portrait pencil sketch was drawn onto the cover of a donut box, circa 1945, at the age of 19. In off-duty moments between missions,

I loved dabbling in sketching and art, but have no professional training in the arts.

One of my favorite surfaces to paint on were the leather bomber jackets worn by the flight crew, and pure silk ties. I kept quite busy with special requests - each man wanting something unique for their own jacket, but especially, Bugs Bunny and the Vargas girls!"

. . . . . .

This "airman" is my very own father, Chuck Hoeft! After the war, he was hired by Eastern Airlines where he enjoyed a 37-year career piloting numerous aircraft, most recently, the Lockheed L-1011. He retired in 1985 at age 60, never once having lost his love for the thrill of flying.

Stamp Artist: Galilee Weldon (aka M T Cloud)

Hat Lady & Flowers+Lace

Stamp Artist: Barbara Hoeft, Massachusetts

Congratulations & ChampagneSm

Stamp Artist: Barbara Hoeft, Massachusetts

Background Stamp by: Stamp Out Cute

Woodblock Travel Stamps


Stamp Artist: Jackie Parkins, North Carolina

Ballroom Dancers

Art of Living

This is a birthday gift I made for my mother — a collage of all she does and loves in life: ballroom dancing, gardening, playing the piano, writing poetry and dressing elegantly.

Although this is an 8½x11" easel-backed matboard, covered with copper paper then embellished with personal finds, it is easily scalable to a smaller version using Ballroom Dancers on a card.

This project served as the inspiration for making the Ballroom Dancers, the musical notes, and Sounds of Earth rubber stamps.

What makes this solid stamp particularly interesting is that it can be embellished with fabric, glitter, glass beads, buttons or feathers to "dress up" the couple for any occasion.

This couple is dressed in "his and hers" vests custom-made for my parents to exhibit Latin dances. The fabric is leftover faux snakeskin; her sleeves are sheer bronze organza, and his vest is trimmed in black satin — all glued on.

Extra-fine glitter was used to trim the bottom of her skirt, and small pearl beads were used for earrings.

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