October 27, 2004

Dawson shows nose for art

World War II plane nose art serves as muse for aspiring Traverse City artist

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

       Fascinated by the values, traditions and stories of World War II, Jim Dawson is on an artistic journey into nose art.
      The adornments of the front of World War II planes flown and crewed by young men are as varied as the life stories behind the painters.
      "There's a lot of good stories on the side of these airplanes," said Dawson, who works for the Michigan Department of Corrections at the Pugsley Correctional Facility.
      "It was the historical value of it, you know these guys go over at 20 years of age," he added. "They leave their wives and girlfriends back home and a lot of times they named their planes after their hometown or girlfriend."
      The city resident and new artist just sold his first work - and the only piece he has ever done - at the Ignorant Art Show held Saturday evening at the Johnson Building. The proceeds from Dawson's "Git R Done" will bring the Boys and Girls Club of Grand Traverse $750 closer to a new gym floor.
      His piece sold within the first half hour of the show and Dawson is still assimilating his status as a paid artist.
      "It was amazing, I literally couldn't believe it," recalled Dawson, who is also a member of the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Grand Traverse.
      Dawson's painting is a compilation of the many designs that have graced the P-38s, P-51s and the many other fighter and transport planes of the era. His canvas was a 4-foot by 5-foot sheet of aluminum, complete with rivets, to give it an authentic look and feel.
      "I pulled a little bit from each piece that caught my eye and used it as reference," said Dawson, who has completed extensive research on nose art. "So many pieces have the same design and look to them."
      Dawson's quest for information and authenticity has also created a new friendship. He connected with Ray and Marge Maynard of Lake Ann this year, bonding quickly with the World War II veteran and former pilot and his wife of 54 years. A first lieutenant, Ray served in the European theater and flew a B-24A Liberator in 30 combat missions. One plane stood out in the couple's memory: Sultry Sue.
      "Ray did many missions in Sultry Sue and Jim is very interested in finding a picture of that plane," said Marge Maynard of the so-far-unsuccessful attempt to find this piece of nose art.
      The Maynards did see that plane once not long after the war. They were engaged and out for a drive with his parents around Willow Run airport when Ray spotted it on the tarmac. Ray had the family pull over and get out for a closer look.
      "He showed his ID and they opened the gates and let us come in and look at it," recalled Marge Maynard. "He showed us the flak marks."
      Dawson and the Maynards connected thanks to Susan McQuaid, director of volunteer partnerships with the United Way of Northwest Michigan. Dawson contacted her when he learned of the Veteran's History Project, hoping to find pilots with nose art stories.
      Listening to Ray's accounts of his pilot days and searching for others has heightened his interest in the era, especially as represented by nose art.
      "I'm interested in nose art partially because of what goes along with it, sitting down and hearing the stories and what they went through," Dawson said. "It's a living history book."