This image provides a better display of the print's actual coloring.
Hand signed and numbered by William S. Phillips
Pristine Limited Edition #729/950
From a sold out 1996 publication
Matted size: 38 5/8" x 22 1/8"
Double matted w/ Colonial Blue outer mat and white inner mat
In the artist's words: "This image is based on such an endearing true story that I thought it best, rather than talking about it, to write a fittingly holiday-oriented poem:
'Twas the week before Christmas of 1929,
And pilot Bill Wincapaw was running out of time.
With instruments out and fuel on low,
Wincapaw was relieved to see the lighthouse below.
Oriented anew, he flew from light to light,
Out of harm's way and safe for Christmas night.
When clear skies returned and a new day shone,
He retraced the course he had recently flown.
Approaching each lighthouse, flying close as he dared,
He dropped gifts by parachute, each carefully prepared,
To thank the lightkeepers who spared him that night
So Wincapaw could make just one more flight.'
"This true tale's still told - although the years pass by swift -
Of a grateful pilot, a 'Flying Santa' and 'The Lightkeeper's Gift.'"