William S. Phillips grew up loving aviation and art but never thought he could make either his livelihood. At college he majored in criminology and had been accepted into law school when four of his paintings were sold at an airport restaurant. That was all the encouragement Phillips needed to begin his career as a fine art painter. After one of his paintings was presented to King Hussein of Jordan, Phillips was commissioned by the Royal Jordanian Air Force and given full access to their aircraft and the countrys archaeological sites. For this commission, he developed sixteen major paintings, many of which now hang in the Royal Jordanian Air Force Museum in Amman. The Smithsonian Institutions National Air and Space Museum presented a one-man show of Phillips work in 1986; he is one of only a few artists to have been so honored. The show proved to be so popular that it traveled for four years to other museums all over the country. In 1988, Phillips was chosen to be a Navy combat artist and was allowed to view naval operations in the Persian Gulf. He worked from ten different ships, gaining the perspective he needed to portray patrolling aircraft with accuracy and drama. For his outstanding efforts, the artist was awarded the Navys Meritorious Public Service Award and the Air Force Sergeants Associations Americanism Medal. In 1991, three of Phillips works were chosen as part of the top 100 in Art for the Parks, the prestigious annual fund-raiser for the National Parks Service, and one painting received the Art History Award from the National Parks Foundation. Bill Phillips is now the aviation artist of choice for many American heroes. Congressional Medal of Honor recipients Joe Foss and Jimmy Doolittle are just two of the legends who have countersigned Phillips fine art prints. The full range of the artists work is limited only by the sky. The historical subjects, I research, Phillips says. The contemporary subjects, I live.