Canadian Aerospace Artists Association Gallery - Gallery

*Avi Barzel*
	Avi Barzel is a Toronto illustrator and portrait artist who grew up in Eastern and Central Europe, where he studied art from an early age. In Prague, he was schooled in Social Realism, the propaganda art styles glorifying communism, industry and the working class, but in Vienna he discovered and fell in love with the modernist movements, especially the surrealist Wiener Schule/Vienna School movement, to the disappointment of some of his more traditionalist art instructors. Avi is a graduate of Toronto's Central Technical School's Visual Arts programme and studied European and Jewish history at York University and the University of Toronto. Avi was the lead author, illustrator and page designer of the first Canadian textbook on brick and stone masonry technology. In his more recent illustration and portrait work, he has been combining traditional media, mainly acrylics, watercolours, tempera and oils with digital media.
Avi's aviation art can be viewed at http://avibarzel.crevado.com/aviation-art

	UK Bound by Avi Barzel Canadair CL-13 Sabres of 434 Squadron on their way to the UK for disposal. After a Department of National Defense photo, via James Craik and silverhawkauthor.com. Acrylic on glass and digital media, 2020
	Lidya Litvyak by Avi Barzel The famed Soviet-Jewish fighter pilot, ace, and recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union medal. Her story and that of the other Soviet women pilots, such as the Night Witches, are worth looking up. After archival photographs. Mixed Media, 2019, 2020
	On Guard For Thee by Avi Barzel A Canadian servicewoman guarding one of the first CF-18s at the CFB Cold Lake, Alberta in 2014. The illustration is a composite of National Defense photos, 2009 and 2014. Watercolour on paper and Digital Media, 2020
	Titanium Girl by Avi Barzel A whimsical, "aerospace-surrealist" sketch in homage of our daughter, our Titanium Girl, who aced her final high school exams in the midst of challenging circumstances. The two sitting SR-71 Blackbirds and most likely the planned SR-72, shown in flight, are titanium-clad, to bear the heat at Mach 3 speeds. The wandering skunk in the mid-ground is a salute to the designers of the famous Lockheed Skunkworks. After a selfie, just after her last exam, by Elizabeth; a photo of two SR-71s and an artist's concept illustration of the SR-72 by Lockheed Martin. Mixed Media, 2020
	The Tuskegee Heroes by Avi Barzel Members of the segregated, all-Black 332nd Squadron, the "Red Tails" of WWII. From a monochrome photo by Toni Frisell and a colour photo of a P-51C Mustang by the Commemorative Airforce. Mixed Traditional and Digital Media, 2019, 2020
	The Mighty One by Avi Barzel Lockheed-Martin's F-35 getting a charge. Happy Israeli pilots, who were the first to use it in combat, have dubbed this incredible beast the Adir, the Mighty One. After a photo by Lockheed-Martin. Mixed media: Watercolour, pencil and digital media, 2020
	The Commander and His Kitty by Avi Barzel Wing Commander John P. Bell of 439 Squadron in the cockpit of his Canadair CL-13 Sabre with the squadron's mascot "Fang" in August of 1962. After a Department of National Defense photo, via James Craik, silverhawkauthor.com. Acrylic on glass and digital media, 2020
	The Pickerings by Avi Barzel Mr Tony Pickering with his wife, Chris, in front of a Hurricane at the UK Airshow in Dunsford. A hero of the Battle of Britain, Mr Pickering passed away in 2016 at the age of 95. Watercolour on paper and digital media, 2020
	Sardinian Sunburn by Avi Barzel Canadian servicemen loading the .50 calibre machine guns on a Canadair CL-13 Sabre in Decomomanny, Sardinia, 1961. After a Department of National Defense photo, via James Craik, silverhawkauthor.com Acrylic on card stock and digital media, 2020
	Avian Heroes by Avi Barzel On December 2, 1943, Winkie, and pigeons named Tyke and White Vision were awarded the first-ever Dickin medals for rescuing an air force crew during World War II. Pictured is Canadian airman and Avro Lancaster radio operator, S. Jess, wireless operator of an Avro Lancaster bomber at Waddington, Lincolnshire, UK, with two pigeon boxes. Homing pigeons served as a means of communication in the event of a crash, ditching or radio failure. Acrylic on paper and digital media, 2020
	Bristols Over Antwerp by Avi Barzel Imagined illustration of the costly bombing of Antwerp with the troublesome Bristol-Blenheims of UK's 82 Squadron in 1940. After archival photos in the Bodleian Library. Mixed media; traditional and digital, 2020
	Feeding Time by Avi Barzel RCAF Canadair CL-13 Sabres of the No.1 Air Division RCAF, refueling for a NATO competition. After an RCAF photo at silverhawkauthor.com. Mixed media; digital and acrylic. Maximum print size, 80 x 50 inches. 2021
	Iconic Walk by Avi Barzel Flying Officer J.S. Randle of 422 Squadron on an iconic fighter pilot stroll-away from his Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk 5. After a DND Photo via James Craik at silverhawkauthor.com. Mixed media; digital and acrylic. Maximum print size, 60 x 30 ins inches. 2021
	Blue Lanc by Avi Barzel A fanciful rendering of an Avro Lancaster 683 Mk.X that started as a quick conventional study and got...a bit bigger and much stranger. In World War II RCAF Lancs served mostly as night bombers and after the War continued to serve in Canada, as late as 1965, in maritime patrol, photo survey, search-and-rescue, and navigator training. After a photo by the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, hosted on ingeniumcanada.org.
	Zelenskyy by Avi Barzel Mixed media; digital and acrylic. 2022