As I began looking for a quintessential war plane shape for a previous painting, the B-17 bomber, the famous Flying Fortress of World War II, was the plane I was most drawn to.  Its broad wings and swept tail were the elements that made the plane beautiful to me.  I decided to make a group of paintings using the B-17 that would be called “Sweethearts”; that title coming from the many bombers that were named for famous and beloved women.

I began to make close relationships between the aircraft and the female body.  Parts of the plane are named for parts of the body-nose, belly, waist; which made a beautiful connection in my mind.  The action of opening the bombay and “giving birth” to hundreds of airplane-like bombs seemed an organic, albeit violent, action.  She was a protector of the men she carried inside her.  She was known for toughness and a surprising ability to take incredible and multiple hits to her body and yet still return home to be patched up and returned to the sky like so many men who flew her.  And also like many men who flew her she would sometimes not return.  The idea of this "female" machine providing security for her male occupants and heroically fulfilling her duty seemed to be a rich metaphor for the trials and tribulations of life.