The Artistry of Tom Kalina - specialising in Airliner Art.......

Now here's a chap who is a firm believer in the saying 'you can never have too much of a good thing'..!


Tom Kalina, one of the most talented people I have known; not only was he the pilot of one of my most favourite flying boats - the gorgeous Sikorsky S-38 'Carnauba' replica (see SEAWINGS for a complete walk-round of her, also from Tom) - but he is also a very skilled scale modeler. And how many of us get to place their model on the bow of the actual flying boat type to take a picture..?

Tom's model is the 1/72 scale Czech Master Resin kit finished as NC-4V “Molokai” of Inter-Island Airways of Hawaii. 

But if that was not enough, just take a look at these paintings. Tom just happens to be a very skilled and talented aviation artist, something I was not aware of until I had a discussion with him and his aviation-minded brother - and long-time contributor to SEAWINGS - Tim Kalina.

Tom has a view of the sky that most artists don't have. He's been 'up there' for many, many hours flying around and where that stands out (for me) is in the cloud and sky aspects of his paintings. They are so realistic, and coupled with his attention to detail on the subject aircraft itself, make for an overall painting that stands out from the crowd.

For me, I find that a lot of people 'think' they can paint aircraft in flight, however I can number on the fingers of my hands those that actually accomplish the task to a point where there is nothing at all to criticise; the painting becomes at one with the subject and the synergy between the sky, the subject and my eyesight is more or less perfect.

I personally think that there are no more than a dozen or so aviation artists in the world that can achieve that perfection in oils and I would place Tom as one of that very talented circle. He has quite rightly, won several awards for his work and whilst the main theme is airliner based there exist within his prints some really nice ones featuring flying boats, and no doubt in the future there may be more (hint, hint!) And here is his latest work: just take a look at this - incredible...!

For a closer look, pay a visit to his website and take a look at the whole range. You may not be an airliner fan but you cannot fail to be impressed as I was, at the super high-quality on display there. The prints are priced very reasonably given their size and quality and would certainly look good framed on any aviation enthusiasts wall. Click here to go to Toms website.


Keep up the great work, Tom....!


Regards, SEAWINGS