Duncan Aviation recently held a private unveiling, called a vernissage in the fine art world, of the exterior and interior completion of one of its company aircraft. The commissioned design was created by renowned artist Nancy Friedemann Sánchez, a Columbian-American contemporary artist who has held exhibitions across the world and is based in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her design was requested by Duncan Aviation Chairman Emeritus J. Robert Duncan and his wife Karen and brought to life on a company-owned Citation 560XLS through the aircraft artisans of Duncan Aviation’s Lincoln-based full-service maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility.
The Paint Design
The artwork of Friedemann Sánchez draws heavily on things women would historically paint, like flowers, lace, and birds. After one of Friedemann Sánchez’ art shows, Karen Duncan made the comment that it would be great to see some of her flowers on an aircraft, adding that she also liked Friedemann Sánchez’ birds and was especially fond of ravens.
“Working on a commissioned art piece is quite different from expressing yourself in a piece for a personal show,” Friedemann Sánchez’ says. “You want to please the client, so you really listen to their desires and preferences. This piece began as colonial flowers on black. Teri Nekuda helped tremendously with the application of the artwork to the aircraft. (With the required reflectant value on Citation aircraft), black couldn’t happen. And because the canvas was an aircraft, we couldn’t have a direct mirrorization of my work.”
Teri Nekuda, Completions Designer with Duncan Aviation, has been instrumental in designing Duncan Aviation’s other unique exterior paint schemes including an orange and yellow plaid Citation Mustang, an apple green Citation M2 with red, blue, and yellow paint splotches, and a red and black Learjet 35A that was nicknamed “Spiderman Lear.” When Duncan Aviation purchased the 560XLS, she knew the team would be challenged to push the design envelope even further.
