intheboatshed.net

Paintings by John P Benson - click on each for a larger photo.
The images that were here earlier are now linked to thumbnails below

John Prentis Benson - American Marine Artist, which comes out early in the New Year, will be the first sizeable book about an important artist who has only recently become recognised or even collectable.

The lack of interest in John P Benson is perhaps surprising, as he was the brother of the renowned American Impressionist, Frank Benson.

Overshadowed in his youth by his highly talented brother, John P Benson practised as an architect for many years before finally becoming a full-time working artist in his 50s.

Once established in his studio at Kittery, Maine, however, he was prolific and painted over 750 works between 1925 and his death in 1947.

Of these, only about 300 are known, which leaves 450 or so either in private hands and yet to be located, or destroyed. Many of Benson’s paintings are still to be found, and possible owners should know that they sell for up to $50,000 when they appear at auction.

Experts say that despite the family connection, Benson’s style was only moderately Impressionistic, and that his work also incorporated elements of Realism and Romanticism.

Benson was born in 1865 in Salem, Massachusetts and grew up a few streets away from the town’s seaport, which is said to have fascinated the young artist. Later in life he painted mainly contemporary and historical ships and boats, and seascapes, and his boats and ships are noted for their detail and accuracy, and his work is said to have influenced  current marine artists such as Geoff Hunt, who illustrated the covers of Patrick O’Brian’s well known novels.

I’d like to thank Bob Holtzman for sending me this story - many readers will know him as the editor of the weblog Indigenous Boats, but he’s also a freelance PR consultant, writer and editor. He’s clearly a diligent operator who understands his media, for he has clearly recognised that intheboatshed.net is very fond of a good painting!

For more on the artist and book, visit http://www.johnpbenson.org/

Thumbnail from Loch Broom Lives

Chris Perkins got in touch from the far North a few days ago to alert me to the existence of a website presenting old photos of life around Loch Broom in Scotland. The photos include many images of boats and ships, some of them quite old. Well worth a look, I’d say - Loch Broom Lives Image Library.

Thanks Chris!

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After gardening for much of the day, this evening I’ve spent a couple of happy hours tidying up and sorting out the plans for the intheboatshed.net Julie skiff.

So tan-tara! With an imaginary fanfare, tonight for the first time I offer you - a download of the finalised plans for the rowing-only version of the Julie 15ft 7in flat bottomed skiff for plywood stitch and glue construction, including my explanatory essay on her design and purpose, and notes on her construction.

She swallows up five sheets of ply, and for those those who like to think about these things, her design displacement and trimmed so that the water just kisses the transom, her wetted area is about 38sqft, with a prismatic coefficient of 0.55. Neither figure is outstanding, but not bad for a simple rowing boat like this. With a flat-bottomed skiff there’s no easy way to improve on either without making the boat much narrower on the bottom, with all that would entail.

I think she’s a sweet little boat and I’m very much looking forward to seeing some examples afloat. I still plan to develop a sailing rig, plans for a more traditional chine-log style construction, and I’m thinking also of both longer and shorter versions - the shorter will be aimed at creating a small easy to build skiff capable of being built in a British-style garage.

If you do build the Julie skiff, please send me photos and reports at gmatkin@gmail.com, and also please let me know how the project goes. At least while the numbers being built are small, if you hit problems I will be very happy to provide advice to make sure your boat is a success.

Download: intheboatshed.net Julie skiff plans

See all posts so far on this boat:

Complete free plans package for the intheboatshed.net flat-bottomed 15ft 6in skiff
intheboatshed.net skiff - drawings and coordinates for stitch and glue
intheboatshed.net skiff - photos of our model, and maybe yours too?
Intheboatshed.net skiff - now we can make a model
Intheboatshed.net skiff progress
Early drawings for a 15ft 5in lightweight flat-bottomed American-style skiff

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