Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
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Newly built Blue Moon at Cem Gur’s boatyard in Turkey. As
usual, click on the images for an enlarged photograph
Fans of Thomas Gillmer’s Blue Moon design based on the traditional Falmouth quay punt will be pleased the boat is being built again, in Turkey. See the builder’s website at http://www.classicboats-turkiye.com .
For more on Thomas Gillmer’s Falmouth Quay punt-based design Blue Moon, click here.
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Running for Home by Charles Napier Hemy, one of the paintings
at the Feel the Breeze exhibition. Click for full-size image
The same painting at 1600, 1280 and 1024 pixels across – choose a size for your desktop!
Mike Haywood’s Barnabbas, St Ives fishing boat; and Jamie Medline’s Pandora, will also be on show
This impressive and exciting painting by Charles Napier Hemy RA will be a key exhibit at the Smell The Sea, Feel The Breeze show at Falmouth Art Gallery next month. Certainly I can smell the sea and feel the breeze here, but just look at that sheet – it’s hardly more than inches from gybing in water rough enough to push the little boat around. I hope they get home.
The exhibition aims to capture the variety of water, wind and waves from dramatic sailing adventures in wild waters to paddling in rock pools with Rupert Bear, and is being made possible by the generous sponsorship of TMS Financial Solutions, and Arts & Business South West which funded the additional insurance and the transporting of valuable works by distinguished Cornwall artists such as Henry Scott Tuke RA, Charles Napier Hemy RA, William Ayerst Ingram, Frank Jameson, Mike Haywood and David Hills.
Important loans from the Royal Society of Marine Artists Diploma Collection have been made available through the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. Work by one of Britain’s greatest abstract painters, Sir Terry Frost, is also being made available through private collections. Sir Terry’s career spanned seven decades, starting with his introduction to art in a prisoner-of-war camp. The featured works drew inspiration in Cornwall from sailing boats bobbing on the tide.
Also showing will be original works by contemporary Falmouth artist Jamie Medlin. Jamie is one of the country’s leading marine artists and is known widely through his prints. He currently paints beautiful classic yachts, and some of the best of these paintings have been borrowed for this exhibition. His art was included in the recent Christie’s sale of Important Maritime Paintings.
Falmouth has a long and proud association with sailing. The packet ships, ocean-going clippers and the coastal trading sailing vessels have long ceased their trade, but Falmouth can still attract major sailing events, from the famous Regatta to the arrival of ‘round the world’ yachtsmen.
The exhibition is mounted to celebrate and promote the Funchal 500 Tall Ships Race, which will be held in September 2008.
A full programme of gallery events has been designed to complement the exhibition, which will include free workshops for babies, children, families, schools and community groups. A full colour brochure sponsored by TMS Financial Solutions will be available priced £4.50.
The exhibition can be seen at Falmouth Art Gallery from 1 March to 26 April 2008, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Admission is free. For more information about activities and education please contact Natalie Rigby on 01326 313863.
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Two interesting characters pose for in Penryn Stocks outside Falmouth’s Old Curiosity shop. I feel sure the one on the right is my old mate Bill Crawford. You out there Bill?
I wrote about a Falmouth quay punt for sale a few days ago, and thinking of Falmouth reminded me of a National Maritime Museum Cornwall’s small exhibitions earlier this year.
It was held to celebrate the centenary of the death of John Burton, 19th century owner of the legendary Old Curiosity Shop in Falmouth, and a great local character. Burton claimed he could sell ‘anything from a monkey to a pulpit’, and his shop contained an amazingly diverse collection of objects reflecting the sailors and passengers who passed through Falmouth at the time. Click on the photo above and take a close look at the larger image, and you’ll see what I mean.
One of Burton’s great dealing successes was acquiring the Penryn borough stocks bearing the date 1673, bought from the Mayor of Penryn who had been instructed to sell some council possessions.
No sooner was the purchase complete than there was a howl of indignation from Penryn Council. A heated discussion followed, and to allay ill-feeling Burton wrote to the press to making the following offer: ‘If three of those grumbling Penryn Town Councillors will consent to be placed in the stocks outsid my show next Monday to get their photos taken in the stocks, I will present the said stocks to the Borough of Penryn to prevent further grumbling.’
The offer was not accepted, and the stocks were sold to an antique dealer, and today, the stocks can be seen at Penryn Museum.