Collection: Mark Myers PPRSMA

Mark Myers was born in San Mateo, California in 1945. In his early years he became profoundly interested in sailing and maritime history, later adding to this with working experience on board a variety of square-rigged and fore-and-aft-rigged sailing ships. He developed an early ability to express these interests through drawing and painting and trained as an historian, receiving his degree from Pomona College in 1967.

"Sea time made a difference to my view of ships and how they might be painted. It knocked the romance out, bringing in its place some old-fashioned practical seamanship, a bit of weather knowledge, and familiarity with the way of a ship in the sea. It showed me the colour, the feel, the movement of the open ocean."Self-taught as an artist, his talent was recognized by the San Francisco Maritime Museum and it was there that his first one-man exhibition of marine paintings was held in 1967. After a few more years in sail and further American exhibitions he moved to Southwest England in 1971 and settled there to marry and bring up a family.

Since that time he has concentrated on marine painting and maritime historical research. He has taken a particular interest in the maritime heritage of North Devon and North Cornwall, often researching and painting subjects from the region for exhibitions in the UK, Europe and the USA. His work may be found in important private and corporate collections around the world and in many maritime museums in Britain and North America.

Mark Myers was elected a member in of the Royal Society of Marine Artists in 1975 and served as the Society’s President from 1993 to 1998. He is also a charter member and Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists. Keeping an active interest in maritime museums, he designed and co-founded the Hartland Quay Museum in 1980.

He works in a variety of media: oils, acrylics, watercolours, pastels and inks, with some experience in lithography and etching. He has illustrated and contributed to numerous nautical books and magazines.