Bob Grimson
The Annual Smack Race - oil on canvas.
Maritime paintings in oil on canvas, all painted in the artist's studio aboard his classic gaff ketch Meander....
Born 1945, Bob Grimson spent most of his childhood amid the rugged yet beautiful cliff-hanging scenery of the north Devon coast where the seeds of his passion, and deep-rooted empathy, for the sea were sewn from an early age.
For the last 20 years, eschewing many of the conveniences available to the modern sailor, Bob has lived his art aboard his classic gaff ketch Meander , the home he has shared with his wife Jean since 1992.
Meander also serves as his studio from where despite the confined space, often complex maritime subjects and scenes are committed to canvas – all with a choice of palette and attention to detail that truly brings to life the often harsh reality, but always the majesty, of working sailing ships from a bygone era. This specialist subject combined with his particular style attracts growing patronage from a number of specialist marine art collectors and his work is on permanent display in numerous galleries on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1993 Meander crossed the Atlantic and has since travelled as far south as Venezuela in S America and as far north as Nova Scotia in Canada. She has become a very familiar sight – especially in the Bahamas where, spurning engine power, her five colourful sails drawing, she tacks in and out of even the most crowded anchorage. Her traditional lines and distinctive reddish-brown sails always catch the eye wherever she goes.
Tops'l Schooner - oil on canvas.
Bob Grimson’s decision to take up the paintbrush full time was in part inspired by the excellent collection of classic maritime art assembled by the late John Chancellor, but also by his own strong sense of sailing tradition and his admiration for the craft and skill of his sea-faring forebears. Through his work, it is his aim to bring to life much of the detail and all of the spirit of those great days of sail, days now sadly buried in the past.
In art, as in his every other exploit, he is largely self-taught - making up for any lack of formal training by a combination of personal drive, energy, dedication and plain hard work!
In his early years he explored a wide range of potential careers including mechanic, welder, deckboy on an oil tanker, regular soldier, racing driver, truck driver, salesman, carpenter and, eventually, harbour master and boat builder. At nineteen he was racing motorbikes and in 1967 he won the coveted Newcomers’ Trophy, stretching his 350 Manx Norton to its very limit around the notorious and challenging 38 mile TT circuit in that year’s Manx Grand Prix. It was natural that with his motorcycle racing days behind him, he should turn back to the sea for direction and inspiration.
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