Painting our maritime history Words: Adrienne Matthews
Maritime artists in the classic realism style are something of a rarity in today’s world but local Nelson artist Sean Garwood has embraced the genre with passion and skill. As each of his exhibitions unfold it is becoming obvious that he is one of the most accomplished and exciting marine artists the world has seen.
“Maritime art is much more than the ocean, ships, harbours and wharves it depicts,” he says. “It records a vital part of the history of our civilization. It is about voyages to distant lands, adventure and discovery and the movement of peoples. It is about trade and naval power, the forces of the oceans and the skill of shipbuilding. Sadly not many artists have the patience or time to develop the mastery required to undertake this type of complex, time-consuming art.” At twenty-one years of age and the youngest ever New Zealand deep sea master, Sean graduated to
captain of trawlers and spent twenty-eight years at sea, many of them in the wilds of the Southern Ocean. Encouraged by his father, the late Michael Garwood, himself a fine marine artist, Sean was never without his sketchbook and had it instilled in him from a young age that ‘the foundation of good art is drawing.’ His years of sketching were sound preparation for when the time came to forgo his sea legs and take up the role of full-time artist. Self-taught, he spent the first five years of his painting career teaching himself everything he could about painting in his chosen, classic realism style.
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