Elusive

Every year, about mid-summer, there is a show and auction sale of antique boats at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York. I caught this wonderful mahogany speed boat, a fore runner of the modern 'cigarette boat', as it left the Alexandria Bay boat basin during the Antique Boat Show several years ago. She has just passed the Sunken Rock lighthouse, at Alexandria Bay, New York, heading back upriver toward Clayton. When the captain opened the throttle, she was gone in a flash.

I loved the way the cumulus clouds were building in the sky and the way the sun shone on the highly polished varnish finish on the hull of the boat. The long, narrow shape of the canvas adds thrust to this composition, and the bow-view accentuates the length of the boat in relation to the size of the figures in the cockpit. The original painting is done in alkyd on a canvas panel. It measures 12 inches by 24 inches. It now hangs in one of the beautiful old summer homes on an island on the Canadian side of the river.

Boldt Castle

This is another example of a painting that I did of a boat in the 1000 Islands. I saw this small, antique sail boat, with the bright red sail and I knew I would have to paint it. I took a number of photos, circling the craft in a power boat, and I am sure the sailor wondered what I was up to.

In order to create an interesting composition, I used the image of the sailboat to create a lead-in to the castle on Heart Island in the background. The six story, 120 room mansion is a full size Rhineland castle, built by George Boldt as a wedding present for his beloved wife, Louise.

In 1904 tragedy struck and Louise died from tuberculosis. Construction of the castle halted immediately, never to resume. Broken hearted, Boldt never completed it and he never returned to the island again.

The picture is actually only part of a larger painting that I did of the entire island, which features stone buildings at either end in addition to the castle itself.

Swell

I love to do paintings of the Thousand Islands, and antique boats are special subjects to me. There is no place I enjoy spending the day more than on the water where I grew up. This spot is just a half mile from my old home, near Rockport, Ontario.

"Swell" is a beautiful example of a 34 foot Elco Cruisette that was built in 1925. She is seen here passing smoothly under the Thousand Island Bridge on a warm, misty morning, as the sun begins to burn through the river haze. You can almost hear the throaty melody of her 38 HP, 4 cylinder inboard engine, as it pushes her smartly through the calm water at a respectable 10 MPH. Antique boats like this one are still fairly common in the Thousand Islands and they are highly prized by their owners.

I painted this picture on cotton canvas, using alkyd paint, applied very smoothly. It measures 16 inches wide by 20 inches tall. Occasionally, I am commissioned to paint antique boats, such as this one, for their owners. Prints are available for this and a number of other antique boat paintings that I have produced. Check out www.richarddewolfe.com for other examples.