Falls of Clyde and Emma Claudina off the Fara/Ions , by Tom Wells.
In June of 1579, Drake sailed north along the Pacific coast, perhaps as far as Vancouver Island, before turning south. Bill Ryan has here pictured the Golden Hind 150 miles down the Oregon coast passing Tillamook Rock.
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ences between the various types of vessels. "As it turns out," he says, "being interested in these details was very important, but at the time it seemed to me to be helpful only as a way to better ' know ships."' This attention to details is reflected in the extensive research of old journals, ships ' plans and historical accounts that now goes into the production of his superb watercolors. Mark Myers is an internationally known artist who has a similar story. Kirsten recalls his good fortune meeting Myers at the third annual ASMA show in New York City, where Mark informed him that his original inspiration for depicting the maritime tradition was founded in his upbringing on the West Coast, from San Francisco to Alaska, where he was inspired by a vast and visible history. Now a long-time resident of Cornwall, England, where he does most of his work centering on the historic vessels and historic events of his new homeland (see Sea History marine art feature Fall, 1991 ), he returns to paint in the Northwest and has a solo show at the Kirstens' gallery every three years. He recently produced a series of oils of immense narrative power which depict the early encounters of Europeans and native Northwest Indians. Experiences under sail, which include a Cape Horn passage on the Passat in 1936, continue to be the well-spring of the long painting career of the Seattle-based artist Tom Wells. An artist with an international reputation, Wells is acclaimed for his representations of large sailing ships, which lived an extended life on the Northwest Coast carrying cargoes of lumber well into the 1930s and even the 40s. Described as the artist young painters look to for advice, Bill Ryan works in both oil and watercolor using both mediums to capture one of his continuing inspirations- the beauty of the Northwest. Ryan says quite simply, "I paint what I love," and in that realm of possibility he describes the Northwest as "limitless." The Bellevue, Washingon painter has been exhibited widely as part of the Puget Sound Group of Northwest painters, but his work is not bound to the region. He has received numerous commissions for commercial maritime work thoughout the United States and is also a Navy combat artist- a capacity that gives him ample sea-going opportunities. To talk to Billi Ryan is to feel his excitement for histOJrical material , but more than historicall accuracy Ryan says he tries for SEA. HISTORY 61 , SPRING 1992