Through the Eyes of a Waterman-The Art ofWilliam E. Cummings adapted from an interview by Kathi Ferguson
Last year, when Tilghman, Maryland, native William E. Cummings passed away, he left behind a trove of paintings that document the history of growing up in the 1930s on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and, in the decades that followed, his life as a commercial fisherman-specifically, as a Chesapeake Bay waterman. Bill Cummings captured scenes common to those who grew up and worked there; scenes which are all but gone today. A self-taught artist, his understanding of his subject couldn't be more authentic, as he spent most of his life as a waterman, oystering, seine-hauling, and working the pound nets. He rarely-perhaps never-worked from photographs, instead relying on memory to recreate the scenes of his childhood on Tilghman's Island and of the life working the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. In an interview with writer Kathi Ferguson before he suffered a stroke toward the end of his life, the waterman/artist reminisced about life on Tilghman's Island and how he successfully and simultaneously pursued two vocations: fishing and art.
T
imes were simpler then, when Bill Cummings was growing up on Tilghman's Island. The roads were bedded with oyster shells and dozens of working boats made the island their home. Smack in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay along Maryland 's eastern shore, the island was ideally suited for the then-thriving seafood industry. For those who stayed ashore, Tilghman Packing Company provided jobs vital to the community. Families like his depended on the bounty of the bay to make their living. "My father. .. was a waterman, as was his family before him . He wasn't an educated man-could hardly write his namebut he was so intelligent." Bill spent his teenage yea rs working on board Old Ben, his father's boat. "I learned how to oyster when I was about twelve years old. In the summer months, we'd go seine hauling. Now, that was hard work, but I loved it! Lots of my paintings tell stories of the seine haulers."
Seine Haulers I The Hand Tongers Growing up, young Bill once proclaimed to his parents that school was not for him-he wanted to work on the water. "Okay then," his father told him, "Go pack up your lunch. We're going fishing," and off they went. It was a particularly cold one that day and temperatures seemed to drop by the hour. It was not long before Bill laid his oyster rakes down and announced that he was heading to the cabin to get warm. "No, you're not," his father replied emphatically. "If you're gonna work on the water, you're staying out here. There's no money to be made hiding below." The disillusioned yo ung fisherman quickly responded, "If you'll take me home, I'll go to school! " Lesson learned. Bill was the first C urrumings to graduate from high school. His passion Jfor drawing began as a child. "In the evenings I'd sit with a little
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SEA HISTORY 152, AUTUMN 2015