CHRISTOPHER BLOSSOM - LIMITED EDITIONS

A mackerel schooner sails in the early morning fog as another schooner silently disappears into the misty background. The smell of brine is heavy in the chilly air as the ship's dory secures the beginning of the net from the seine boat, whose crew of ten begins "tossing the twine" in a methodical effort to encircle the days catch. Blossom's experiences aboard sailing vessels have provided him with a sensitivity to the moods of the unpredictable and sometimes tempestuous environment.

I am always looking for a new image that will inspire me.  In some cases as in Traveling in Company, it is a view from another boat. In Silhouette, it was a birds eye view over lush ground where the lure of sailing can be felt with each glimpse.  Like most of my prints, Onshore Breeze is a work of design, light and shadow rather than a recreation of a specific sailing experience.  My interests almost always lie in the composition, the contrast and the lighting conditions.

Ships navigating into and out of the harbors around San Francisco in the late nineteenth century were typically met by a pilot, a local seaman familiar with the shallow waters around the coastline. After directing the ship through the waters, the pilot would return to his schooner and await the next ship. The pilot schooner Gracie S . traveled waters around San Francisco from the nineteenth to the early twentieth century, tirelessly aiding larger ships in their passage.

While working on this painting, artist Chris Blossom said, "I was really interested by the play of light on the sail against the dark blue sky, and by the contrast of the boat against the water." The artist used the original plans for the ship Gracie S . as a reference, as well as shots of the shoreline around Alcatraz. Pilot Schooner Gracie S. , Bealmed off Alcatraz is a striking tribute to ocean, sky and the labors of men.

We were in the Pacific Northwest, sailing an old Alden yawl. We were going down a channel and noticed some orca whales in the distance. We headed over in that direction and ended up going along with them for about two and one half hours." It's fairly common for dolphins to travel alongside boats, but coursing through the waves accompanied by the orca is relatively rare.  At one point, a couple of them were lying alongside the boat and squeaking.  I'm always surprised by how graceful they are. They seem to move almost effortlessly. Here's this thing that's thirty feet long and I don't know how wide, and it just glides along beside you as if it doesn't have to do anything in order to move quickly.

In U.S. Frigate Congress on the California Coast, Christopher Blossom presents us with the flagship of the California squadron during the war with Mexico.  Built between 1839 and 1842 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard in Maine, the Congress served off South America in the 1840s. The Civil War brought Congress back to U.S. waters, joining the blockade of the Confederacy's Atlantic coast. In March 1862, US Congress was attacked by the ironclad CSS Virginia and forced to surrender.

"This painting is not a particular historical moment, but rather a classic marine composition," Blossom says. "Looking for a different approach, I placed the bow in shadow, lighting the aft part of the ship, layering the light and shadow parts of the sails to create depth." As any of Blossom's loyal collectors will attest, the artist's passion for the sea and its romance is apparent in each of his powerful paintings.

Although this is not a well-known location, it is a picturesque little harbor, and it captures a feeling that many sailors will recognize - a feeling of satisfaction in making a successful passage through open waters to a safe and serene harbor.  Windward can call up many moods in both the casual sea lover and the veteran seafarer.  Besides picturing the calm inlet, blue skies, and comfortable breeze, it is a portrait of a boat starting a maneuver all sailors know well.  This Valiant 40 is moving around the other boats to drop anchor.  It's late afternoon and you're anchoring under sail... what you want to do is round up into the wind, keep the boat into the wind, let it slow down, and drop the anchor when it stops. Then you let the boat drop back, snub the anchor line, and set the anchor. There may be different procedures depending on what kind of rig you've got and what conditions are, but that's the general procedure for anchoring under sail.