Lawrence Forbes-Wolfe has long had an interest in the nautical. As a result of his technique of engraving and painting the sailing ships on wood, his paintings portray a romance with the sea, reviving a feeling of the sailing era long past.
His interest in wood goes back to his youth when he worked in the timber industry with his father. He was fascinated with the flow and movement he saw in the grain of the wood and imagined how he might use this to create works of art. Years later, he combined the two interests, ships and the wood grain, into three-dimensional portraits of the old ships sailing through the grain-streaked skies.
His paintings begin with a unique process he created many years ago. Using a carefully chosen and thinly planed panel of soft wood, he lets the grain of the wood inspire the setting for sky and clouds. On this setting, he engraves the graceful lines of the old ships, adding a depth of feeling to the scene. Oil paints are then carefully rubbed into the grainy skies, and the ships and water are painted by brush. It is in this way that his seascapes of the old ships and their beauty come to life.
He began using this unique style of painting the old sailing ships of the eighteenth and nineteenth century in the late 1960s, which he continues to do to this day, recreating the beauty and grace of these magnificent old ships.
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- “A Royal Escort”
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- “Coming Home”
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- “Coming into Port”
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- “A Gander at a Schooner”
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- “A Night’s Passage”
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- “A Good Breeze”
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- “The Waves are Picking Up”
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- “Years of Memories”
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- “A Quiet Sail”
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- “Full Sails”
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- “Chance Meeting at Sea”
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- “Sailing Past the Past”
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- “Close Encounter”
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- “Approaching Storm”
Lawrence Forbes-Wolfe 