John M. Horton O.B.C. C.S.M.A.

An interesting commission has just been completed for the son of a well known Steveston fishing family.  It shows one of the Grandfathers fish packers the Princess Aleta and the gillnetter Runnin Bare part of the mosquito fleet (cheap plywood boats canneries built and issued to teenagers each summer)  Each summer the Phoenix Cannery mosquito boats were towed to Rivers Inlet in a line behind one of the seiners to work in that region for a few weeks.  The Father started fishing when he was 16 during the summer holidays, before he had a driver’s license, and continued every summer through university.   Locally, the mosquito boats often worked in the Albion because they had shallow draft, flat bottoms and frequently ended up dry on the sandbars. 

From: The Delta Optimist

A piece of the community’s past will be on permanent display in Delta in the future.

Members of the Delta Heritage Society and others involved a major fundraising effort to purchase a striking oil painting by acclaimed local marine artist John Horton, a work called Arrival at Port Guichon, were on hand at city hall Monday to present the artwork as a gift to the city.

Read More at: https://www.delta-optimist.com/living/historic-port-guichon-painting-donated-to-city-of-delta-1.23994005

just hurrying to add this to the site for John – he is so excited about painting a Captain Vancouver painting again.

This shows Captain Vancouver’s 2 ships, and the 2 Spanish ships in Desolation Sound.

more to come about why this painting was produced!

Mary – for John

John just signed the canvas giclee of the Franklin Expedition painting for Holly and Colin in their home in Tsawwassen.   They are from the prairies but just love the marine world.   Following is Holly’s comment about the painting:  ” We love the painting and have always been drawn to painting of ships and feel that John’s work is special as it has historic significance.”

Colin was also very complimentary – “The painting serves as a reminder of the love we have for our previous home in Saskatchewan (the snowy images  and the stunning sky) and our new home  in BC (the ocean and sailing ships).  We know it will provide us years of enjoyment for our entire family.

 

 

How to find inspiration for a painting?   Where to start?   What motivates an artist to paint something?

If you have a genre that you paint how do you keep finding new opportunities within that genre?  As a professional you must constantly find a subject that will be of interest to your patrons!    Is it the history of clipper ships racing from Fouchow ( Fuzhou, China) to deliver valuable tea to England?   A stormy, moody sky that you feel would compliment a hard working fish boat?  A dreamy romantic view of that oh so familiar watery city called Venice?

My talk was presented to the Richmond Artists Guild in the Cultural Centre – a varied, well experienced, caring group of artists who take their work seriously.

 

 

 

 

I just returned from a visit to the Maritime Museum of British Columbia in Victoria and a meeting with Jan Drent and David  Leverton, the new Executive Director.

We were talking about my involvement with the Royal Canadian Navy and I was telling them about the fantastic story of the first submarines in the Canadian Navy, which were purchased, in secret, by British Columbia’s Premier McBride just as World War I was starting.

I told them they should check out the story that is documented on Esquimalt’s Naval and Military Museum web site – it is exciting and heart warming to know the risk our then Premier took to purchase our first submarines in support of defense of the west coast of Canada.

Read the story in the link below and then have a look at the painting I produced to honour this event.  I think you will find the tale a good one.

http://www.navalandmilitarymuseum.org/archives/articles/defending-the-coast/cc1-and-cc2

 

 

Over the years I have enjoyed painting the marine industry around the British Columbia waterfront, and the two paintings that I describe below were purchased by one of these industries; The Canadian Fishing Company, CANFISCO.

I especially enjoy painting the historic buildings owned by the various companies that have grown up here – including CANFISCO. My painting of the “Home Plant” their current headquarters, records the working site that has been in continuous operation since 1906 at the foot of Gore Street in Vancouver.
While some of my works bring to life scenes from past history, I have also worked hard to record current fishing scenes before they are lost to change. See “Herring Time off Comox” which was painted after I ran safety patrols on my boat “Steveston Lifeboat” for the Canadian Lifeboat Institute.

We run the herring safety patrols for the industry as this is an extremely dangerous fishery and we want to be in the vicinity of the boats in case anything happens.  Why is it potentially dangerous? Because the herring can become startled and dive to the bottom inside a net, and possibly roll the boat over. Don’t be silly you say – a small 10” long herring capsize a 75’ fishing vessel? It can be ‘the perfect storm’ when you have millions of them in a huge ball in the middle of the net – it is not impossible! Also 200 tons of fish in the net, or shifting cargo, can cause dangerous stability problems.  So the herring fishing process has to be very skillful and careful. That is why we are there. To help in case a boat gets into trouble and we have to provide rescue services. So I will be there again in March to assist the fishers participating in the herring fishery.”

Bo and his crew at Commodore Boats in Richmond, BC, Canada are so helpful with our Steveston Lifeboat, previously known at Artists Life, rebuild.

See the link below for a video featuring me – talking about the rebuild and pictures.

The boat has been my research platform since 1988. I miss being on her but hopefully soon I will have her back in the water and ready to go.

Commodore Boats – excellent