SEA NOTES

Thomas Hoyne:

An Artist and His Models

To be diagnosed with cancer is a life-changing event and for Thomas Hoyne, this was no exception. Given two years to live Thomas gave up a very successful career as an illustrator and he decided to focus on his artistic love, the depiction of life at sea for the northeast fishermen. Life for Thomas ended up being 17 years and he would pass away, ironically, not from cancer but an aneurism. 

The paintings of Thomas Hoyne record a time in history when men plied the turbulent waters off of the Grand Banks in search of fish. These men sailed in beautiful schooners, giving their job a romantic side, on a dangerous and sometimes violent ocean, with a difficult quality of life. Through attention to detail and accuracy in depicting the boats, rigging, and equipment on deck, Hoyne was able to place the viewer on the deck alongside the fishermen and feel the power of the sea, or in a dory dancing on the waves trying to get back to the schooner. Thomas also had an instinct for depicting water, he had a thorough understanding of the ocean, the weight of the water, and how waves react. From men hanging onto the bowsprit trying to set sail on a stormy sea to the masterful depiction of clear water with an icy glaze in a winter harbor. 

To capture a way of life that no longer remains, he completed painstaking research and conferred with numerous people with first-hand knowledge of the era of the fishing schooner. People like Charlie Sayle, who sailed on various fishing schooners since 1926, and Gordon Thomas, a noted scholar of the Grand Banks fisheries. Most notably he befriended and commissioned Erik A. P. Ronnberg Jr. to build models of various boats. Ronnberg is an accomplished ship model maker who, through research and skill, produces models that are in themselves works of art. A son of Erik Ronnberg Sr., who was also a ship modeler, Erik went on to work in the industrial modelmaking firm of Atkins and Merrill in Sudbury, Mass. Erik returned in 1973 to help his father run the family hobby and model shop and also design kits for commercial manufacturers. A lot of his models are currently on display in various museums, including The Mystic Seaport Museum.

The models that Tom used as props were quite large, the scale that Erik used was 3/8 inch to a foot, which produced models that were 4 to 5 feet in length. They were made without sails but with working and moveable parts, the spars could be raised or lowered to the proper working trim depending on the desired weather and working conditions. Tom would place his model into a ‘sand box’ that was filled with cat litter, position the boat and work the litter into wave and wake patterns. To depict the human form Tom used wooden sticks, scaled to the model, and positioned them on deck showing various crew activities.

When satisfied with how the diorama was set up Tom would make numerous sketches from different angles and start to build up his composition.

When he settled on a final version Tom would enlarge the drawing to full size onto a sheet of tissue paper by using a grid system and transfer the drawing onto canvas or gessoed Masonite.

Tom left the tissue taped onto the painting surface so that as he was laying in the paint, he could flip the paper down to check the positions of the crew, deck fittings, rigging, and other details. The painting started with broad brushstrokes that covered the initial drawing, as the work progressed the tissue would act as a guide for the details that would be concealed.

With this heightened realism, there is a sense of life and activity that evokes a period of history in America. There is an ongoing struggle between man and the sea that is a running motif in his works, the dangers of the ocean, and the lives lived with only wooden walls to protect them. Through research, working with the models, developing sketches, and finally painting, Hoyne was able to create a world that does not exist anymore. The life on these sailing vessels was not an easy one and Thomas was able to give this sense of hardship to the viewer, who is placed alongside these men, living the life that these men led. So, given a new lease on life that was taken advantage of, Thomas was able to produce over 100 paintings in his ‘extra’ 17 years. Many of these works of art are now in museums, including The Mystic Seaport Museum, which can be seen alongside Erik’s models.