Robert Grimson

Born 1945, Bob spent most of his childhood amid the rugged yet beautiful cliff-hanging scenery of the north Devon coast where the seeds of his passion, and deep-rooted empathy, for the sea were sewn from an early age.

Inspired by his environment, Bob’s creative ability was evident at school though he spurned advice to pursue a career in art choosing instead to study full-time at the University of Life. As a teenager, his passions were motor racing and motorcycles and his insatiable appetite for excitement and adventure lured him away from the Grammar School he attended in North Devon at the earliest possible opportunity – it having demonstrated a complete inability to relate to such a restless, willful and rebellious young man. At just fifteen years old, armed with no academic qualifications, Bob went on to explore a wide range of potential careers including mechanic, welder, deckboy on an oil tanker, regular soldier, racing driver, truck driver, salesman, carpenter and, eventually, harbour master and boat builder.

An appetite for more – much more –developed, and Bob committed to a hugely ambitious project that would ultimately change the rest of his life: he would sacrifice his home and his job to build his own boat, a 46ft flush deck ferro ketch capable of taking him and his family anywhere in the world. He moved his family into a caravan adjacent to the plot where the build would take place – their house sold to purchase the plans and necessary initial materials. Working part-time, scrimping and saving at every turn, 6 years of hard labour were required to get ‘Carius’ (a derivation of ‘Carry Us’) ready for launch. The boat proved a robust and very competent cruiser – the family twice crossing the Atlantic Ocean during a year-long round trip to the Caribbean.

For the last 40 years, eschewing many of the conveniences available to the modern sailor, he has literally lived his art aboard his classic gaff ketch ‘Meander’ (another derivation: this time for “Me and Her”), the home he has shared with his wife Jean since 1992. Meander also serves as his studio from where despite the confined space, often complex maritime subjects and scenes are committed to canvas – all with a choice of palette and attention to detail that truly brings to life the often harsh reality, but always the majesty, of working sailing ships from a bygone era. This specialist subject combined with his particular style attracts growing patronage from a number of specialist marine art collectors and his work is on permanent display in numerous galleries on both sides of the Atlantic.

In art, as in his every other exploit, he is largely self-taught - making up for any lack of formal training by a combination of personal drive, energy, dedication and plain hard work!