{"id":15722,"date":"2026-03-14T08:51:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=15722"},"modified":"2026-03-14T08:51:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T13:51:41","slug":"celebrating-antigua-in-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=15722","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Antigua in art."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Brenda and I have always been passionate art lovers, and our home reflects that in every corner \u2014 a glorious jumble of fiber art, a few of my own furniture pieces, and just about everything in between. “Eclectic” is probably the polite word for it. It will never be mistaken for a spare, minimalist Hilton, that’s for sure \u2014 but there’s certainly plenty to behold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My love of sailing and marine art eventually led me to the American Society of Marine Artists <\/a>(ASMA), and that connection has opened some wonderful doors. Last week I accompanied a small group of very accomplished ASMA members to Antigua for a week of plein air painting at some of my favorite spots in English and Falmouth Harbors \u2014 and it was a tremendous success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenda and I have been going to Antigua for nearly ten years. After my very first visit I became determined to move the Salty Dawg Caribbean Rally’s<\/a> destination from the BVI to Antigua, which I finally accomplished about eight years ago. The fleet has since grown to roughly 80 boats making landfall every November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now with Pandora in Spain, Brenda and I head back to her next week to begin our first Med sailing season. Without the boat in Antigua, I needed another excuse to get back there \u2014 and the ASMA gave me exactly that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve posted about this trip a few times already, but it felt worth pulling together a proper summary. The genesis of the whole effort goes back two years, when ASMA president Patrick O’Brien visited the island with me. He fell in love with Nelson’s Dockyard and set about painting it as it would have appeared in the late 1700s when Nelson himself was stationed there. With research support from Dr. Reg Murphy<\/a>, the island’s archaeologist and author of the UNESCO designation of the park, Patrick was able to reconstruct the scene with remarkable accuracy \u2014 the Dockyard, in many ways, still looks much as it did back then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Murphy gave us a private tour of the Dockyard, something he does only rarely these days. He is an engaging and knowledgeable story teller. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is Patrick’s painting. It’s a very impressive piece at 36″ x 24″. Patrick gave a presentation about how he recreated the scene and unveiled to a small group at the Admiral’s Inn.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It will be displayed, for sale, at the Admiral’s Inn soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The painting attracted the attention of the Governor General, Sir Rodney<\/a> and Lady Williams<\/a> who joined us at the Inn to review the painting as well as meet the artists and see what they had done while on the island. It was a wonderful event and they stayed with us for an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Rodney travels with a photographer who shared a number of terrific shots of the meeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Rodney and Lady Williams being greeted by Paul Deeth, owner of the Admiral’s Inn<\/a> and our host for the visit. Paul has been very supportive over the years of all that I have tried to do on the island. It is a wonderful boutique hotel, steeped in history. They also have a two wonderful restaurants worth experiencing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We gathered around for what was truly a wonderful event. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Patrick showed the painting to His Excellency who seemed quite taken by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He also reviewed some of the computer files that helped Patrick recreate the scene including computer renderings of individual buildings that he constructed with plans shared by Dr. Murphy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lady Williams was particularly interested in the artists and their work as she is heading up an initiative to convert the oldest Catholic Hospital into what will become a national museum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She sent a photo of the building to me. This was the oldest Catholic Church on the island dating from 1747. The renovation is being funded, in part, by the World Monuments Fund<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Each of the artists showed some of the pieces that they did while on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Patrick’s paintings that wasn’t quite finished. Patrick O’Brien’s website. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And one of Keith’s works. A link to Keith Wilkie’s work. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And Alexandra’s, all the way from Germany. Alexandra Telgmann’s <\/a>studio work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A lovely picture by Russ. Russ Kramer”s work<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And a very nice painting from the watercolorist Bill Sutton<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, what is an audience with His Excellency and Lady Williams without a group shot. As always, when I meet with His Excellency, I felt very underdressed. And I was…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The artists were so impressed with the visit that they all decided to donate most of their works done on the island with the hope that they might find their way into the “new” museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The very next day Sir Rodney and Lady Williams flew to England where they were scheduled to meet with King Charles and Camilla to talk about the upcoming meeting of the Commonwealth, taking place in Antigua this November. Here is a photo of them at Westminster Abbey during the Commonwealth Reception in England meeting the King and Queen a few days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The meeting of the Commonwealth will take place in Antigua in early November and will bring leaders from all of the commonwealth nations in the world. This short video is inspiring and certainly has a different slant than the world view coming out of our own capital of late.<\/p>\n\n\n