Columnists - Dean Kahn - Dean Kahn Column

POSTED: Monday, Aug. 04, 2008

Painting of historic ship Ann Parry to help fund old courthouse renovations

Normally, Steve Mayo travels great distances and puts in long hours researching the ships that appear in his popular paintings.

But for his latest watercolor, the research has come to him.

Several folks are contributing the historical know-what and Mayo is contributing the artistic know-how for the first local painting of the Ann Parry, the vessel that arrived in Bellingham Bay 150 years ago with 200 gold-crazy miners and a hefty load of bricks.

The miners headed north to the Fraser gold fields in British Columbia.

The bricks became the four walls of the T.G. Richards & Co. warehouse and store on E Street, where it stands today, the oldest brick building in the state.

"It's really been a fun, collaborative effort," said Mayo, of Bellingham. "It's the first painting I've ever done by committee."

The building, which once served as the local Territorial Courthouse, is now being renovated by its new owner, the Whatcom County Historical Society.

Mayo plans to donate his painting, with proceeds from sale of the original and of a limited number of prints helping to pay for the renovation.

The idea began with Janet Oakley, a Bellingham resident who is curator of education at Skagit County Historical Museum in La Conner.

A few years ago she was gathering information for a portable history exhibit in connection with a grant that enabled Sehome High School students to research the early history of Bellingham. She asked Mayo to provide a sketch for the exhibit.

As Oakley learned more about the bricks and the Ann Parry, she asked Mayo if he would donate a painting of the vessel. He agreed, but wanted to be sure the image would be historically accurate.

That's where Oakley and Tim Wahl, another Bellingham resident bitten by the history bug, came in.

Oakley had learned the Ann Parry was built in 1825 in Portsmouth, N.H. She visited Portsmouth last summer, and obtained a copy of a painting of another ship, built by the same man, that was similar to the Ann Parry.

That painting, plus the standard designs and details for ships of the era, are the foundation for Mayo's depiction of the Ann Parry.

For the local setting, Wahl provided details about Bellingham Bay in the mid-1800s. Charts show the original shoreline and water depths, suggesting where the Ann Parry could have anchored before crewmen rowed the bricks ashore.

Sketches and early photographs show the location of tents and wooden buildings by the bay, and the slant of the forested hills behind.

Once he finishes his pencil sketch, Mayo will project the drawing onto a larger piece of watercolor paper, trace the image, then begin painting. He plans to be done by late August.

"What takes the time is the details," he said. "The sky takes, like, 10 minutes."

The Ann Parry arrived in Bellingham Bay on July 16, 1858. Once the bricks were unloaded, construction of the building moved quickly; it was finished in about six weeks.

An expert has determined the bricks came from San Francisco, and might be able to pinpoint the brickyard. The bricks have been cleaned and repointed as part of the renovation.

"They look pretty darn good after 150 years," Oakley said.