Seaver leslie biography of william

“My paintings generally celebrate local culture and traditions,” which in this setting are embodied by wooden boatbuilding at the J. O. Brown Boatyard, writes painter Seaver Leslie of his watercolor of the interior of the North Haven Island landmark.

Describing his painting, Leslie starts with the shop doors, which were “letting in beautiful light.”

The man on the swing to the right is Stanley “Toot” Waterman, part of the island’s Waterman clan, while at center, his back turned, stands Foy Brown, Thorofare harbormaster and co-owner of the boatyard founded in 1888 by his great-great grandfather James Osmond Brown.

The flipped-over dory belonged to Foy’s brother, Jim Brown, who used it for duck hunting.

Out the open door, sailing by, is the late Capt. Mark McClellan’s schooner, Simplicity.

“The texture and spirit evident there; the materials; the design of the vessels; the tools that have been handled by the boatbuilders’ forebears…”

Leslie painted at the boatyard in th