A Titanic body of art (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

A Titanic body of art

6:00pm Friday 13th April 2012 in Local

A Corsham artist has released a book of his paintings of the Titanic, which he describes as his labour of love, to commemorate the centenary of the ship sinking.

Maritime painter Simon Fisher, 67, of Ludmead Road, has spent the past 25 years producing prints of ships. To acknowledge the anniversary of the Titanic sinking on April 15, 1912, he has released a new book featuring prints of his work, which includes the ship and other ocean liners.

The Maritime Paintings of Simon Fisher took a year to produce and documents his long career, which has been defined by the Titanic.

He said: “I spent much of my early career as a commercial artist and then I found a niche as a maritime artist. My first ever painting as a maritime artist was a print of the Titanic in 1988 and it was received really well. Everything has gone onwards from there really.”

Mr Fisher, who uses old images, plans and models to paint pictures of ships, has also produced limited edition paintings of the Titanic signed by surviving voyagers.

He said: “The Titanic has been a huge part of my career. It’s a labour of love for me and it is something I hold very close to my heart. When James Cameron’s film came out in 1997 it had a huge influence on my career, giving me enormous amounts of recognition.”

After the success of the film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, interest in Mr Fisher’s work skyrocketed across the globe, particularly in America, and he has attended many international exhibitions.

Once Mr Fisher has been commissioned to produce a painting of a ship it typically takes him around two months to complete following extensive research.

Mr Fisher, who works from his Corsham home, said: “The difficulty with this kind of work is finding the right balance between the artistic quality and the accuracy of getting the ship right. If you do anything wrong people will be on the phone to tell you. But I like to think I do my homework well.”

In Mr Fisher’s book there are also many images of other ocean liners he has painted, as well as information about his career to date.

For more information and to buy Mr Fisher’s book, visit www.

simonfishermaritime.com