East Anglian special interest, poetry & art books

James Dodds was born in Brightlingsea and trained as a shipwright in Maldon before embarking on his art education in Colchester, Chelsea, and the RCA. His East Anglian maritime heritage pervades all his work, be it in the intriguing curved perspectives of his linocuts of coastal towns or in the rounded figures in his paintings of “things that interest me – how things work, people, boats, whatever.” He works “with a constant feeling for the continuity of the past with the present – striving for a balance between head, heart and hand.” Since starting the Jardine Press in the eighties, he has published, and illustrated with linocuts, over thirty titles, mainly on a maritime theme. He has exhibited in the USA and the former USSR, all over the UK and East Anglia, in Messums, Cork Street, and frequently at the Royal Academy. In July 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Essex in recognition of his "distinguished contribution to the local community as an artist and defender of our community and natural heritage."

The Blue Lonnen

"She is the last link of the chain
That stretches away to sea, to the horizon.
She is the ruled line. The end of the line.

Without her
There is no reason."

The Northumbrian coble was built for sail. Its lines developed over many centuries to respond as economically and efficiently as possible to sea and wind, and everything about it had a purpose. Today, no new cobles are built in Northumberland. The introduction of engines changed the age-old relation between boat and sea forever, subtly altering the coble's lines and ultimately rendering it obsolete. Now, with every year, fewer cobles remain. The Blue Lonnen is an elegy in words and pictures for the last working examples of this lovely boat and for the traditions, culture and community which it embodied.

"Longshore Drift" a Radio Poem

'We've always lived on the edge, boy;
Small boats, lines and nets.
We've always fished as the old men fished,
And the old men showed the sea respect.'

When Katrina Porteous wrote this poem, seven boats fished from the beach at Aldeburgh. Two years later, only three were left. "As I crunched along the Suffolk beaches, I reflected on the mutability of the coast. I looked out towards the lost city of Dunwich, once one of England's biggest ports, now almost entirely sunk beneath the sea. I thought of the decline of the longshoremen's way of life, handed down for generations, and now vanishing before our eyes. Longshore Drift is an attempt to capture a glimpse of what we are losing." Katrina Porteous

The Shipwright's Trade

"This poem is the second part of The Truthful Song, first published in 1910 in the children's book Rewards & Fairies. The poem brings back feelings of my own youth spent in and around a labyrinth of lean-to boat-sheds, barges, blocks and spars, learning a trade that has changed little since the building of the Ark.

Themes associated with these memories have filtered through my work for many years. This collection of eight images spans a five year period, beginning life as individual paintings and later becoming wood and linocuts. The book provides an opportunity for the images to create their own narrative." James Dodds

Pioneer - Last of the Skillingers

Pioneer - Last of the Skillingers explores the history of the deep sea Essex smacks and tells the story of how Pioneer was salvaged from the Mersea mud and rebuilt through a remarkable restoration programme. It also tells of the Pioneer Sailing Trust, whose role is to see through the restoration, get Pioneer sailing and create ways by which future generations can experience this fascinating piece of maritime heritage.

"I'm glad that this story can be told. And I'm delighted that it is told here by three men whose experience include "dredging aboard Pioneer" Hazell White, "writing more about the subject of smacks than any other" John Leather and "having restored a great many Essex smacks" Brian Kennell. Also included is a new poem The Ballad of the Pioneer by Martin Newell.

The profits from you buying this book will go directly to the Pioneer Sailing Trust. So may I thank you for helping to ensure that a deep sea smack can once again be seen proudly patrolling the shores of Essex."
Rupert Marks

Knock John Ship

The Story of the Wreck on the Knock John sandbank, Christmas 1848, told through contemporary newspaper reports and personal accounts.

"As a child in Brightlingsea I always thought that our old German piano came from the wreck on the Knock John. However it is more probable it came from the later wreck of the Hawksdale in 1899, which was said to have had 500 pianos on board. My Great Grandfather William Pannell would have purchased it at the auction of salvaged goods. He even built his house from the stone ballast from another wrecked ship. It would be interesting to know how many items from the Knock John Ship survive in Brightlingsea to this day. Some forty odd years ago my baby-sitter found a bale of military cloth hidden under her floor boards. Could this have come from the Knock John?

I learnt to sail on an ex-stowboating smack the Shamrock, and while serving my apprenticeship as a shipwright I illustrated several books for Hervey Benham, a wonderful local marine writer. Hervey's book the Salvagers is were I started my search for the true identity and date of the Knock John Ship, with the idea that she was carrying pianos.

Now a professional artist, I am living back in Brightlingsea with my family in a house built by my great grandfather, and first owned and lived in by the Captain of his smack the Waterlily. This book marks the return to my roots and the fascinations of my youth. I hope you will find the story of the Knock John ship as fascinating as I do." James Dodds

The Song of the Waterlily

'A wooden boat, un-named, untried
Lies moored and waiting for the tide
With maiden voyage due next day
A light wind ushers night away.
As if to praise the shipwright's arts
A hubbub rises from her parts
As one by one, each sings its song
To prove the previous singer wrong'

The Song of the Waterlily describes the unity of a ship in a storm; the message is one of significance for us all as we navigate the rough waters of life. Martin Newell has written an evocative poem that is illustrated appropriately by James Dodds, whose images have the happy knack of capturing the essence and atmosphere of seafaring.

Wild Man of Orford

The Suffolk coast has a curious history - much of it shaped quite literally by the sea, for perhaps nowhere else in the country has tide and current changed and moulded the shore so much. Whole towns have disappeared into the sea leaving only legends, whilst others - like Orford - have become almost land-locked by vast heaps and spits of shingle. Orford, with its 12th-century castle, can claim one of the coast's most curious pieces of history - the story of a wild man captured in the nets of local fishermen.

Allan Drummond studied illustration at the Royal College of Art at the same time as James Dodds, and has since built up a formidable international reputation as an author and illustrator of children's books.

Here and There

This unusual travelogue of landscape watercolours takes us from the artist's beloved East Anglia to further afield, and is accompanied by an informative and witty text.

Andrew delights in detail and architectural elements are drawn with precision; the rigging of boats is accurate; the twisted branches, foliage and textured bark of trees are closely observed to the extent that an arborist could identify each one; people are included so naturally that they often recognise themselves when seeing the printed version. Local meteorological conditions – whether a rainy windswept beach at Aldeburgh (itself painted during the downpour!), or a sundrenched view of a Mediterranean harbour – are so vivid that one can almost feel the extremes of cold and heat. Above all Dodds respects the working tradition of the countryside, the rural and coastal industries, with a regard for the hands that shaped it.

Great art is about communicating an individual's vision of the world, of representing a truth. Based on his lifetime's practice, Andrew Dodds persuades the viewer to see the world through his eyes, quietly and without distortion, and we are all the better for it.

Peter Grimes

The series of fourteen linocuts from "Peter Grimes" formed the backbone of James' first solo exhibition after leaving college, which took place at Aldeburgh's Gallery 44 to coincide with the 37th Festival in 1984. The linocuts were used to illustrate the Festival catalogue in following years. The Britten-Pears Library bought an entire set of the linocuts for their collection at the Red House - and Peter Pears attended in person! The exhibition not only featured James' prints but also his powerful paintings. Since then James has frequently held exhibitions at Gallery 44 during the Aldeburgh Festival.

Ernie Turner, Wivenhoe Artist

Ernie Turner started painting in 1964 when he retired from his job as a shipwright in Wivenhoe. He captured much of the Wivenhoe of the '60s and '70s in his charming colourful naive style. He has been dubbed Wivenhoe's Alfred Wallis. With a biography by Richard Barnard (Chairman of the Nottage Management Committee), and introduction by Professor Thomas Puttfarken (Head of the Dept of Art History and Theory, University of Essex), this book was commissioned to celebrate the largest exhibition to date of Ernie Turner's work, all generously loaned by local residents and held at the Nottage Maritime Institute in Wivenhoe. All profits from this book go to the Nottage Maritime Institute.

London Then

A book of 530 pen drawings of everyday London as observed and drawn by Andrew Dodds over a period of 27 years. With a lively anecdotal text by the artist. "The sketches draw in streets, buildings, parks and people with typical Dodds' precision - providing an atmospheric record of the cast and character of post-war London." Eastern Daily Press

ABC of Boat Bits
(An Introduction to Sailing a Winkle Brig)

"This book is all about the Winkle Brig. The Winkle Brig or Bumkin is an open clinker boat with a centreboard, 15ft to 18ft long, rigged with a gaff on the mainsail and one headsail called the Jib. This rig is called a Gaff Sloop. There are several variations on this rig. One is with no bowsprit and the jib is attached to the stemhead. Another, the simplest of all is with a standing lugsail with or without a jib. The Winkle Brig is a strong forgiving work boat with a simple rig: a great boat in which to learn the rudiments of sailing.

With children of my own, I wish to teach them to sail and to share with them the many secret places of my youth. The Alphabet of Boats and this book where firstly conceived as an introduction for my children to sailing and the sea." James Dodds (Afterword)

A~Z of Printmaking
(A Collector's Guide)

A beautifully constructed alphabet of the essentials of printmaking, by the director of PRINTWORKS. Accompanied by many illustrations.

Alphabet of Boats

James Dodds' hearty linocuts show in a very simple way the diversity of different boat rigs.

This Alphabet of Boats started life as a teething book for his son and daughter: six local east coast boats printed onto wood and bound by a spliced rope ring. As his children cut their teeth, so the idea of an alphabet grew. Defining the difference between a Smack and a Bawley, a Ketch and a Lugger, from Ark to Zulu, for young and old, this alphabet will both amuse and inform.

See also Cards

Cards

also (on the Martin Newell page)

Black Shuck
A Return To Flanders
Late Autumn Sunlight
Selected Poems
Wild Man of Wivenhoe
Spoke 'n' Word
Spoke 'n' Word CD