Roy Darling (Artist) - Nanaimo's La Peregrina: By Christine Albrecht

Roy Darling’s fascination with sail boats has been with him for as long as he can remember. His fascination with art and inventions has also been a side attraction. Roy is in his niche if he can combine the three themes - nautical, artistic, and ingenuity. He has managed to master all three in his recent creations of “Spirit Ships”.

Roy, as with any avid ship owner, has a nostalgic attachment to his vessels. However, after the death of a well known Nanaimo resident, he decided to create a piece of art that memorialized boaters’ favourite pastime.

His first “Spirit Ship” painting was created after the death of Nanaimo’s, Allen Farrell. Farrell, onetime champion gymnast who could still walk on his hands in his 70’s, was Nanaimo's free-spirited, crowd avoiding, and classic boat expert. He was especially noted for his classic junk, the China Cloud, which he constructed entirely by hand.

Farrell’s generosity to boat owners was well documented, albeit orally. There were stories of his helping out other boaters when they were short on food or cash. He was also know for the dozens of hand-built (never with power tools) boats he crafted. His boats took him along the coastal waters of British Columbia and as far as Hawaii and Fiji.

Allen’ wife, Sharie, died before him, leaving everyone to wonder how Allen would fare given the closeness of the couple, who were together over 50 years. He stated he was prepared to join her, and at the age of 89, did. Prior to passing away, he had been helping a friend, Bill Wilkinson, build a replica of the China Cloud.

Farrell was also the subject of two books - Dan Rubin’s “Salt on the Wind” and Maria Coffey’s “Sailing Back in Time”

Roy was so impressed with Allen’s craftsmanship of China Cloud, as well as with the man’s personality, he decided to pay tribute to Farrell with his multi-medium painting, ‘China Cloud - Spirit Ship’. Using nautical charts of the areas Farrell most frequented as his canvas, Roy painstakingly re-created the China Cloud using various photographs as his guide. He then added details to the painting such as Allen, his dog, as well as other details.

Last but not least, Roy ensured that the China Cloud was always ‘at sail’, both day and night. Sure enough, when it is time for bed and the lights go down, the China Cloud floats eerily on the wall, glowing for all to see.

Roy’s artwork is unique, quirky, and beautiful. He is not limited to just ‘Spirit Ships’ having painted for most of his life. However, the ‘Spirit Ships’ are something that lie close to his heart.

Roy is in the midst of creating his website (roydarling.com) which will showcase his art as well as his inventions. He has finished four ‘Spirit Ships’ and offers customized art for any and all boat lovers out there.

Generally, after gathering pictures, charts, and information, Roy takes approximately 3 weeks to fine-tune a painting. Prices depend upon the amount of detail involved, as well as whether the buyer would prefer the original or a giclé

(Giclé-on-canvas is a printing technique by which each second the ink-jet printing machine produces millions of extremely fine droplets of ink on fine linen canvas creating thousands of shades of color in an image of exceptional clarity and color fidelity. The use of pigmented ink provides for archive-type longevity.)

Giclés of Roy’s present ‘Spirit Ships’ can be purchased as he owns the originals.

If you would like further information, or would like to receive some jpegs of Roy’s art, email him at roydarling2000 (at) yahoo (dot) ca