Acclaim comes when artists paint what they know best, and for Utah-based watercolorist Ian Ramsay those subjects are harbors and boats. “The love of ships is in my blood,” he says. “I am almost convinced the source of my passion is genetic, because I can trace it back to both sides of my family. My paternal grandfather serviced vessels docked in Woolwich, a naval shipyard on the Thames River in London. He often took me along with him to work, and we spent a lot of time in the engine room. To this day, I can still recall the smell of sea water mixed with oil.”

Ramsay was born in Famborough, England, in 1948, and his own love of the maritime atmosphere surfaced at a very early age. “Living on the outskirts of London, you are only 60 miles from the ocean so, when you go on holiday, you always go to the seashore.” That proximity to the ocean changed, however, when his father’s job required a move to Ontario, Canada, and later to Cleveland, Ohio. Although distant from the ocean in both locations, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario became substitutes and, whenever he could, Ramsay gravitated to the docks to watch tankers and other transport ships, as they plied their trade on the Great Lakes.

In 1962, Ramsay’s family made its final move, this time to Salt Lake City, Utah. Following his high school graduation, Ramsay earned Bachelor and Master’s degrees in architecture from the University of Utah and, for the next six years, he worked in the United States and England. Working in London’s Museum District for a time provided him the opportunity to study fine art and to meet Carol, the woman he would later marry. In 1978, the couple returned to the Salt Lake City area.

Ian Ramsey

Street Scene, Florence, Italy
Watercolor
18.5″ x 13″
“Florence is a natural Mecca for an architectural painter like me. The view of the cathedral dome looming above the buildings lured me down the street. It is the sort of scene that I am looking for to paint.”

Ian Ramsey

Under the Bridge, Astoria, Oregon
Watercolor
14″ x 18″
“Roaming around, sketching, photographing, and painting among the communities near the mouth of the Columbia River in the summer of 2016 was the highlight of my artistic year. This painting represents an overall impression of Astoria’s waterfront.”