Charleston Gazette
28 November 2006
By Sandy Wells, Staff writer
Passing the state Capitol, its golden dome gleaming against the sky, two sternwheelers churn gracefully downstream, accompanied by a large, sleek towboat shoving a barge piled with coal.
The three vessels depicted in the painting, all familiar to Charleston river watchers, share a common bond: Lawson Hamilton.
"It's quite an honor to have a connection to three riverboats," said Hamilton, a coal operator and lifelong river aficionado.
So he commissioned Iowa maritime artist Michael Blaser to paint them.
"I wanted all three of those boats in a painting together," he said, "and I wanted the Capitol in the background. Michael has captured it."
The painting, "Three Ladies of Charleston," depicts Hamilton's personal sternwheeler, the Momma Jeanne; the Madison Coal towboat named in his honor - the MV Lawson Hamilton Jr.; and the former Charleston-based sternwheeler P.A. Denny, purchased by Hamilton from the estate of his friend, Pete Denny, in the mid-1970s. The Denny left Charleston in 2004 to serve as a floating classroom for environmental river studies in Covington, Ky.
The artist visits Charleston today to unveil the original oil painting and introduce numbered print reproductions during a public reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Roger Lucas Gallery, 1031 Quarrier St. The prints sell for $175, and Blaser will be available to inscribe them.
"One of the greatest honors anyone ever did for me was name a towboat after me," Hamilton said. "It really caught me by surprise. And of course, I've always loved the Momma Jeanne and the good times we've had aboard. My true love was the P.A. Denny. We walked those decks for 29 years and had a wonderful series of parties on her."
The Denny, originally the Robin D Too, offered public and private cruises and was the centerpiece of the Sternwheel Regatta. Pete Denny was refurbishing the boat when he died. Hamilton bought her and rechristened her in Denny's honor.
"It fell on my lap to finish Pete's job," said Hamilton. "His son was trying to unload her. I had to take her and finish her."
Blaser's commission to paint the three boats started three years ago when he visited Charleston to examine and photograph them at the Madison Coal docks. He photographed the waterfront up and downstream and made about five oil sketches.
"A lot of forethought goes into those sketches," he said from his Iowa office. "Once I had all the research, I had to sit down and pick a color scheme." Corrections and indecision delayed the project, he said. "I went off on other tangents. I started painted sailing ships. So it was a long-term commission."
A stickler for accuracy and intricate detail, Blaser painted the Momma Jeanne with people socializing on the deck, "because they always are."
In 1998, Hamilton commissioned him to paint "Charleston - The Great Kanawha River," a steamboat scene recalling the way the river looked in the 1930s when Hamilton was a boy.
Like Hamilton, Blaser has nurtured an emotional attachment to steamboats as long as he can remember. He lives on the banks of the Upper Mississippi River where he grew up. As a boy obliging a fanciful imagination, he painted and sketched imaginary clipper ships at sea and steamboats plying the inland rivers.
Those early skills, now finely honed, bring national recognition. Commissioned the official artist for the 2006 Tall Stacks Festival in Cincinnati this fall, he was chosen by the Cincinnati Historical Society to paint a series of maritime portraits illustrating the city and the river landing through different periods. He recently completed a similar series for the Milwaukee Public Museum.
After its unveiling at the Lucas Gallery on Tuesday, "Three Ladies of Charleston" will be exhibited during a four-day function at The Greenbrier. Blaser will be on hand to talk about the painting and sign prints.
To contact staff writer Sandy Wells, use e-mail or call 348-5173.
If you go: Artist Michael Blaser will be in Charleston today to unveil the original oil painting and introduce numbered print reproductions during a public reception from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Roger Lucas Gallery, 1031 Quarrier St.