Robert Weiss
'Arctic Trio II'

Robert Weiss
'Constitution Tooth'

Robert Weiss
'John Paul Jones'

Robert Weiss
'American Bald Eagle'

Robert Weiss
'The Bermuda Clipper'

Robert Weiss
'Queequeg'

Robert Weiss
'Arctic Trio'

Scrimshaw was once the province of working whalemen at sea as a way to pass the time during voyages that could last five years or more. Today's scrimshanders are highly skilled and trained artists who have selected engraving on ivory as their chosen medium. This new breed of ivory artists uses both historical information and their imaginations to create highly complex works of art in a wide variety of subjects. Foremost among these is Robert Weiss who is regarded by many as the premier practitioner of this art form.

A native New Englander and a 1978 graduate of Pratt Institute, Bob is one of only two marine artists to have won the prestigious Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award three times. This is the top award given each year at the Mystic International Marine Art Exhibition, recognizing the one work in the show that "best documents our maritime heritage, past or present, for generations of the future." Bob also received an Award of Excellence at the 1996 Mystic International. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists.

Trained as an illustrator and graphic designer, Bob turned to scrimshaw some 22 years ago. Since then his unique approach and reverence for the tradition have won him accolades from collectors, gallery directors and artists alike.

At the beginning of his scrimshaw career he began an intensive and continuing study of whaling ships, whales and whaling history. This in turn has led into many other areas of marine research. Bob spent 1993-96 studying classical realism, with a particular focus on portrait painting at the Riley League of Artists in White Plains, New York. This gave him the picture making skills needed to push the art of scrimshaw to new and higher levels.

His work now stands on par with the best in the world of contemporary marine art. It is set apart from the rest of contemporary scrimshaw by its high technical level, devotion to historical accuracy, and originality of concept. Bob has focused on creating original images through the melding of painstaking historical research and an almost painterly engraving technique.

Whether it is the drama of a "Nantucket sleigh ride", the weathered visage of a whaling captain or the inquisitive expression of a walrus perched on arctic ice, Bob not only remains faithful to historical and natural detail, but captures the essence of his subject as well.

East Hawaii en plein Aire
Since moving to the island of Hawai’i (aka The Big Island) in 2006, Bob has been an ardent practitioner of Plein Aire painting, the art of painting directly from nature 'in the open air’. Working alone and with The Plein Aire Artists of Hawai’i Island (PAAOHI), Bob has focused on painting the varied and stunning beauty of East Hawai’i. His first solo exhibit of plein aire works is hanging at the Hilo Yacht Club through November 15, 2008. Click on this link to view the paintings: http://plein-aire.blogspot.com/

Robert Weiss
'Sir Ernest Shackleton'

Robert Weiss
'The Scrimshanders'

Robert Weiss
'Honu'

Robert Weiss
'Disaster of 1871'

Robert Weiss
'Fast Friends III'

Robert Weiss
'RANGER'