Elmer Ham floral

Elmer L Ham - Pastel Floral

Here is another fragment of a floral study by Elmer L Ham.  I've really enjoyed working through these fragments and experimenting with different compositions.  

I've never really tried collage before but I think I will in the future.  I'm now keeping scraps and bits that I used to throw away for further consideration down the road.   Sometimes preliminary pieces are so much more freeing to work on - that happy accidents can occur.  

While working on some of these fragments its been very interesting to see the different perspectives approaching abstraction. 

The above fragment is a Pastel.   Below is a watercolor fragment.

I'll include more floral still lives in other posts.  This subject matter definitely reflects Ham's training with Laura Coombs Hills.

Floral Still life Fragment by Elmer Ham

Elmer L Ham Watercolor  5" x 7" framed.

This is a fragment of an unfinished floral watercolor by Elmer L Ham.    In addition to many finished paintings, the portfolios of paintings I purchased had many paintings in various stages of completion.  There were many finished still lives, others that were clearly studies of floral still life in watercolor and pastels and still others that were started but not finished beyond the pencil sketch (outline really) and some areas of finish.  

You can see the faint pencil indications in this sketch - which would be erased partially or completely in finished painting depending on the artists decision on whether the pencil added to or distracted from the desired effect.

I gave much consideration to the uncompleted still lives.  Many studies were on full sheets of watercolor paper - too large to be displayed with so much unfinished and all unsigned.  After studying the paintings intently, I decided to experiment and crop, mat, and frame some of the more finished pieces.  The above painting is one example of those efforts.

I have to admit, still lives had not held much appeal to me - being far more interested in landscapes.  But I'd never taken the opportunity to study so many up close.  I've also been considering doing still lives of items of loved ones no longer with us.  My parents, and my sister Cathy to name a few.  I also found the process of considering different compositions from different paintings to be a very engaging activity.

   

Ham's teacher, Laura Coombs Hills, was and still is very well known for her still life floral paintings in both pastel and oils.  She would summer in the town of her birth, Newburyport Mass, often picking flowers from her own garden and painting them.  She would then move to her winter studio in Boston, Ma. When speaking with the curator of a recent retrospective of Hills, she stated that Hills did teach occasionally and only select students as she was actively painting, exhibiting, and selling through galleries.  There are many other areas where Hills was a recognized expert but that is a subject for another time.

  

     by   Laura Coombs Hills

                                                               Laura Coombs Hills

How and when she met and decided to teach Ham I haven't been able to determine at this time.  She definitely had an influence on him, as evidenced by his exhibition of a floral still life in the Annual Exhibition of New England painters at Jordan Marsh Galleries in Boston in 1946 and the many still life paintings in his portfolios.  

Interestingly, I did find an old newspaper clipping, describing how a young teenage Elmer L Ham left his home in Portsmouth NH to "see the world" (without his parents knowledge).  Ham slept overnight in a barn and was discovered the following night wandering around the Market Square in Newburyport.  Maybe that spirit of adventure was remembered and noted by Hills - as the journey did make the papers.  Ham's father collected him safely the following day, thanking the police for their kindness.

Throughout his life, Ham explored and painted along the Maine, NH, and Massachusetts coast as well as the California coast.  Ham definitely captured the movement of water and the action of waves and mist - which only comes from long study and observation.  His California seascapes capture a different atmosphere that I've never had the pleasure of visiting, but compared with other known California Artists, he's captured the West Coast as surely as he did the East Coast.

Crashing Surf and Boats in Harbor

Here is another watercolor painting in the portfolio's that I purchased by Elmer L. Ham. The sense of movement and color that he has captured here speaks to me of someone who spent a great deal of time painting on location and observing nature.  I have no evidence to prove that, only conjecture, a lifetime of observing the ocean and twenty plus years painting on location.

This painting is also freely and confidently painted.  The brushstrokes are visible and help define both form and movement without being overworked.

Today, Ham seems largely forgotten.   A quick review of sales records indicate that he seems to be most well known for his pastel still life drawings of flowers which reflect his training by noted Boston and Newburyport artist Laura Coombs Hills.  The watercolor above and paintings I'll share later show his talent and his interest in his surroundings. 

Here is the beginning of what I've been able to find out about Elmer L. Ham.

Early Years :  Portsmouth and Boston

Elmer L Ham was born in Portsmouth New Hampshire on June 18, 1884 to Robert and Sarah Ham.  He had an adventurous spirit as reflected in a September 15, 1897 article in the Portsmouth Herald.  This article recounts his unauthorized journey walking from Portsmouth NH, sleeping in a barn, and then eventually being discovered by the police “wandering around Market Square (Newburyport) late at night.”   Ham was 13 years old at the time of his first trip.  Elmer attended Portsmouth schools and by 1903 (age 19) he was working as a printer’s apprentice in his father’s print shop in Portsmouth New Hampshire.   (1903 City Directory of Portsmouth NH)

By his mid 20’s, Ham had relocated to Boston and was working in a sign painting shop.  According to the 1910 Federal Census Elmer was an Artist / Librarian for a sign painting and catalogue company.  A number of landscape paintings in watercolor and pastel reflect areas nearby his Allston apartment including the nearby Charles River, Harbor, and Boston Public Gardens.  Other identified paintings include the locales of Newton and New Bedford.  Boston City Directories have Ham listed as continuing to work as a commercial artist for sign companies throughout the late 1920’s.

Fishing Boats in Harbor

15" x 21"

Fishing Boats in Harbor - Winter  15.5" by 22"

These two paintings also speak to me of on location observation.  They are not your typical subjects, particularly the winter subject.  These are also both on large/ full sheets of watercolor paper.  Notice the white of the paper is used for effect in both of these sketches.