Douglas Manry

Douglas Manry aboard flight to England, August, 1965.

Douglas Manry was born in 1954, in Cleveland, the second child of Robert and Virginia. Together, the family grew up in the little red house in Willowick, Ohio, where Robert later prepared Tinkerbelle for her famous voyage.

It is said that he began drawing before he could talk. In his words, “Even though it was only crayon scribbles on cardboard boxes, to me it was art. I was fortunate to belong to a family that not only understood art, but encouraged it.” He began painting in oils when he was nine, and attended weekly classes at the Cooper School of Art in Cleveland. He continued his studies at the School of Fine Arts in nearby Willoughby, Ohio, but learned mostly by visiting museums and by studying and observing other artists.

In 1964, Douglas joined Robert on a weeklong voyage from Cleveland, across Lake Erie to Thunder Bay, in Canada. He wrote and illustrated an article about the adventure that appeared in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Douglas was ten when Robert Manry set off from Falmouth, Massachusetts and had turned eleven by August, when the family greeted his Tinkerbelle’s arrival at Falmouth, Cornwall. Through that trip he first fell in love with the British Isles. Some years later, he returned to England to study at the St. Ives School of Painting in St. Ives, Cornwall. Over the years, he has made many trips to Britain.

To help support his art career, he has worked variously as a tattoo artist, merchant marine and banquet chef at a private Cleveland club. He has also worked as a muralist, and is the co-author of a children’s book, Land the Cleves Built, which he also illustrated.

Douglas was the subject of two Cleveland Plain Dealer stories (Part One, and Part Two) in August 2005, about the legacy and aftermath of Tinkerbelle’s voyage, and the effects it had on the Manry family.

Douglas Manry portrait, circa 2009.

Today, Douglas Manry lives and works in Cleveland, where he continues as an active artist. Here are several comments he has made describing his art:

“I paint in a variety of styles, for every statement should be portrayed as mood dictates. A painting should please the eye and awaken dormant senses inside the viewer. It should be confrontational.”

“I feel that one must try to experience as much as one can out of life, for therein lie the seeds of creation. I’ve always felt that traveling in any form is one of the highest forms of education, and I often reflect on either a place I’ve been or a situation I’ve encountered as inspiration for my art.”

“I have always used art as a way of changing things. If something in the world intrigued me or bothered me, I would either change it, or immortalize it through my art. Art can be an almost magical thing.”

“Most of my paintings involve people in some manner or other, and where there are people, there are stories. I like to tell or suggest stories through my art. The title of a piece is often as important as the composition.”

“I have always been drawn to a good story, and many of my works have a narrative quality. It’s a great feeling when someone else can relate to the story I depict on canvas.”

Here is a sampling of his work:

Mother Carey, 1994, Oil on Canvas

Douglas Manry oil on canvas titled mother carey

“Mother Carey, the “femme fatale” of the deep, is Davey Jones’ wife. She is seen here in the depths of the ocean, combing her hair with a poor sailor’s bones. –DM”

Free From Man, 1996, Oil on Canvas

Douglas Manry oil on canvas titled free from man

“This is an image that shows a sad fate for all wildlife. Two hunters search in frustration on the barren earth below for some kind of animal to kill, while those animals that have perished by a hunter’s bullet frolic freely in the heavens above, forever ‘Free from Man’.” – DM

The Hospital at 4AM, 2006, Oil on Canvas

Douglas Manry oil on canvas titled hospital 4am

“Hospitals can be both amazing and depressing. I’ve often wondered about the myriad emotions that must flourish in a hospital at the wee hours. Here I’ve tried to show both the fatigue and chaos inside an institution that houses the sick. People seldom enjoy being in a hospital. I often think of them as they pass a solemn evening awaiting their time, either for release to their loved ones or to the world beyond.” -DM

Hands, Oil on Canvas

Douglas Manry oil on canvas titled hands

The objective was to do a ‘portrait’ of a group of people with their hands rather than faces, as hands have always been an expressive part of the body as well.” -DM