In this workshop, held over six Thursday evenings, October 15 through November 19; 6-8PM each meeting, you will learn to build a model of a Friendship Sloop in an ornament. Students are expected to continue working on their ornament between classes, and the agenda for each week’s session is:

Oct. 15 – Introduction, review of materials, plans, and schedule.  Start work on the hulls.
Oct. 22 – Putty in ornament – demonstration and participation.
Oct. 29 – Completion of hulls, sealing, wire work.  Starting mast and spars.
Nov. 5 – Painting hulls, completion of spars. Starting rigging and sail material.
Nov. 12 – Completion of rigging, into the bulb.
Nov. 19 – Catch up, wrap up

Your Instructor: Alex Bellinger began working in the traditional maritime art of ship modeling at a young age, and picked it up again in college. He apprenticed at the Peabody Museum of Salem, cleaning and repairing models in the collection for nine years. He is active with the USS Constitution Museum Guild, where he is a past Captain and Admiral; he served on the Board of Directors of the Custom House Maritime Museum in Newburyport; and he is a former Editor of The Bottle Shipwright. In 2020 he received a Fellowship in Traditional Arts from the Mass Cultural Council.

Most of his ship models have been made in bottles.  In addition to creating models and writing about them, he is a frequent speaker for modeling clubs, museums and community organizations.  He has been teaching for over 30 years.