Born in Boothbay Harbor, Consuelo Eames Hanks spent much of her life far from home. She attended schools in England, France and the U.S., and received a baccalaureate degree from the Lycee Francais de New York and a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Wheaton College in Massachusetts.

Her intricate drawing and detailed painting style is influenced by the work of her father John Heagan Eames, a member of the National Academy of Design and a senior member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers in England.

Hanks’ interest in painting began in Japan while studying the art of traditional Japanese ink wash painting, called sumi-e, with Takashitasan of Nagasaki.

Hanks is mostly a self-taught artist, deriving inspiration from many sources. Undoubtedly, her favorite subjects come from sailing cruises along the Maine coast in the family’s Friendship sloop. Hanks was noticed in literary circles when she illustrated the Pulitzer Prize winning book “Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs and the Chesapeake Bay,” written by William W. Warner in 1976. For many years she did all the maritime illustrations in the New Yorker magazine.

She also illustrated books by Maine humorist and storyteller, John Gould, and contributed to Roger Duncan’s 1992 “Coastal Maine: A Maritime History.” Hanks has done illustrations for Wooden Boat Magazine, and in 1981 was featured on the cover of Downeast Magazine. Also, the Pine Tree Society has used her watercolors for many of their holiday cards.

Her drawings and watercolors are in permanent collections in the U.S. and Europe and high-quality limited edition prints of many of her drawings and watercolors are available in galleries and fine gift shops around New England.  

Galleries in Maine include Art of the Sea Gallery in South Thomaston, Ducktrap in Camden, Boothbay Region Art Foundation in Boothbay Harbor, and the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset.

To see the works of Hanks, go to the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library this month during their business hours of Tuesday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.