Dennis Da Silva

Dennis Da Silva (born ca. 1946) began experimenting with gemstone carving and scrimshaw during the Vietnam War while he served in the Navy. Before the war, Da Silva studied sculpture under Heinze Warneke and Don Turano and painting at Maryland University. When he completed his term of service in 1976, Da Silva dedicated his career to mastering a much wider array of media including marble, wood, metals and terra cotta. He also continued painting, gaining prominence for his Civil War-era portraiture. He illustrated the cover of North South Trader magazine in 1973 and many other Civil War books and periodicals followed. Da Silva’s best known works, however, are his wooden architectural models of historic ships like the HMS Titanic and the USS Monitor. Expertly crafted at a 1/4 inch scale, modelmaking allows Da Silva to revisit extraordinary architectural and industrial innovations in the US and abroad. Da Silva continues to create work from his farm in Frederick County, Maryland.