Son of Arthur M Bond and Lucille Gilleland Bond

....

Paragraph below and top photo captioned: Willard Gordon Bond On His Sailboat from New York Times article June 11, 2012.

Mr. Bond, whose images line the walls of thousands of homes — particularly those of avid sailors — died of congestive heart failure on May 19 in Yountville, Calif. He was 85. Until moving to California several months ago to be near his daughter, Mr. Bond had divided his time between his apartment in Brooklyn Heights and the 30-foot-high geodesic dome he built decades ago as a second studio near Barryville, N.Y., in the Catskills. In addition to his daughter, Gretchen Bond de Limur, Mr. Bond is survived by his longtime partner, Lois Friedel Bond and two grandchildren.

.....

Second photo and bio from Annapolis Marine Art Gallery website.

Willard Bond was quite simply the number-one painter of sailing action in the world. His posters and prints - his originals in oil and watercolor, have won him a huge following among sailors and those who love the constant movement of the sea in all its moods.

He was born in the Pacific Northwest and grew up on Lake Cour d'Alene in Northern Idaho. In World War II he acquired experience on battleships, cruisers and destroyer escorts while serving in the South Pacific and was among the first miliary personnel in occupied Japan.

Bond spent 15 years of "making the SoHo scene" in lower Manhattan, both as a ceramic muralist and as an easel artist. His large ceramic murals from this period can still be seen around New York at Cannon Point North under the 59th Street Bridge and at the Eugene O'Neill Theater, to name a few. Bond was then bitten by the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome bug and moved to a rain jungle by the sea in Jamaica, where he experimented with geodesic dome construction for five years.

The advent and design of today's sleek racing boat and Bond's artistic interpretation have proven a perfect match. Willard was fortunate enough to get involved with the Freedom Syndicate during the 1984 America's Cup series. He was invited to straphang on Freedom in a warmup tacking duel with Liberty before the last Liberty-Courageous race. Since then he had been getting additional onboard experience in world class racing.

Bond studied at the Chicago Art Institute, the Art Students League of New York and is a graduate of Pratt Institute Art School. He is a Fellow in the American Society of Marine Artists. Bond was featured in an article in the summer 1980 edition of Sea History, the Winter, 1982 edition of Nautical Quarterly, and the August 1987 issue of The Yacht. Willard paints in his studio in the Catskills and is a frequent visitor to Annapolis for the United States Sailboat Show, and for openings at the Annapolis Marine Art Gallery.

http://www.annapolismarineart.com/WillardBond

Photo: Running Home by Willard Bond.