Cary W. Akins was born and raised in Minnesota. He loved art from an early age, but his career choices were strongly influenced by his parents, his father a doctor and his mother a nurse. His interests in art and architecture were put on hold.
He moved to Boston to attend Harvard College and then Harvard Medical School. While in medical school, he relaxed by visiting the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum to study the work of the great masters. Occasionally he would paint with a palette knife and oils as a distraction.
After graduation, he trained in surgery at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and spent the next 35 years as a staff cardiac surgeon there and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.
About ten years before he retired, his family built a home on Nantucket. He was struck by the great scenery and wonderful sunsets with fabulous colors that make the island a special East Coast refuge. He found time on vacations to indulge his passion for art by painting many of the sunset scenes on the island, throughout the seasons.
Following retirement from his surgical career in 2013, he has found more time to paint with oils on canvas. A self-taught artist, he has enjoyed meeting other island artists and exchanging ideas with them. His work has found places in the homes of family, friends and followers. He held a one-artist show in 2013 entitled “Nantucket Reflections” to benefit the Nantucket Cottage Hospital. His paintings are currently displayed at Quidley and Company galleries.