He would fashion a paintbrush from a twig and some of his own hair, he would grab whatever was available — plywood, masonite, a seashell — and in this way, Captain John. J. Ivory created an eccentric artistic legacy befitting his legendary vagabond life.

If the details are not quite right — for instance, if the artist’s real name was something else — well, that fits too. The Dublin-born merchant marine, who liked a drink or too many, took the exact truth of his life to his grave in Oak Grove Cemetery and left for us his embellished stories and folkloric paintings. The paintings might have paid off a poker debt or bought him some plonk; it was enough to get Capt. Ivory through to whatever came next.

On Wednesday, April 20, his story will be told in paintings and in the words of Jane Slater, Menemsha antiques dealer, Chilmark columnist for the Gazette and standard-bearer for the Captain Ivory Society (formed by Ted Hewett and the late Bill Honey long after the artist’s death in 1960).

The talk, called Captain John J. Ivory: Island History on Canvas (Boards, Plywood, Masonite, even Sea Shells), begins at 7 p.m. at the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

The library has 12 paintings that will be on display; others are in the Martha’s Vineyard Museum and private collections. Those with Capt. Ivory paintings or stories are encouraged to bring them along.