▁the ▁age ▁of ▁ 2 1 , ▁when ▁he ▁married , ▁he ▁was ▁making ▁gold ▁thread ▁and ▁also ▁worked ▁as ▁a ▁ship ' s ▁car p enter . ▁He ▁later ▁worked , ▁until ▁the ▁age ▁of ▁ 3 0 , ▁as ▁a ▁master ▁ship ' s ▁builder ▁and ▁sea ▁captain . ▁Ar ound ▁ 1 6 9 4 , ▁he ▁became ▁a ▁pup il ▁of ▁the ▁artist ▁The odor ▁van ▁P ee ▁( cir ca ▁ 1 6 6 8 - 1 7 4 6 ) ▁and ▁learned ▁to ▁paint . ▁ ▁In ▁ 1 6 9 7 , ▁he ▁gave ▁instruction ▁in ▁the ▁drawing ▁of ▁ships ▁to ▁Peter ▁the ▁Great , ▁who ▁was ▁visit ing ▁Amsterdam ▁at ▁the ▁time . ▁Notes ▁made ▁by ▁the ▁ts ar ▁during ▁these ▁less ons ▁have ▁surv ived . ▁Peter ▁the ▁Great ▁also ▁purchased ▁some ▁of ▁Sil o ' s ▁paint ings . ▁ ▁The ▁mult ital ented ▁Sil o ▁produced ▁not ▁only ▁paint ings ▁but ▁also ▁prints ▁and ▁draw ings , ▁which ▁also ▁exclus ively ▁dep icted ▁mar itime ▁scenes . ▁Over ▁ 2 0 ▁et ch ings ▁by ▁Sil o ▁are ▁known . ▁He ▁also ▁experiment ed ▁with ▁the ▁me zz ot int ▁technique . ▁In ▁his ▁later ▁years , ▁he ▁worked ▁as ▁an ▁instrument ▁builder , ▁making ▁musical ▁instruments , ▁bin oc ular s , ▁magn ifying ▁glass es , ▁and ▁teles cop es , ▁among ▁others . ▁He ▁also ▁produced ▁w ax ▁models . ▁ ▁Sil o ▁wrote ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁books ,