M~ Arml- Littda N()Yton) RedU~ Her Maritiuu Ro-oir by Louis A. Norton
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a mden, Maine, is home po rt to more than a dozen wooden and steel sailing ships that make up the Maine windjammer Heer. H ere, the postcard scenes of wooden schooners ghosting in under sail power alone are just part of the everyday backdrop. In the region, maritime heritage is not just about history, it's present in people's everyday work. In and amongst the shops and restaurants that cater to the summer tourists are businesses whose bread and butter are tied to the working waterfront-shipyards with marine railways and shipwrights trained in building and maintaining large wooden ships, sailmakers who still use needle and palm, riggers who splice fiber and wire rope, and chandlers who stock rope, wooden blocks, and tarred m arlin. Where better for an artist to rediscover her maritime roots? In 2000, Linda No rton relocated from Connecricut to her maternal family home in Camden. She comes from generations of Maine seafarers who originally settled on Vinalhaven Island in 1769. Back in Maine, having taken up residence in her grandparents' home and set up her studio in the old barn, Norton has taken to the deck before taking paintbrush in hand. For her "From the D eck Of" series, she sailed aboard the schooners American Eagle, North Star, and Timberwind and the ketch Angelique to get a feeling, not only for the ship underway, but for the individual character of each vessel as determined by their captain-owners and crew Ms. Norton's maritime art is in the style of realism, but with a subtle sense of passion and power. Like classical artists, such as the Wyeths, Winslow Homer, William Edward No rton, and Milton Burns, who painted scenes of coastal Maine, (left) "Hauling Out," (below) "Twelve Knots" aboard the schooner American Eagle, a Gloucester-built (1930) fishing schooner that was restored and converted to the passenger trade in the mid-1980s. Seven ofMaine's windjammers are National Historic Landmarks, including American Eagle and schooner Roseway. (above right) "Roseway Reflections" depicts the former Grand Banks fishing schooner and former Boston pilot schooner (built in 1925) alongside the dock, ready to board. ;\9f¡~r
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