Pulling Irons/ Southpaw, 15 x 22 inches, watercolor While I do get to work alongside the watermen as they go about their various harvests, I am also paying close attention to the periphery ofthe work space. Sometimes there are gems like these pulling irons sitting in the bottom of the boat. I quickly photograph the still lifts and go back to work. These irons are used in pulling poles that are used in pound nets-this is done before the winter storms or ice can snap them off Poles are getting harder to find and saving them makes good fiscal sense. Much ofwhat defines the life and times ofa waterman is the bottom dollar. There are so many factors arrayed against them. I draw great inspiration from their friendship, trust, persistence, faith, and humor.
With some 1,000 paintings of watermen and 400 more of log canoe racing scenes to h is credit, Castelli occasionally branches o ut. Recently, he has begun to paint antique automobiles, whose design and utility remind him of boats. He also has been invited by the US Navy to paint scenes of sailors at work aboard guided missile cruisers and aircraft carriers. But he always returns to the watermen of the Chesapeake, oystering and crabbing and scrambling to make a living on the Chesapeake Bay. "Being in the company of these men who live much of their life outside, work outside, pitting themselves every day against adversity, while still being bosses in their own workplace, is an experience and an honor. It's not their fault that the Bay has degraded to the point it has. They're being regulated off the water. They go out every year to try to derive a living from it. It's inspiring." One way Castelli repays the watermen for welcoming him into their private lives and spaces is to tell their story through his art and further by being their advocate to Maryland legislative and regulatory policymakers. "My advocacy," he says, "is derived from a deep fear that ultimately these men will be driven from their own boats and the water by ignorance. One of my purposes in painting is to tell their story in a balanced way." Marc Castelli, artist-advocate for the C hesapeake Bay watermen, is one of the most collected of maritime artists;
Shimmerwing/ Patricia, 22 x 15 inches watercolor Patricia is one of the smaller log canoes sailing in the Chesapeake. Here, she is flying her "kite" with its tongue-in-cheek device of a mosquito. Duke Oliver built her in the 1940s on the Eastern Shore ofthe Chesapeake Bay. These log-built indigenous craft, with their over-canvassed rigs, clipper bows, and centerboards are deceptive in their visual elegance. They are very physical boats to race, and their crews must be savvy sailors, physically agile, and love these boats as if they were true members of the family. Some of these canoes are over a hundred years old and have as a ''class" been raced since the 1840s. About thirteen or so still actively race each summer on the rivers ofthe Eastern Shore.
SEA HISTORY 132, AUTUMN 2010
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