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2004
September Camden Artist Linda Norton is the Artist of the
Month at the Camden Public
Library
"I enjoy variety, and feel
constant observation and changes in materials,
lighting, and subjects helps you to grow," says Linda Norton, the Camden
library's Artist of the Month. Formerly a resident of Cobalt, Connecticut,
watercolorist Linda M. Norton relocated in July 2000 to her maternal family
home in Camden. Her grandfather, Horace Leadbetter, was from generations of
seafaring men dating back to his ancestors settling on Vinalhaven Island in
1769. "The coast of Maine is in my blood, I love the sea and salt air, the
schooners, trawlers, and lobster boats, and the inherent beauty and power of
the sea," says Linda. "Opening my studio and gallery in the barn where
my
grandfather worked is an exciting challenge." Inspired by the beauty of
nature and the constantly changing weather of Penobscot Bay on the Maine
coast, Linda paints what she sees and feels as well as her childhood
memories of Camden. Her traditional realism is a unique way of capturing the
"moments in time" that inspire her art.
Norton's art will be on exhibit September 8 through September 30 in the
Picker Room of the Camden Public Library. There will be a reception for the
artist on Thursday evening, September 9, at 6:30 pm in the Picker Room
Gallery.
"Marine art has become a major subject, having spent every summer on the
Maine coast at my uncle's (Gilbert Leadbetter's) boat yard." she says.
Linda
and other children in the family were expected to understand and respect the
changing nature of the sea, the weather and the vessels that navigated its
waters.
In January 2001 four of Linda's Coast Guard paintings were juried by the
Salmagundi Club Selection Committee into the U.S. Coast Guard Permanent
Collection and were included in their 2001-02 National Tour. Linda is also
one of the four national recipients of the George Gray Award for 2001-2002
given by the Coast Guard to chosen CoGAP members for their artistic ability
to depict USCG duties, equipment, and personal.
Although her first love is watercolors Linda has expanded her studies to
include murals, faux finishing, and teaching faux art, much of which is
literally "over your head." Linda has work in private collections
nationwide. A prolific artist in a variety of subject matter, she works in
her home and studio in Camden, Maine.
The Free Press, Rockland, ME; Village
Soup, Camden, ME,
2003
July
"The Maine Squeeze" located at 415 Main Street Rockland is
featuring a solo exhibit :
"The Flag at Sea &
Ashore" by watercolorist Linda M. Norton of Camden,
for the month of July. Ms. Norton has been working on the series
about the American Flag
and how it is displayed in the Mid Coast area since 1998. The paintings feature
mid coast
homes, businesses and boats that proudly display the Flag.
Several of Ms. Norton's works have been included in the U. S. Coast Guard Art
Program and Linda was
one of four national recipients of the George Gray Award for 2001-2002.
Transportation Secretary Leon
Mineta requested "The Eagle's Flag" and it was displayed at the DOT
dining facility in Washington, D.C.
Other works from the collection have been exhibited in juried shows in Virginia,
Connecticut, Nebraska
and Kansas. Originals and Iris Giclee Limited Edition Prints of the series are
in private collections nationally.
In addition to her selection as a Coast Guard Artist Linda is an Elected Artist
Member of the Lyme Art
Association in Old Lyme, CT. , a member of the American Society of Marine
artist, Maine Arts Commission
and Center for Maine Contemporary Art.
The show opens on July 1st, 2003. There will be a reception of "meet the
artist" on Wednesday July 16th
from 5-8 PM during the regular scheduled Gallery Nights in downtown Rockland.
After 9/11 Linda offered the use of any of the images to non profits to produce
posters for fundraisers for
their cause.
Anyone interested in more information about this can contact her through her web
site
www.LindaNortonStudio.com.
Courier-Gazette Rockland, Maine. Camden
Herald, Camden, Maine
2002
May
The Hilton Head Art League is delighted to announce that Linda M. Norton
of Camden, Maine has won THIRD PLACE in Water media for her
painting,
"Under the Trees", in Hilton Head's 15th Annual National Juried Art
Exhibition.
This juried show is one of the more competitive ones in the country, offering
$10,000.00 in prize money with three nationally renowned jurors. Judi
Betts
from Baton Rouge, Dean Mitchell from Overland Park Kansas, and Burt
Silverman from New York City, served as judges. From the total of 663
entries
received this year from 42 states, the district of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
Quebec and Ontario , 122 entries were juried into the show. Nineteen
artists
from 13 different states received awards in six different media categories in
the final judging. For more information, please contact the Hilton Head Art
League
at 843-681-4057
2001
Nov.
"Three local art groups get together in a huge show" A review by
Stanley Schuler: If there ever has been a show like that which opened
last Friday at the
Lyme Art Association, no one recalls it. It is the work, not only of the Lyme artists,
but
also of those belonging to the Clinton and Madison Art Societies. And it is the largest
show that the
venerable Lyme Art Association has ever staged. There are 275 paintings
and sculptures and they fill all four of the large Lyme galleries. My heart, however, belongs
with the people
pictures in the exhibition. They are splendid. People who probably have
laughed
at my
unabashed enthusiasm for people in art will agree, I believe, when they
see them--six of them in the north gallery: One is a teenage girl who looks a lot like a
boy
sitting on her front stoop evidently waiting for someone. ("Ruth 1936") It is by
Linda M. Norton. Main Street News, (CT.) Nov. 8
--14 pg 26
Aug.
"Country Roads Art Tour" The Camden
Herald, Camden, Maine.
Thursday Aug. 23 pg
B1 by Jamey Bumbalo
Aug.
"Widening your vision" ,by Tory Haiss "All of the
artists I have met in Maine have been
extremely willing to help in any way that they can" said Linda Norton,
"We didn't have the
ability to network as well in Connecticut," Norton said, "and we
certainly didn't have this. It
widens your base and widens your vision" Maine Times Aug. 23-29 Vol. 34
No.16 regarding the educational programs at The Center for Maine
Contemporary Art formerly Maine Coast Artists.
May
"Local galleries greet summer", Her paintings have been
on view for some months at
Camden National Bank's downtown branch, and others are on tour at present with
the
permanent collection maintained by the US Coast Guard, an agency with which she
has
had a long association. The Camden
Herald, Thursday May 31,
pg
B3
2000
Aug.
Lebanon, CT Tercentennial Show Catalogue, "Goshen Cemetery Revisited"
July
"Lyme Art Association goes down to the Sea in Ships, by Stanley Schuler At
the
same time the Tall ships invaded New London Harbor, they invaded the gallery of
the Lyme
Art Association. The paintings are excellent--especially Linda Norton's dizzying
look upward
at the Eagle's crow's nest---- Maine
Street News, July, 20 - 26 pg. 27
May
"Visual arts, Performing arts" by Rosanne T. Simbroski, Mystic
Coast &
Country, Spring/Summer
May
"Local Artists Work a Natural Fit at Store" The
Hartford Courant,
by Peter Marteka
Jan.
*Rathburn Library The watercolor exhibition,
"Moments In Time" by Linda M. Norton now
on view at the Rathburn Free Memorial Library gives the
viewer a feeling of taking a cool
breezy morning walk along the coast of Maine. The expert use of
semi-transparent
watercolors in these paintings gives the true effect of the
light reflected off the ocean and
shores of the Maine environment. The
Middletown Press,
Woman's Section, Jan, 10, pg D1 by Susan R. Grimaldi (www.ctcentral.com)
1999
Nov.
*Portland Library The Atlantic Ocean is
ingrained in artist Linda
Norton's work, the shifting light dancing on the rolling surface of the water in
her
watercolors. One watercolor is a detail of a crow's nest and rigging and rope
ladders on a
main mast. Bit it is her understanding of light and water that compels the eye:
the softly
liquid surface and the wavering reflections and muted colors captured so well.
Rivereast (Glastonbury,
CT) Nov. 5 pg 29
Hometown News (East Haddam, CT)
Nov. 5
July
"Midsummer Juried Show", Lyme Art Association, The
Trumpeter,
(photo by Morgan)
June
"Salmagundi Club 22nd Annual Juried Exhibition", Linda
Norton recently had her
watercolor "Tidal Pool Reflections" on display at the world renowned
Salmagundi Club in
New York. Norton's painting was one of 81 paintings selected from 1,200 entries for
the club's
annual Non-member show. Rivereast July 9 pg.
12
May
*Harbor Hill Care Center,
Middletown, CT, Bill Thompson administrator of Harbor
Hill is pleased to announce the completion of three wall murals in the
Alzheimer's
unit of their Church St. facility. Local artist Linda M. Norton was commissioned
to do the
murals. "My main concern was to try to bring the outside in for these
patients and not to
"date" the work. The interest and enjoyment of the patients increased
as we progressed
and their response was an incentive!" says Linda " Although at times
keeping focused was
difficult, I have nothing but praise for the personnel, their commitment to
their patients, their
professional integrity and their humor in sometimes trying situations."
Linda says with a
smile. "I will miss them". The first mural is 8' x 35' and greets the
visitor as they enter the
unit. It is a pastoral scene with animals barns and stone walls. The other
murals are in the
patients television room and represent looking off your front porch on the left
wall and off
the back porch on the right.
1998
Nov.
"Sundance Farm: Rooms with a View" by Roger Straub, Linda
has a knack of
taking a very ordinary object and making it into a desired thing of beauty. All
the doors in
the house are painted scenes, the ceilings are painted with pale colored clouds,
and the
once plywood floors are decorated in marble slab, exotic tile or simulated barn
board.
Linda takes commissions and will go on location to work on private residences.
The home
also boasts several of Linda's photo-realistic style watercolors. The
current exhibit at
Sundance Farm consists of some 70 paintings of area artists as well as Norton's
work.
The Trumpeter, East Haddam, CT. Nov. 12
Sep.
"New Member Elected to Lyme Art Association, The
Trumpeter,
Rivereast
1997
Nov.
"Cobalt Home Showcases Artworks", by Wendy Kirk, A
house painter can make a
wall look clean and covered, but to paint as if that wall is a canvas is
pure artistry, a feat
that Norton beautifully masters. She claims that artistry is possible to achieve
in any
home. Norton, an artist of 25 years, has transformed her
home, Sundance Farm, into a
visual journey around the world. The
Middletown Press, Nov. 6
June
"A different Setting for Exhibiting Art" by Mary J. Micewski, When
artist Linda
Norton wants to go from a jungle safari to the Orient, she does not have far to
travel. Each
room in her two story colonial home is decorated in a different theme: from
walls and
ceilings painted like a tropical rainforest to rooms with elegant Victorian Faux
finishing and
(Linda's) fine watercolors. "I want to open people's minds to the possibilities in
their own
surroundings," she says. "You can go as far as your imagination will
take you."
The Middletown Press , June 26
May
*"Sponging. The Key to Easy Faux Finishing Techniques" by Linda
Norton,
At Home with Bill the Handyman, Spring
Issue
