Inspirations for paintings often come at unexpected times and from unexpected sources. Such is true of Southport artist Ed Parker’s latest painting “The Linekin Bay Ferry.”

While doing historic research on the web for a completely different subject, Parker came across a vintage photograph of a ferryboat with a large banner declaring it to be the Linekin Bay Ferry. The photograph was traced back to a Maine antique dealer’s blog on the Sprucewold summer colony, but had no further information on the vessel itself. Additional detective work with considerable help from Barbara Rumsey at the Boothbay Historical Society provided the vessel’s name, the Lizette M. and the captain/owner’s name, Benjamin Coolen; a schedule and a passenger fare card. It seems that in the early decades of the 20th century, the Lizette M. took passengers, mostly summer “rusticators” from Boothbay Harbor to the Linekin Bay Colony with stops along the way such as Mouse Island, Spruce Point and Sprucewold, Ticket prices were 15 to 25 cents.

The resulting painting displays the wit, whimsy, and Yankee humor that characterize Ed Parker’s work. Each painting is a story to be completed by the viewer in his or her own way. Now residing at the Gleason Fine Art Gallery, the “Linekin Bay Ferry” sails again, a young girl at the helm, passengers engaged in conversation, reading, flirting and fishing off the stern with grandmother riding happily on top with the baggage.

New England born Ed Parker combines a respect for history and great American traditions, with unique inventiveness that has placed him among the leaders of today's generation of Americana painters. His paintings have an original way of capturing the complexity of modern culture with a sometimes compelling, often whimsical sense of tradition.

A Signature member of the American Society of Marine Artists, Ed’s paintings have graced private, corporate and museum collections from coast to coast. Parker has carved out a name for himself using a sophisticated sense of design, proportion and color to create charming and often humorous vignettes of American life. The paintings borrow from American folklore and history creating inspired moments in time and imagination. They become visual stories that you can interpret and complete, each in their own way. Recently, The Atlanta Journal referred to Ed’s work as “Grant Wood with a Yankee sense of humor.”

For more on his work, visit Ed Parker Studio on Facebook.

In addition to Gleason Fine Arts, his work is featured in galleries on Nantucket Island, in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut.

Gleason Fine Art is located at 31 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor. For more information, call the gallery: 633-6849.