Artist of the Month Marcia Anderson

Artist of the Month Marcia Anderson at Camden Public Library

Marcia Anderson’s watercolor collection entitled “Old Lime Quarries in Rockland and Rockport and the Historic Homes of Quarry Owners” will be on exhibit at the Camden Public Library from February 4 through the end of the month. Historical notes are included with each painting. Also on exhibit will be related vintage photographs from the collection of the library’s History Center featuring the limestone industry.

Rockport artist Marcia Anderson, asked about the inspiration for project, said, “Passing along Old County Road in Rockland, I couldn’t help but notice the gaping, deep gouges in the landscape – the abandoned lime quarries.” She related the history of the limestone industry and how it affects her artwork and the landscape today. “Deep deposits of limestone were discovered by the early 1800s, stretching from Thomaston to Lake Chickawaukie in Rockland, and soon many small quarries were dug. Limestone in those days was used for plaster and mortar. Horses and wagons hauled the chunks of limestone down to the lime kilns along the shore, where the lime was burned and became powder, which in turn was put in barrels and shipped out to cities as far as Washington, DC. For most of the 1800s, preparing and shipping lime was big business in the Rockland/Rockport area, and even in the countryside nearby. Rockland was known as the ‘Lime Capital of the World.’ Some of the beautiful homes of the lime quarry owners are still standing, and I have painted these, along with the quarries they owned.” Anderson is publishing a booklet that will accompany the exhibit.