A map can tell you where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going and for one local mapmaker, his maps also are making a difference in the community.
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| Sam Merriam, the president of Great Northern Docks, has been making maps of local lakes for the past 10 years. Proceeds from map sales have been donated to assist area food pantries. This month the proceeds from online map sales will benefit hurricane victims in the south. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
“They have been an inspiration to me,” Merriam said. “I’ve always enjoyed illustrations ever since I was a child, and art is a thing in my family.”
While visiting Waterboro’s Little Ossipee Lake in 2014, he decided to create a map through his work as President of Great Northern Docks and offer it to the public. He needed a place to distribute the map, and he found it at the Lakeside Market owned at the time by Sandy and Leo Binnette.
“I went to them and wanted to get the maps out there,” he said. “But I felt there would be no perceived value for them if they were free. I told them they can sell them, and they agreed. We set a suggested price, and they said they would donate 100 percent of sales from the maps to the local food pantry. I thought it was generous and that set everything into motion.”
Since then, Merriam has done the same thing for other local lakes and has produced maps for Long Lake, Brandy Pond, Sebago Lake and many others with proceeds from sales benefitting local food pantries in the Lakes Region.
“Every time I put a map out, I get requests for others I don’t have,” he said. “I’m up to 20 now and not ready to stop. It has given me such a sense of fulfillment.”
Most of his maps are completed in the winter. He starts with paper and a pencil and then determines how his idea will lay out on the page.
“Sometimes the borders will be different and there will be different illustrations. I figure out to use the art comprehensively with each map,” Merriam said.
The maps also include text for information such as the names of islands or coves, and sometimes local roads.
“The whole thing is a piece of art,” he said. “When it’s all finished it’s a piece of art to be put on a wall.
Each drawing is done by Merriam freehand with India ink and he sits and does a composite to put it all together as an 11 x 17 in a vertical and portrait type of presentation. It usually takes him about two to three weeks to complete each map from start to finish.
“They turn out, for the most part, to be mainly the vision I started with,” he said. “Another of my brothers Seth is a graphic artist, and he helps me in the editing phase and the graphic design of making the maps.”
His goal right now is to focus on making maps of the Sebago Lake region including Peabody Pond in Bridgton and Pleasant Lake in Casco. When those projects are finished, Merriam intends to wrap up local lakes and then move on to making a map of Casco Bay and eventually Moosehead Lake.
Among favorite maps that he’s worked on so far is the one he did of Moose Pond in Bridgton.
“I love the way the antlers came out on that one,” Merriam said. “It’s long jagged splash art that I’m happy with. I also enjoyed a map I created of Yarmouth as it has an interesting shoreline.”
Some of his maps have illustrations buried in them that you need to search to find the illustrations because you won’t see them anywhere else.
“I created one where the border depicts the story,” Merriam said. “Another was a lakebed with arrowheads. I enjoy hiding imagery in these maps, it’s the art of entertainment and perpetuates the message of giving subtlety. That would make art more purposeful. My aim is to create each map to have a positive impact.”
Merriam also plays piano and admits that he’s not the best artist or illustrator but is proud of what he’s accomplished through his mapmaking.
“You have to take what you’ve got, and somebody will like what you do,” he said. “Everybody’s needed. If you help or inspire one person in a positive way, you’re not wasted.”
Artistic lake maps of local lakes produced by Great Northern Docks are available at local stores or by visiting https://greatnortherndocks.com/maps/
From now until Oct. 31, for every map purchased all proceeds will be donated for hurricane relief to areas devastated by Hurricane Helen and Hurricane Milton in the Southern United States. <
