Maritime artist Neal Hughes depicts the historic Stephen Taber under sail in Camden, Maine
Maritime artist Neal Hughes was attending a windjammer event in Camden, Maine, when he photographed the two-masted schooner Stephen Taber on the water. “I felt it made a perfect subject as it sailed near Curtis Island Light at the harbor entrance,” he recalls. The scene inspired this 18-by-24-inch oil painting.
A National Historic Landmark, the 115-foot Stephen Taber is one of only a few surviving schooners originally built for the Atlantic coasting trade and has remained in near-continuous service for more than 150 years. The ship launched in October 1871 at Bedel Shipyard in Glenwood Landing, New York, and worked primarily around New York Harbor until 1920. In 1946, she was adapted for the windjammer tourist trade, a role she has served ever since. Today, she sails out of Rockland, Maine.
Hughes, who lives in New Jersey, often visits Maine for artistic inspiration. “I found the rocky coast to be a more interesting subject than the beaches of New Jersey and inland where it is pretty flat,” he says. “I am especially attracted to the sailboats and working boats and the endless variations of subject matter on the coast.”
Hughes has been on the water from a young age. His father’s passion was sailing, and Hughes was part of his crew for many years, attending regattas along the East Coast. He later cruised Chesapeake Bay and the waters around Newport, Rhode Island.
Interested in art since childhood, he began taking art lessons in fourth grade and went on to graduate from the former Philadelphia College of Art. After spending the early part of his career making a living as an illustrator, he transitioned exclusively to fine art between 2002 and 2004. Today, he blends his boating background with his craft, focusing largely on maritime and coastal subjects.
Hughes says his artistic process has changed over the years. “I work mostly from life today,” he says. “As an illustrator, I worked mostly from photos, and that carried over into my early fine art painting years. However, I have found that I enjoy the process of painting on location and witnessing the changes of light and atmosphere that you can only see if you are painting from life or ‘en plein air.’ ” Since 2012, Hughes has participated in plein air competitions around the country, which he says have allowed him to experience tremendous growth as an artist.
Hughes is a Fellow of the American Society of Marine Artists, a Master Signature member of Oil Painters of America, and a Master Artist of the National Oil and Acrylic Society. He is also a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society and the Plein Air Painters of America.
Artwork courtesy the J. Russell Jinishian Gallery, jrusselljinichiangallery.com
This article was originally published in the October 2026 issue.
