Coastal Art Maps Capture Beauty of Idyllic East Coast Shoreline

Online, March 10, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Coastal Art Maps, a New York-based map-making enterprise, now offers an array of exquisite hand-drawn maps commemorating the East Coast's most beautiful beaches and islands from New England to Florida. These breathtaking, collectible maps include the New York-New Jersey-Delaware shoreline some of which was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, idyllic New England islands Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, famous for their beaches, lighthouses, cobblestone streets, gray-shingled cottages, and picturesque towns, and the iconic Florida Keys, spotlighting the broad varieties of land forms, inhabited areas and vast natural wonders. Each of these breathtaking maps represent moments when an ever-changing world was briefly frozen in time. These maps would make ideal, unique gifts for art aficionados, beach lovers, historians, boating and fishing enthuiasts or anyone that has ever enjoyed the beauty of these beloved seaside locales.

Artist Joseph S. Tarella, Owner of Coastal Art Maps, creates stunning artwork using the time-honored tools of pen-and-ink and watercolor washes. The tactile quality that Tarella achieves by using ink and watercolors on vellum allows for a kind of expression not easily achieved using more modern, mechanical methods.

"These maps, singly or as a group, would make wonderful and informative keepsakes for the avid sportsman, the casual naturalist or anyone familiar with the beautiful, water-centric American paradise along the East Coast," said Joseph S. Tarella. "They'd make gorgeous additions to any home or office decor, and would be an unexpected, memorable and treasured gift for family, friends, colleagues or clients."

Tarella's Massachusetts maps spotlight the beauty of two New England island locales, which are rife with history. Located south of the Massachusetts/Cape Cod coastline, they face out to the Atlantic Ocean and have launched thousands of ships from their well-protected harbors. Long at the center of the lucrative whaling industry, the islands were home to industrious and prosperous sea-farers and now are among the most popular summertime destinations in the area.

The Florida Keys maps, rendered in the well known natural divisions of Upper, Middle and Lower Keys, vividly present the many, varied isles, linked by the Overseas Highway, within the vast watery background of the southernmost part of the country. Each map represents approximately 25 miles and richly depicts the broad varieties of land forms, inhabited areas and vast natural wonders.

Coastal Art Maps also captures the magic of the coastline between Massachusetts and Florida, with rich, robust images of New York's Fire Island, Shelter Island and Montauk, New Jersey's Sandy Hook and Long Beach Island, Atlantic City and Cape May, Delaware's Rehoboth and Bethany beaches, Maryland's beloved Ocean City and more.

"Coastal Art Maps started as a hobby. I have always liked maps and traveling, and when I built a house on Long Beach Island, I couldn't find any maps of the area that I liked, so I created my own," Tarella explained. "When my friends and neighbors saw the maps I'd created, they loved them and wanted their own versions. The labor-of-love endeavor evolved from there."

"Since creating that first map of my Long Island Beach hometown, I've crafted maps of other, treasured East Coast locales, often based on customers' requests," Tarella continued. "From Nantucket to Key West, I've enjoyed exploring the exceptional details of our East Coast shorelines, capturing these breathtaking treasures for current and future generations to enjoy."

Artist Joseph Tarella offers a series of limited-edition art maps of selected coastlines. Each map presents an elegant, detailed and accurate rendering of selections of East Coast land areas, highlighting their juxtaposition and relationships between land and water, islands, parks, roadways, and other significant elements. These comprehensive and beautiful ink-and-watercolor compositions, offered on full size giclee canvas or half-size watercolor paper, make a truly unique and satisfying acquisition.

Tarella combines his architectural experience, passion for travel and love of map-making to create stunning maps of East Coast beaches. Coastal Art Maps currently has 18 different maps in circulation, depicting areas including the New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Florida coastlines. Tarella, a trained architect and co-owner of SawickiTarella Architecture+Design PC, also customizes maps, identifying specific locations, per customer request.

For more information, please visit www.coastalartmaps.com.