Bernice Shaller exhibit opens at Epworth gallery June 16

Bernice Shaller will show her exhibit, Works From the Imagination and the Heart, from Sunday, June 16, to Sunday, July 21, at Scott's Gallery in Epworth United Methodist Church, 19285 Holland Glade Road in Rehoboth Beach. An opening reception complemented by live music is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., June 16.

Shaller taught herself to paint by copying from the old masters at the National Gallery of Art. She did not pursue formal art training, as her parents did not want her to become an artist.

After 30 years of using oil paint, Shaller began using egg tempera and gold leaf. She developed her own way of using egg tempera, experimenting and refining a unique technique. She was featured at Strathmore Hall Art Center in Maryland, where she gave a talk about her process.

A fellow artist writes, “I have known Bernice Shaller for six years and have attended many of her exhibitions. I respect her work and her approach to her work and envy her singleness of purpose. Without a doubt, Bernice is the most inner-directed and dedicated artist I have ever known. A painter myself for 25 years, I’ve known many, but none that have so fully applied their talents and sacrificed so much to put their spirit on canvas and paper.”

In 2006, Shaller was inducted into the National Association of Women Artists, founded in 1889. Works by Mary Cassatt, Cecilia Beaux, Alice Neel and other notable artists were included in early annual exhibitions.

Shaller had a solo show at the Greenwell Goetz Gallery in Washington, D.C., and has have been included in many group shows, including The Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum in Bethesda, Md.; the Maryland Federation of Art; the Arts Club of Washington, D.C.; the Jewish Community Center in Rockville, Md.; Michelson Gallery in Washington, D.C.; and Susan Calloway Gallery in Washington, D.C., to name a few. Her work is represented in public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad.

Shaller painted in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands for more than a year and also painted for more than three years in Jamaica, as well as in Italy and France.

Shaller has taught painting and drawing at various places and lectured on various topics at many venues. So far, Shaller has 20 slides in the National Gallery of Art’s Image Library, and she is in the process of having the gallery acquire a piece of her artwork.