Peninsula Gallery’s Water, Water exhibit opens with reception Sept. 7
Water, in some respects, seems unremarkable. People drink it every day and swim in it every summer. However, water is a fabulously versatile and mysterious muse. The Peninsula Gallery presents five artists whose works are inspired by the theme of the exhibition, Water, Water...
The opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 7, and the show will continue through Saturday, Sept. 28.
Oil painter Stephen Brehm presents images of water through quiet countryside ponds, lush dune grasses and energetic ocean waves. Brehm’s technique shows lively brushstrokes that convey the gestural movement of a crashing wave or a softly flowing stream. Light beams through his paintings, fantastically showing the nuance of color and translucence of water. Brehm grew up in a military family, living in France, Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico and much of the United States. This exposure to so many environments has fueled his love for painting natural scenes.
Having been a competitive swimmer, photographer Christa Funk has an extraordinary relationship with water. She learned to surf while stationed in Hawaii as a Coast Guard officer. The grandeur of the Hawaiian coast inspired her passion for surf photography. Funk’s work shows the ocean from a seemingly impossible viewpoint. She puts her viewer in the barrel of a colossal wave or on the sandy ocean floor inside an endless blue abyss.
Laura McGowan has almost always been near the ocean, growing up on the Jersey shore and now residing on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. Her works shown in the exhibition are classic coastal scenes sure to hit a nostalgic note with anyone who spent childhood days at the beach. McGowan aims to transform emotion into a visual experience through vivid green and aqua waves, brilliant midday sun gleaming off the ocean, and soft purple seaside skies. Before becoming a full-time painter and finding her passion for working in oils, she held careers in architecture, interior design and elementary education.
Karash Payne has had a lifelong and emotional connection to water. She has been a competitive swimmer, lifeguard and avid scuba diver. Her first career was teaching high school biology, which she traded to become a full-time mother. When her children went off to school, she needed an artistic outlet and has come to thrive in oil painting, pastels and photography. Payne views water as a tool to represent the ever-changing nature of life and motherhood. Her daughter is her most prominent model. The paintings and photographs in this exhibition depict her iconic submerged figures in an elegant dance between fabric, flesh, hair and of course, water.
Damon Pla hails from southern Florida and now resides in Dagsboro. With the exception of high school portfolio classes, he is a self-taught artist. He often works on a large scale and has established himself as a successful muralist. His most recent mural is right here in Lewes on the Beacon Motel. Pla’s realistic style shows precise details and strongly defined forms. Though he paints classic coastal landscapes, he loves playing with imaginative subject matter. A skyscraper-sized piece of fruit may be dropped onto a picturesque marsh, or massive hands may emerge from a glowing sunset. This exhibition will feature both his realistic and surrealist works.
The Peninsula Gallery is in the shops at the Beacon on Savannah Road in Lewes, just across the canal bridge. To preview all images, go to www.peninsula-gallery.com. For more information, call 302-645-0551.
