Lockhart, McBride paintings on exhibit at Back Porch through Aug. 19

Lynne Lockhart and Kirk McBride are a married couple who have shown their oil paintings together dozens of times over the last 15 years. Now through Wednesday, Aug. 19, a collection of their recent work will hang at the Back Porch Café, 59 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach.

The couple takes a morning walk with their dogs nearly every morning at Assateague Island National Seashore, which is only 10 minutes away from their Berlin, Md. home. Many of the paintings in this show will have themes of the shore, sand, waves, clouds and wildlife they witness daily.  Lockhart's educational background includes degrees in biology and art from Salisbury University and advanced study at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Her study of anatomy continues to fill yards of canvas and motivates every aspect of her painting. She takes workshops whenever she can.

She has won the Kimbel Oelke Award for painting from the American Academy of Equine Artists. Lockhart's paintings have been selected to show in the annual Arts for the Parks exhibit in Jackson Hole, Wy. Adding to her credits, her paintings have also been displayed in exhibits at the Governor's Mansion in Annapolis, Md.; the Wustum Museum in Racine, Wis.; the Ward Museum in Salisbury, Md., and the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Md.

Painting en plain air, Lockhart has participated in many outdoor events. Her landscapes often place humans' presence in the distance beyond a natural world. Working from sketches, memory, photographs and life, her paintings portray the variety found in both nature and the man-made world. Lockhart is a signature member of the Society of Animal Artists. Her painting “Dogs I Know” has recently been added to the permanent collection at the Dunnegan Museum.

McBride won Best in Show at the first local art show he entered. That encouraged him to make painting a lifetime pursuit. He's been painting and selling his work for over 40 years. He is always looking for that moment when light and shadow create something special. McBride paints a variety of subjects, from seascapes to mountains, from city scenes to landscapes, from foreign cafes to interiors and figures. The light and shadow relationship is the unifying theme that runs throughout his work.

McBride often paints outdoors en plein air and often uses the small plein air paintings along with sketches to create large paintings in his studio. He is a graduate of the University of Maryland and has workshopped with some of America's top painters.

For more information, go to kirkmcbride.com and lockhartpainter.com.