Exhibitions

Gallery One is pleased to announce their August show, “The Boating Life” which is open to the public August 2 through August 29, 2023.

The words, “The Boating Life,” conjure up mental images of waves lapping at the hull of your boat, dolphins frolicking in your wake, a glass of rum in your hand, and a glorious sunset in front of you.

This month at Gallery One the artists celebrate those boat life fantasies in vibrant “salt life” paintings. Laura Hickman’s pastel, “Boating Life,” with its idyllically serene boat with a backdrop of early morning light bathing it in a soothing palette of lavender and blues, is a perfect example of this theme. We can just imagine ourselves waking up to a perfect, peaceful morning on the water.

“Smell the sea and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly,” sang Van Morrison, and in Marybeth Paterson’s oil painting “Lewes Sailing,” we feel that. It is easy to imagine the day of fun those three sailboats are having at sea on such a perfect day. The triad of white sails set crisply against the blue sky delights the eye of the observer from the shore as well. In artist Joyce Condry’s acrylic painting, “Sailing,” we can almost taste the salty air on our lips and feel the wind in our hair.  In Cindy Beyer’s pastel painting, “Sailfish Regatta,” and artist Lesley McCaskill’s acrylic, “Kayaking on the Bay,” we experience the joy of the “boat life” as a sport. The exuberant colors and compositions in each painting illustrate the fun of a day spent on the water.

For some though boat life is more than just a day of fun or a pleasurable summer outing, it’s a job. In Cheryl Wisbrock’s acrylic painting, “Work Boat (Heather Ann),” she describes, “This painting was begun plein air, at a small rural dock. The work boats came back from a long day on the water, and while I painted the fishermen unloaded their catch, cleaned the boats and went home.  It was late afternoon by the time they drove off, leaving everything ready for their early start again in the dark the next morning.”  And for some it’s not even merely a job, but truly a way of life. Dale Sheldon’s acrylic, “Green Shanty, Tangier Island,” depicts a scene that’s been repeated since the 1880s but is rapidly vanishing. “Every day Chesapeake Bay watermen from Tangier Island are out on the water well before dawn, bringing in those blue crabs that we love so much. Their island is shrinking as the sea level rises, but they continue with their traditional way of life with a fleet of crab and oyster boats.”

We invite you to sail into Gallery One this month and enjoy a taste of the “Boat Life”.