Peninsula Gallery Presents: “Tranquility”, secluded landscapes from idyllic locations. On display July 1-30.

Take a breath and find peace in the scenic paintings of Peninsula Gallery’s July exhibition, “Tranquility”. From July 1st to the 30th, bask in oil, pastel, and acrylic artworks that capture the calmness and solitude evoked by idyllic locations.

This exhibition includes works from Sara Cameli, César Jerez, Laura McGowan, Janet Raesly, and Drew Scarpa. While not all of the works are of Delaware, the locations featured in these paintings are universal and can be found just about anywhere.

We live in paradise, and in paradise, there are beautiful sights to behold. This exhibition is filled with pieces that remind us how peaceful and relaxing the natural world is.

(Carol Boyd-Heron, the gallery’s co-owner)

Sara Cameli, a resident artist at Peninsula Gallery, will showcase her large abstract paintings of marshlands and ocean scapes for “Tranquility.” After several years of teaching in Atlanta, GA, Sara decided to focus on painting. Since moving to Delaware in 2014, Sara has found coastal waterways and marshes to be a powerful muse. Sara’s works are reminiscent of vast horizons, conveying the same soothing feeling of standing on the water’s edge.

César Jerez is a longtime New Jersey resident, who uses light effects in his plein air paintings to create a sense of distance and drama while capturing both the weather conditions and the specific time of day. Today, as a self-termed “abstract realist,” César captures the life of the subject by identifying the essential components of an object or scene and depicting them in the most simplistic way to convey complete realism without neglecting the artistic elements of form and strong composition. César is the only artist in “Tranquility” that includes humans in his scenes, dropping the viewer into the frame of mind of these relaxing individuals.

Laura McGowan, another resident artist at the gallery, is based on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. After working as a children’s art teacher, Laura sought to reconnect with her own art-making, becoming a full-time artist in 2016. She paints landscapes, seascapes, and still lifes, combining studio work with plein air painting. Her paintings utilize vibrant colors that engulf a scene, transporting you directly to that moment via her painter's palette.

Janet Raesly is an oil painter from Chevy Chase, Maryland, who currently resides in Bethesda and Rehoboth Beach. Janet’s focus is on landscapes, waterscapes, and still life, using oil paints on canvas. Her style is often referred to as expressionistic realism. Much of her current work is inspired by the colors and light of the Delaware coast and the Eastern Shore, which can be seen in this exhibition. Her painted landscapes and waterscapes capture light, depth, and the ever-changing movement of water and atmosphere.

Drew Scarpa, “Tranquility’s” pastel artist, has been developing a body of work that represents the landscape of Southern New Jersey, where he lives, as well as other areas of the East Coast. As an artist, he paints, in a realistic style, scenes that are inspired by actual locations. In this show, Drew’s landscapes are rendered both accurately and abstractly, using blocks of colors to create a landscape that is still identifiable by the viewer. His pieces capture the essence of a moment.