Artist Jeanne Rosier Smith, known for her gloriously realistic seascapes, will feature 25 new pastel paintings in her show Times and Tidesat Dare Gallery in Charleston, South Carolina. Although she doesn’t live right on the coast—her home base is Sudbury, Massachusetts, just west of Boston—the artist spends time at the beach several times a year to gather inspiration and references.
Joyous, pastel, 40 x 27 in.
“Seascapes have always featured prominently in my work,” says Rosier Smith. “This year, as I turn 60, I find I am more aware of the passage of time and my gratitude for where I am at this moment. The ocean’s unceasing rhythms and ever-changing tides always have the power to bring me back to myself, grounding me in memory and connection to people I love, and to the natural world. The pieces I created for this show each share a moment of awe—some intimate, and some expansive. Those moments are fleeting and felt in the body, mind and heart all at once.”
In show pieces like Morning Glory,we see a scene from a spectacular low tide during a spring sunrise on Georgia's Tybee Island. “The flats and sandbars make the low tide reflections extend almost endlessly, mirroring an exquisite sky lit with the promise of warmth,” the artist explains. “Standing alone on the beach that morning, I felt the privilege and awe of being a small human observer. Somehow, I existed within this glorious show.”
Fresh New Day, pastel, 10 x 30 in.
In Joyous, Rosier Smith brings the ocean “extremely close.” We find a close-up, tightly cropped view of a cresting wave that upends the typical seascape. This unique, snapshot-like composition is carried throughout the artist’s body of work.
“I love bodysurfing and wanted to create the joyous sense of being in the wave, feeling the lift and pull and luminous beauty of the water’s power around me,” says Rosier Smith of Joyous. “The vertical shape foregrounds the cascading water and the upward swooping movement of the wave creates drama with its physical height. The spray on this piece was especially fun to create, and to achieve the wild, haphazard look, I used several techniques. First scumbling the pastel, then wetting and splattering pastel with a toothbrush, and finally, shaving bits of pastel over the painting, then pressing it into the painting with a palette knife.”
Morning Glory, pastel, 24 x 36 in.
Times and Tides opens with a reception on May 1, from 5 to 8 p.m., and will close May 29. Head to Dare Gallery to experience a new collection of Rosier Smith seascapes that are sure to set you at peace. —
Dare Gallery 31 Broad Street • Charleston, SC 29401 (843) 853-5002 • www.daregallery.net
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