April showers will bring May flowers to the Peninsula Gallery. Blooming on our walls will be a collection of beautifully crafted floral paintings, transporting viewers to a lush botanical garden right here in downtown Lewes. This new exhibition, aptly titled “Garden Party”, brings together the efflorescent works from both new and returning artists. This show’s perfectly pristine petals are painted by Laura Bethmann, Lani Browning, Sydney McGinley, Patrick Saunders, and Sharon Waltersdorff. 

 

    “The caliber of talent in this show is exceptional. Each artist brings a fantastic range of craft and skill to their respective medium, creating beautifully rich and abundant garden scenes,” says Tony Boyd-Heron, gallery co-owner and exhibitions director.  

 

    Returning to the gallery again this month after her appearance in Sur la Table, Laura Bethmann is now displaying her renowned botanical watercolors. Laura’s "In The Garden” series celebrates the complex diversity of familiar flowers with the soundless mystery of nature. Her bright and bold paintings give an otherness to each floral species, drawing you into each work’s mystical world. An artist for over 30 years, Laura’s work has been exhibited in many museums and galleries, in addition to being published in books. 

 

    Lani Browning, an award-winning plein air oil painter for over twenty-five years, is known for her distinctive skill with colors, and the quiet elegance and tonalism of her paintings. Lani works in a traditionalist style, painting each leaf and petal to perfection. Her saturated color and intense detail make you want to reach out and smell these fragrant masterpieces.  

  

    Well known for her portraits of women, Sydney McGinley is now capturing the essence of femininity in soft, but powerful, floral pastel paintings. Sydney’s delicate peonies, hibiscuses, and camellias burst with life, mimicking the fullness and flushness of the female form. Sydney is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and is designated as a Master Pastelist by this New York City organization.

 

    Early in his career, award-winning artist Patrick Saunders spent a decade with Hallmark Cards, learning from some of the greatest contemporary floral painters. While his work spans a wide gamut of subject matter from portraits to landscapes, he continually returns to the floral, attempting to interpret the delicate and translucent light effects inherent to the genre. At first glance, the paintings convey a sense of contemporary realism, but upon closer inspection, this reality breaks apart into abstract shapes created with spontaneous brushwork and textural passages of paint. This singular approach informs all of his work. Patrick is a Signature Member of both the Portrait Society of America and the Oil Painters of America, and travels extensively throughout the world, capturing the beauty around him.

 

    After 15 years as a graphic designer in the Washington DC metro area, Sharon Waltersdorff moved to the eastern shore to pursue her passion for fine art. Sharon works primarily in small sizes, giving viewers an intimate experience with her subjects. Her intense studies of common flowers have a fluidity to them, making you feel the motion of each petal. 

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