Grab your boots, throw on your old denim jeans, and make your way to the countryside with our April exhibition, “On the Farm.” Jacalyn Beam, Carol Fastuca, J. Stacy Rogers, and Meg Nottingham Walsh collectively showcase 40 oil paintings that depict farm-inspired landscapes, animal portraits, and machinery. 

 

    Jacalyn Beam is a nationally known plein air oil painter, with her work being recognized across the country. In 2021, Jacalyn was juried into the prestigious Plein Air Texas, one of the top plein air events in the nation. Her work is included in various books and publications, including 100 Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters, Art Collector Magazine, Brandywine Valley Reflections, and more. She has won numerous awards for her work and was asked to represent Delaware in the National Invitational “America the Beautiful.” For “On the Farm,” Jacalyn uses her impressionistic style to paint the scenic landscapes found around Delaware and Pennsylvania. Her images focus more on historic farm locations, capturing the scenes that hark back to colonial America.

 

    Carol Fastuca received an MFA in painting from Queens College in NY before moving into teaching drawing and painting at various universities. She was an advisor for the formation of the new Imaging and Digital Arts Program at UMBC. After leaving the university system, she started her own design business, creating murals. When Carol returned to Pennsylvania, she was inspired by the landscape in her backyard, challenged by the light and color of the sky and the curious personalities of the cows that populated the environment. “On the Farm” is filled with Carol’s charming cows, showcasing the black and white animal in various locations around the farm. Her cows are seen grazing by the water, huddled in scenic fields, and resting in the afternoon sun. Carol’s collection also includes snowy barn scenes and an elongated herd of sheep. 

 

    J. Stacy Rogers majored in illustration at Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) and began illustrating professionally while still a student. After graduating and illustrating for several major magazines, he began designing magazines. For 15 years, Stacy ran his graphic design business and full-service advertising agency in Morris County, NJ. He has spent the last eighteen years establishing his presence as a fine artist, painting contemporary realism first in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and now in Delaware. While Stacy has become particularly adept at painting the landscape en plein air, he has many animal portraits featured in “On the Farm.” The palette of his images embraces shades of rust, chartreuse, and auburn, which evoke within the viewer the sights, sounds, and scents of a working farm.

 

    Known for landscapes drenched in light and color, Meg Nottingham Walsh has garnered numerous awards at juried exhibitions and national plein air competitions. Though realistic, her paintings have a strong abstract element, characterized by simplified shapes, limited values, and glowing color. Her work has been purchased by the Academy Museum, the National Institute of Health, Georgetown University Hospital, and Martha Jefferson Hospital and has been featured in the book 100 Plein Air Painters of the Mid-Atlantic. Meg’s collection for “On the Farm” is a balanced mixture of landscapes and animal portraits. Her iconic style is on full display here, as each scene is saturated in light and shadows bringing dimension and depth to the image.