MARINE SCENES
40th anniversary invitational
On November 2 Principle Gallery will host the 40th anniversary Marine Art Invitational for the American Society of Marine Artists in one of the great American port cities, Charleston, South Carolina.
The show will feature a stunning array of marine artists and will kick off with an opening night reception on November 2.
One of the artists in the show is C.W. Mundy, who has sought out coastal areas for much of his life. “While painting during plein air trips in the U.S. and overseas since the early 1990s, I always have sought out the coastal areas, especially old harbors with the old wooden boats. Old harbors and double-masted schooners are some of my all-time favorite subjects,” Mundy says. “My plein air painting trips are usually three weeks to two months, which allows enough time to enjoy the local culture and seek out and return to the primo painting subjects, locations and the best time of day to paint the spots. I am very much at home in a marine setting or an old harbor!”
He will bring The ‘Lynx,’ Gloucester Marine Railway at Rocky Neck, Rainy Morning, an incredible image of a boat being worked on in a dry dock. Mundy says, “After painting several boat portraits in Camden, Maine, we returned to Gloucester for several days, hoping to find something in Rocky Neck. The fishing industry has really changed in the last 15 to 20 years, and there are no more ‘draggers’ in the harbor. I was pleasantly surprised with the Lynx up at the Marine Railway for repair. The weather conditions can always be problematic for plein air painters, and there was a forecast of rain! I started the work with no overhead protection in dry conditions and finished it in the middle of two to three downpours. My Easy L palette filled up twice with rain, and
I had to pour it out, because I was mixing paint underwater. So grateful I stuck it out.”
James Consor will be showing Starboat Regetta, a dramatic ocean scene with lots of water in the foreground and an exciting subject in the near background. “I have been on the Larchmont Yacht Club Race Committee for a number of years and was in a small boat doing the pin end of the starting line for a Star Class centennial regatta in 2007 in some wind and waves,” he says. “I had great reference photos and the physical experience of being there no doubt added some emotional content to the paintings. Again, none of the paintings are an exact rendering of any specific photograph. Also I majored in illustration in art school, so I can do realistic figures on the boats. That comes in handy.
Tidal Marsh is a piece by Sergio Roffo, who found marine scenes after painting landscapes for many years. “My wife and I were looking to move out of the city to a nautical village that had a good school system for our 3-year-old. We found Scituate, Massachusetts, a nautical village south of Boston. I was immediately inspired by the salt water river marshes, and the boat-filled harbor. I purchased an 18-foot Marshall sanderling that helped me see the beauty in marine art. The rest is history,” Roffo says. “Tidal Marsh is a 24-by-36-inch oil of one of the marshes at low tide. I was inspired by the deep mud flats of the marshes. In the early 1900s Irish Bostonians would flock to Scituate because they heard of this new business that was thriving called Irish mossing. Chunks of mud and moss would be visible at low tide on the river bank that was collected and sold as a means of fuel to burn in their fireplaces to heat their homes. This is unique to see at low tide. At times the sunlight on the mossy chunks creates this emerald color and reflects on the water and creates these beautiful reflections. I’m truly inspired by this.”
The show runs throughout November at Principle Gallery.
Principle Gallery 125 Meeting Street • Charleston, SC 29401 • (843) 727-4500 • www.principlegallery.com