ARTS

Artist’s exhibition at Gallery 50 features Delaware beaches

VANESSA JUNKIN
DELMARVANOW CORRESPONDENT
"Funland" by Marian Osher is a mixed media painting with photo collage of people on the beach near Funland at Rehoboth Beach.

When Marian Osher was young, she used to draw with black crayons.

Her pieces in the "Time Out — for the Beach" show at Gallery 50 Contemporary Art and Frame Shop in Rehoboth Beach, though, are bursting with color.

Ed McGann, Gallery 50’s owner, used the word “fun” to describe Osher’s art.

“It’s hard to look at her pieces without smiling,” he said.

Osher has 20 works in the "Time Out — for the Beach" exhibition at the Wilmington Avenue gallery, which runs through Aug. 1.

The show is described on the Gallery 50 website and in the news release as “an evolving series of mixed-media collaged paintings which express (Osher’s) enjoyment and observation of the treasures of the beach — both the people and the shells.”

And the shells aren’t just the subject of the artwork; they are also a medium. Sand and photo collage are also part of Osher’s paintings in this exhibition.

Her interest in art started at a young age, even if she didn’t realize it at the time. The reason she would draw with black crayons, she said, is because after seeing double and then having an operation to fix this at age 4, she was focused on the shapes that she saw. She became “visually conscious,” she said.

"Shell Scape" by Marian Osher is a mixed-media painting and photo collage with sculpted shells on canvas, people on the beach.

Osher has in-home studios in both Ocean View and Rockville, Maryland, where she is also a resident artist at Artists and Makers Studios.

Her work has been displayed in plenty of places, including internationally and in 24 other solo shows, but Osher said this is her first solo show in Delaware.

Despite the number of shows she’s been a part of, she said she still feels each show is special.

“You’re connecting with the people that come to the show,” she said.

And for visitors who connect with her art, the works in the show are for sale.

She doesn’t have one favorite piece of her artwork; instead, it’s whatever her current project is. She isn’t distracted by past works or what’s to come.

“That’s my favorite piece at that time,” she said.

In that case, she’s had a lot of favorites, as she’s a busy artist. She also teaches art to individual adult students.

Osher described herself as an “eclectic” artist, and her work has spanned a variety of topics. After being on an airplane on Sept. 11, 2001, she helped conquer her fear of flying through art, she said. She has also created art in connection with environmental issues. Osher said she will also be working on paintings inspired by her mother’s poetry for a 2018 solo show.

A fan of the Delaware beaches, she decided to focus some of her artwork on all the different types of people she sees at the beach who participate in common beach activities, she said.

"Diversity" by Marian Osher is a mixed media painting with photo collage of people and shells on Rehoboth Beach.

Whether it’s rock, jazz, country or reggae, she said she always listens to music while she works. Problem solving, experimenting and learning are all involved in the creative process, she said, and that’s something she is sure to let her students know.

But there is a point when she’s working that she gets over the hump and can just let her art flow from her.

Not all visitors to a show may get the same meaning out of her artwork, and that’s OK, Osher said.

“Art is about sharing,” she said.

IF YOU GO

“Time Out — for the Beach" exhibition

Where: Gallery 50 Contemporary Art and Frame Shop, 50 Wilmington Ave., Rehoboth Beach

Summer Hours: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; closed Wednesday

Show runs through Aug. 1.

Info: www.gallery50art.com/marian-osher