Marcia Reed to debut new solo exhibition at Rehoboth Beach gallery

Delaware artist Marcia Reed’s solo exhibition, Calibrating the Seasons, opens June 19 at Gallery 50 in Rehoboth Beach and features 14 nature-inspired paintings and mixed-media works. (Photo courtesy of Marcia Reed.)

Delaware artist Marcia Reed will present a new body of work inspired by the changing seasons and landscapes of southern Delaware during a solo exhibition opening June 19 at Gallery 50 in Rehoboth Beach.

The exhibition, titled “Calibrating the Seasons,” runs through July 1 and features 14 paintings and mixed-media works created over the past six months. Reed’s work draws heavily from the river and coastal environments that surround her, using color, movement and abstract forms to interpret nature’s continual cycles.

The collection includes acrylic paintings, works incorporating R&F oil sticks, and mixed-media pieces created on cradle board panels, canvas and paper. All of the works were framed by Milford-based Final Touch Frames.

Reed, whose work has been exhibited throughout Delaware, said the show represents her ongoing exploration of the natural world and its seasonal transformations.

“I’m sharing a lens into the process of my ongoing series based in nature along the river and coastal region of southern Delaware,” Reed said in an artist statement accompanying the exhibition.

The paintings focus on what Reed describes as “nature’s pulse” throughout the year, from winter through summer. While rooted in observations made during walks along local waterways, the work moves beyond literal representation.

“My forms are inspired by the natural surroundings along the river,” Reed said. “However, I try to push beyond nature’s real palette creating my own color sense as I respond to the exaggerated river leaf forms, flowers and moving water.”

The resulting paintings feature energetic compositions and layered patterns that blur the line between observation and imagination.

“I often hear from people that they can tell my work immediately as it has a lot of movement and energy,” Reed said. “I like to think the various seasons in Nature have that vibration during spring and summer and even in the dormant stages in the Fall and Winter. I hope viewers can see and feel the intensity each season captures with the imagery, colors and motion.”

Throughout the exhibition, Reed explores themes of change, balance and renewal, drawing visual connections between the rhythms of nature and human experience.

“You could say I borrow from nature and give back in paint with randomly arranged and imaginary patterned flora,” she said. “My walks along the river in the different seasons is a promise of a potential painting which are visual metaphors navigating all aspects of life.”

The exhibition continues a period of professional momentum for Reed. Following the Rehoboth Beach show, she will participate in a juried exhibition at the Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover. Her painting Wild River Iris, a 40-by-30-inch work, was selected alongside works by approximately 50 other artists for the exhibition, which runs from July 9 through Sept. 6.

Reed said the paintings in “Calibrating the Seasons” reflect her interest in capturing nature as a constantly shifting force rather than a static subject.

“Nature is not at rest in any season, it is unexpected,” she said. “I want my paintings to reflect that ever-changing cycle. I’m always trying to be mindful and present of the balances and shifts of the seasons.”

The artist also noted that music played a role in shaping the work. While creating the collection, she frequently listened to Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa, compositions that echo the exhibition’s themes of movement, transition and time.

“Calibrating the Seasons” will be on view June 19 through July 1 at Gallery 50, located at 47 Baltimore Ave. in Rehoboth Beach.