Delaware Beach Images

When I lived in Georgetown , Delaware , I was about 45 minutes from the beach. Having grown up in SEARK, the beach was an exotic ecosystem to say the least. The waves crashing against the sand never got old. I loved Rehoboth Beach and its boardwalk. For me it was another world. The beach was like stepping into a science-fiction setting. Since my oldest son graduated from the University of Delaware we have been trying to visit the Delaware Beaches once a year and I take a lot of photos…partly to keep as memories and some become paintings.

	The Three Graces and Reality, 16 x 20 inches acrylic on panel 2010 Click here to enlarge.
	Christ Church acrylic on panel, 2010 Click here to enlarge.
	Jetty Wave acrylic on panel, 10 x 18 inches, 2010 Click here to enlarge.
	Resting acrylic on panel, 12 x 16 inches, 2010 Click here to enlarge.
	Overgrown acrylic on panel, 12 x 32 inches, 2010 Click here to enlarge.
	White and Rusted, acrylic on panel, 8 x 12 inches, 2010 Click here to enlarge.
	Hurricane Hannah 12 x 15 inches, acrylic on panel, 2009 This is a scene from the boardwalk in Rehoboth in 2008 as Hannah came through. Waves were crashing and the wind was blowing. All in all, it was an interesting view of what the beach can be like when the weather changes. Click here to enlarge.
	Backroads, Again 9 x 19 inches, acrylic on panel, 2009 Many, many years ago I was driving the backroads of Sussex County and stopped to sketch this abandoned house. I have always been interested in the architecture of these old homes. They are stark and bare, but they also have an elegance that really catches my eye. I'm betting this place is not there anymore but I think this scene presents the reality of southern Delaware in the seventies. Click here to enlarge.
	Highway 9, Crossroads 8 x 28 inches acrylic on panel, 2008 During a trip from New York to Rehoboth a few years ago, we came across this intersection . Some structures separated by trees and punctuated by telephone poles. This is definitely Delaware. It reminds me of trying to get from 113 to 13 any time of the year. Click here to enlarge.
For Sale at the AerieArtGallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE.	Angel Feathers 16 x 32 inches, acrylic on panel, 2008 This is something I photographed somewhere south of Dewey Beach on the Delaware Seashore Park. It’s just a typical pile of matted debris. I wouldn’t have bothered except for the gull’s feathers. There’s something about white against the color of the sand. You have to be careful of the color white but if you find it and you can get it right, it’s worth the effort. Click here to enlarge.
	Crashed Spaceship/Dead Horseshoe Crab 16 x 24 inches acrylic on panel Horseshoe crabs are a dime a dozen at Delaware beaches but this one really caught my eye. First, it was circular. I originally planned to center it in the middle of a square panel. But then I liked the composition that you see here; I had to scoot the stem that was sticking up out of the sand around until it felt right. These are complicated "mechanisms" as you can plainly see here. I worked really hard to get everything in the right place. And then the only descriptive title I could come up with was "Crash" and the only thing this crab looked like was a space ship... or flying saucer. Click here to enlarge.
	Cat's Eye Bubble 16 3/4 x 16 3/4 inches acrylic on panel Of course, foam and bubbles are another part of the beach that don't get as much notice because they fade away so quickly. I really like the bubble filled clam shell with the foam fast fading into the sand. I know it's not clear to most viewers, but I really enjoy abstractions and, for me, this painting is highly abstract... bubbles in the shell relate to the smaller bubbles out of the shell... all of it relating to the white oval of the shell. Click here to enlarge.
For Sale at the AerieArt Gallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE.	Jewels in Chaos #2 12 x 24 inches acrylic on panel This two square feet of beach was my first beach painting. I just have no interest at all in generic scenes of sky, water, waves and sand. I loved this conglomeration of flotsam that ended up in this spot at high tide. I came along the next day and “saved” it with my camera. Months later I carefully drew the scene rock by rock and shell by shell and then transferred that to a panel and got down to the business of turning it into a painting. If you’re curious, no, it’s not exact…but it’s close. This particular painting of this particular patch of Delaware beach is extremely popular with people who have seen it. It’s pretty popular with me too. Click here to enlarge.
SOLD - through AerieArt Gallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE, 2007.	Empty and Broken 15 X 18 inches acrylic on panel Here we have a horseshoe crab and a broken clam shell. A friend of mine and life long native of Delaware , pointed out to me that the horseshoe crab is not dead; that’s just its leftover shell. That’s why I call that one “empty”. The “broken” part I believe to be fairly evident. I cannot describe how wonderful it is to see these bone-white shells scattered along the beach. The sunlight and foam and light colored sand all seem white. But the weathered shells are really white. Click here to enlarge.
	The Wave 12x24inches acrylic on panel 2006 I never had much interest in painting a wave even though I love to sit and watch the waves crash. I have many snapshots of waves but nothing interested me until I came across this particular photo. The colors seemed to be a perfect reminder for me of how the waves stir up the sand into that yellowish green just before you hear the crump and thump. Another thing that appeals to me are the streamers of foam that define the shape of the wave. This might be my first but I hope to do several more. Click here to enlarge.
SOLD - through AerieArt Gallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE, 2007.	Windblown Clam One of the interesting things about the beach is how the sand gets blown around. It covers shells up and uncovers them a few days later. Or maybe the sand covers them up and the waves excavate them again. The baby dunes that ebb and flow around the various leftovers on the beach are fun to watch. I like the big dunes with snow fences submerged along their edges…but it is entertaining to watch a tiny dune form next to a shell. That can happen while you watch with a good wind zipping down the beach. Click here to enlarge.
For Sale at the AerieArt Gallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE.	Bill's Bucket 11 x 14 inches acrylic on panel 2007 In the early 1970's, I took a photo looking into an old house outside of Georgetown, Delaware. You could see some cleaning equipment sitting on a rough counter in what could have been the kitchen or a back porch that had been closed in. Dust covered everything. Some years later the house was demolished. I never touched the photo except to look at it once in a while over the decades. This past year I decided to do a painting based on the photo. The reflections, to me, made the picture more interesting. It became more than just a "still life" of junk. Further, it's saved from being too pretty because of the plastic container and its odd color. Someone was cleaning up and just ran out of steam... for real. Click here to enlarge.

For Sale at the AerieArtGallery, Rehoboth Beach, DE.