Dan's Papers - August 24, 2007 -

Three Women, a show of paintings at Wish Rock Studio on Shelter Island, features the work of three longtime Islanders who divide their time between here and Brooklyn, upstate New York and Massachusetts, respectively. All have paintings in private collections across the country and are strongly influenced by the natural world. Two work in watercolors and the third in both watercolors and oils, but the three appear to share a common goal - to capture natural light and interpret it on canvas or paper.

"Watercolor is tricky because the lights on the paper must be preserved throughout the painting process, whereas in oil they can be added on at any time," said Olive Reich, a watercolorist who feels the medium allows a "glow [to] move

through" her paintings. This is particularly evident in "Light Play," a realistic still life of flowers and a small blue and white bowl of peaches on a patchwork quilt that beautifully evokes through the artist's use of light, a languorous summer afternoon in a country house. Quite a different effect is achieved in "Breaking Waves," a semi-abstract seascape that captures waves suspended above a rocky coast. Here, tension is created as the waves loom over the sand, but at the same time the artist manages to make them appear luminous. Ms. Reich's work does indeed appear to be lit from within.

Phyllis Tarlow works in both oils and watercolors, and is also very influenced by light. "I'm very drawn to the way light hits a subject and suddenly dramatizes it," said the artist. "That can make the difference between wanting to paint a scene and passing right by it." Ms. Tarlow is drawn to, and adept at, capturing dramatic skies, as evidenced by "Storm Clearing," a small oil sketch of dark clouds in a Hudson Highlands evening sky, and "Flagpole at Sundown, Shelter Island," which captures one of those sunsets and is so intense that it appears to be on fire. Ms. Tarlow's less dramatic work is equally successful. "Shoreline Path," a scene of a dirt walkway and fence disappearing over a hill as it winds toward the water on Cape Cod, invites the viewer to discover where it leads.

Sally Bevilacqua is a watercolorist inspired by both the architecture in Shelter Island Heights as well as the seaside near her home in Scituate Harbor, Massachusetts. "North Fork Sunflowers," a close-up of a field of sunflowers with a small barn in the distance, is particularly striking with its use of shadow against the white barn. "This painting was inspired by the profusion of flowers and play of light and color against the sky," says the artist. A lovely small sketch, "Porch Flag," depicts an American flag hanging from the eave of a blue Heights Victorian. An interesting and very appealing departure from the artist's realistic style is "Charlie III," an impressionistic interpretation of fishing boats that features a riot of color. Ms. Bevilacqua veered from her usual style to achieve not only "intense color" but also "the vibrancy of a crisp New England day" using "loose brushstrokes."

Three Women runs through Sunday, August 26. Wish Rock Studio is located in Shelter Island Heights next to the pharmacy. Open 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The gallery, owned by Sandra and Peter Waldner, a syndicated cartoonist, offers full service custom matting and framing. Call (631) 749-5200 for more information.