Immerse yourself in towering artwork that explodes with color and detail, absorbing you into the massive images before you! Our May exhibition, “Larger than Life,” presents oversized paintings that measure 12 square feet or bigger. This exhibit provides the perfect showcase for clients looking to fill an empty wall in their homes, offices, or businesses. These vast canvases are from Frank DePietro, Laura Hickman, Barry Koplowitz, and Steve Rogers.  

 

    An artist reception will be held on Saturday, May 4, from 5 to 6:30 pm and is free and open to the public. Attendees will have the opportunity to mingle with some of the artists during the evening. Call (302) 645-0551 or email peninsulagallery1@gmail.com for further details.  

 

    Originally from Scranton, PA, Frank DePietro graduated from Bloomsburg University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, later earning a Post Baccalaureate Degree in Art Education from Moore College of Art and Design. In 2010, following several years of painting and teaching, Frank took residence at the world-renowned Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA, where he lived on the property of the gardens until 2021. The submergence into this surrounding nature quickly became the primary source of inspiration for his painting and continues to be the subject of much of his work today. Frank currently resides in Landenberg, PA, teaching classes and workshops at Longwood Gardens, The Delaware Art Museum, and The Center for Creative Arts. For “Larger than Life,” Frank exhibits his large-scale florals, which make the viewer feel minuscule compared to the macro petals. His pieces provide a unique perspective on lotus flowers, water lilies, and magnolia blossoms, engulfing you in the fine details of each leaf and vine.

 

    Laura Hickman was born in Milford, Delaware, and grew up on Fifth Street in Bethany Beach. She is profoundly influenced by her life at the beach, which is evident in her artwork. She attended Hood College in Frederick, Maryland, graduating with a B.A. in Art, and received an M.F.A. from the University of Delaware in Printmaking and Painting and Drawing. She taught for several years at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and then at The Savannah College of Art and Design. Laura’s hometown beckoned for her return in 1988 when she realized her dream of becoming a full-time artist. For this exhibit, Laura has strayed from her usual pastel medium and, instead, has opted to feature four oil paintings. Three of the pieces capture wistful sunrises and sunsets that employ swaths of color to evoke the feeling of the day's beginning and ending. Meanwhile, the fourth work uses shadow and light to represent the feeling of spring arriving. 

 

    Although born in Brooklyn, New York, Barry Koplowitz grew up walking distance from a beach. He spent more time walking the rocks and sand in the winter than in summer and was deeply influenced by how the beach is constantly changing. He studied under Lester Polakov at The New York Studio and Forum of Stage Design in New York City's Greenwich Village district, where he learned the art of painting scenery for theater and film. Since then, Barry has moved from painting for theater to Murals, Studio Painting, Plein Air, and Teaching. He is now located in Southern Delaware. In “Larger than Life,” Barry returns to his original inspiration: the beach. He depicts the various moods and lights of our sandy shores. From tangerine dawns and twilight evenings to stormy days and cotton candy afternoons, Barry’s rocky beaches are a flood of color and shapes that illicit the smell of salty air and the feeling of rushing water.

 

    Steve Rogers, a resident of Lewes, has loved boats and water all his life, centering his art career around them. He works in acrylics to paint traditional working boats in precise realism. Steve’s boats are not pampered fiberglass yachts, but rather hard-bitten and over-worked oystermen, crabbers, and menhaden steamers. His paintings capture the toughness and durability of everyday working boats and the beauty and terror of the weather in which they work. Steve’s depictions are incredibly accurate, down to the materials and construction of each particular type of vessel. His palette is rich with natural tones of ochre, umber, and rust set off by shadows in cool blues and stark blacks. His subjects glow with an ethereal aura, beckoning the shipmen back to shore.