"Artsy" Observations from a Beach Vacation

Art comes in many forms. Since I am still (mentally) returning from our annual trip to Delaware's Beaches, I thought I'd share some "new finds" and favorite things. If you're headed down DE Route 1, check out:


*Gallery 50, 50-A Wilmington Avenue & Ward Ellinger Gallery, 37 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
Photos courtesy of Gallery 50/Susan Finsen (left) & Ward Ellinger Gallery (right)

These two galleries are filled with all things I enjoy about visual art: color compositions that shout at you from the walls; warm and welcoming artists/gallery owners; and contemporary art that is truly within my financial realm. Gallery 50 was featuring work by Rose Minetti and Susan Finsen (up until 8/5), whose neon-bright, odd-sized pieces immediately grabbed my eye. At Ward Ellinger Gallery in the CAMP Rehoboth courtyard, Ellinger's work of abstract expressionism makes the space burst with bold shapes and color, and endless energy.
http://www.50contemporaryart.com/
http://www.wardellinger.com/

*Kindle, 111 Bank Street, Lewes
I lunched here on a whim, and I am compelled to tell everyone. The restaurant, known for previous digs in Milton, has an atmosphere reflective of its name---warm & cozy but chic. Nice price & selections on wine list. Waitstaff friendly & right-on with recommendations. I had a vegan wild mushroom & multigrain soup so flavorful---Kindle, please make this a menu staple! Also had the BLAT (bacon, lettuce & tomato 'wich with avocado), with so much chunky, creamy avo, I (almost) forgot about the bacon.
http://www.kindlerestaurant.com/

*Seafood Shack, 42 1/2 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach
We love this little aqua blue-and-pink spot, tucked between shops just past CAMP Rehoboth. Yummy po'boy sandwiches (full of shrimp, crab, oysters or all), casual back patio (where dogs are welcome, YAY!), live music at night. But maybe the best thing? The red sangria by the glass. Ask your friendly host, co-owner Steph, her secret ingredient and she'll tell you it's the cinnamon. I think it's all of the above...but I'll have another sangria to be sure.
http://seafoodshackrehoboth.com/

Delaware Musicians in the UK

The jazzy vibes of French bassoonist Ludovic Tissus gave life to the world premier of Chuck Holdeman’s composition Quintetto for bassoon and string quartet at the International Double Reed Society in Birmingham, England on July 23.

Tissus, bassoonist for the Paris Opera, plays the French system bassoon, which Holdeman had in mind when he wrote the piece.

Quintetto starts with a largo which dissolves into a fast-moving leitmotiv. The second movement is a haunting, lyrical chanson. The third movement is a theme and variations with a wild fugal coda.

The exchange of voices in the coda is quite tricky, but Tissus and the very youthful Boult Quartet dove in with gusto.

Holdeman has a new commission which will premiere at the Gold Ballroom of the Hotel DuPont as part of the Delaware Symphony chamber music series on October 27.

Two other pieces by composers from our region played at the International Double Reed Society convention were Andrea Clearfield’s Three Songs for oboe and double bass after poems by Pablo Neruda and Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Oboe.

www.chuckholdeman.com

www.idrs2009.org

Local artists in Middletown

Brilliant colors handled with sure-handed verve splash through the Local Artists show at Middletown's Gilbert W. Perry Jr. Center for the Arts. This third annual exhibit is a refreshing summer stop, with paintings both pleasing and accomplished.

The show hangs to Aug. 1. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

Ricardo Colon's fauvist Latin pink street scene in the gallery window sets the tone, picked up by Tracy Landmann's bold cafe vignettes and Joyce R. Hoover's kaleidoscopic still lifes. Judy Robb renders little landscapes in big dashes of unblended bright white and green. All of them temper their pure colors by using black outlines for a contemporary graphic effect.

Samantha Norwood's quieter pointillist woodland in acrylic is also deft. And Abigail McBride's luminously lavender view of a river bank is a impressionist charmer.

For contrast, Pamela Skwish deconstructed a flower in a shadow box paper collage. The dominant black in Nancy Williams Woodword's two abstracts looks organic and fluid.

The gallery is at 51 W. Main St., Middletown. Young students' work is in the hall.