Traveling Palette Art Exhibition

Traveling Palette Art Exhibition
2025-05-25 | 520 East Savannah Road Lewes DE 19958
Take a trip overseas with Peninsula Gallery’s May exhibition,
“Traveling Palette.” Rosemary Connelly, Roger Dellar, Sebastian Di
Mauro, Carol Fastuca, Laura Hickman, and Brian Murphy have contributed
over 30 original artworks that were started or created entirely
outside the North American landmass. While Italy is the dominant
subject in this show, locations such as Australia, France, Germany,
and Hawaii also make appearances. The finely crafted pieces in
“Traveling Palette” will have you reminiscing about your own
adventures and give you the itch to start planning your next trip.
An artist reception will be held on Saturday, May 3, from 5:00 to 6:30
pm, which is free and open to the public. Meet some of the exhibiting
artists and enjoy an evening of fine art and complimentary food and
drink. Rosemary Connelly is a water media artist living and working in
Milford, Delaware. She has shown her work at the Biggs Museum, the
Rehoboth Art League, Nassau Valley Vineyards, and more. Playful use of
line and color are hallmarks of her artistic style. Her layered
approach to painting suggests the passage of time and human existence,
and she finds inspiration in historic towns, aging factories and
barns, botanicals, and the beauty she finds in her travels. Rosemary
is sharing paintings from her European sketchbook for "Traveling
Palette." These whimsical watercolor landscapes show scenes from
Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Italy. Her ten pieces are
accompanied by excerpts from her journal, providing a vivid picture of
when and where these images were created. Roger Dellar is a
professional artist who works from his home studio in Surrey, England.
He visits the United States frequently, and the Peninsula Gallery is
his only American venue. Roger’s art reflects his keen interest in
people, their behavior, and how the play of light transforms a
subject. His paintings capture everyday situations in public spaces,
usually done en plein air. For this exhibition, Roger uses his
impressionistic style to express the mood and energy of various
European countries. ​Sebastian Di Mauro was born in Innisfail,
Australia, and lives and works between Brisbane and Lewes. Since the
late 1980s, he has held over 45 solo exhibitions and participated in
more than 100 group shows across the globe. The pieces included in
this collection explore the complex and contested identity of a nation
tethered to its colonial past. Through the lens of Australia's
continued membership in the Commonwealth and allegiance to the British
royal family, he interrogates the enduring structures of power and
tradition that shape contemporary society. Through this series —
which employs a monochromatic palette, layered line work, and written
words — Sebastian invites viewers to contemplate the past’s
enduring influence on the present and the potential for reimagining a
future untethered from inherited legacies. Carol Fastuca received an
MFA in painting from Queens College in NY before moving into teaching
at various universities. After leaving the university system, she
started her own design business, creating murals. Carol’s paintings
are normally inspired by the Pennsylvania landscape in her backyard,
but for this collection, she expanded her visual world to the open
spaces of Italy. The aesthetics of each piece is dictated by the
sounds, languages, smells, and ambiance of that specific place. Light
and shadow play a dominant role in each of her scenes. Her use of
naturalistic lighting evokes the feeling of basking in the warm glow
of the Mediterranean sunshine. Laura Hickman was born in Milford,
Delaware, and grew up on Fifth Street in Bethany Beach. 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,
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. For “Traveling Palette,” Laura has created three large
pastel paintings that capture the seamless integration of architecture
and nature in Italian landscapes. Her keen knowledge of color theory
is apparent in her ability to show how the neutral colors of everyday
objects are actually executed with a surprising blend of many vibrant
colors. Brian Murphy has a special appreciation for plein air
painting, California and French Impressionism, and the work of John
Singer Sargent. His artistic creations have always been inspired by
his travels. He and his wife own Murphy Montgomery Fine Art Gallery,
and he teaches art classes at home and overseas. Brian’s work has
found its way into hundreds of private collections nationally and
internationally, as well as corporate collections. For this
exhibition, Brian focused on the beauty of water. He showcases the
waterways of Venice and the city’s iconic gondolas, the river
flowing through Florence, as well as the rocky shores of Kauai. His
pieces embrace the traditional impressionistic style of which he is so
fond. Venue: Peninsula Gallery.
