“Ready to Play”©️Stefanie Taranto

Oil pastel, 16″ x 12″ unframed, 24″ x 20.5″ framed, $400

Prints available 

How often do you consider the landscape that you pass each day? 

Both here on the Cape and at home in Wheaton I am fortunate to pass by marshes almost daily! Marshes provide a place for water to rest, vital refreshment and cleansing of the environment, as well a I s a refuge for wildlife.   Water symbolizes life: Ever-changing.

The marshes here on Cape Cod are attached to the ocean. High tide creates an amazing show of flowing water for half of the day buffered by grasses- lush, soft, mutable, incredibly varied in greens, with hints of gold, bronze and even dark blues where the shadows fall mingled in.  Folks kayak away when the water is high.  A subtle feast for the eyes.  

Conversely, the other half of the day displays dark sandy/muddy earth when the tide pulls out. Sometimes you will see people investigating what is left behind…looking small in the bed, the void of where the water had been just hours ago.

Paying attention to nature is a good way for me to keep perspective; a much needed reprieve from the world at large! 

The above acrylic is on birch, 24”x36”.  It is a work in progress.  I am working on multiple pieces in a similar vein to keep the momentum going as well as for crossover.  All the work in this body will speak to each other when completed.  Stay tuned.

I hope that you and yours have been well.  It feels good to finally be settled in and writing to you again after being without a studio and a computer for the last month!

Changing locations creates an opportunity to change perspectives as well.  It is relaxing to be on Cape Cod, home away from home, visiting my parents, enjoying the landscape and being embraced by the environment’s low key charm.  

When the local sun worshipers and young vacationing families head home in the late afternoon to prepare for the evenings activities- that is when I most enjoy going to the beach.  That is when I…

Capture moments of quiet and walk down a sandy path surrounded

by gently swaying dune grasses.  The subtlety of greens a respite

for the eye: soft light green, lime combined with teal, as well as some phthalo and sap green, and touches of light gold where the grass is dry.  

The shadow of the evergreen across the path, a blanket of cool against

the brightness of the sun on the grasses catch my eye.  While the composition is simple there are layers of subtleties to be found. At the

end of that path the beautiful Atlantic awaits to further relax me with

the sound of the waves rhythmically hitting the shore.  It is a wonderful

time to just be; to savor the splendor Mother Nature has to offer.

The piece above is a work in progress, painted on gessoed birch, one foot by 2 feet.  I will share the completed piece in an update with the rest of this series in the near future.

Best wishes over this 4th of July weekend,

Take care,

Stef