'Summer on the Shore'
An early morning invitation to dip your toes in
Please note: These are very soft, changeable colors. They look stronger from some angles and and softer from others and in different kinds of light - and different devices and monitors change it all. As with all fine art paintings and prints are best viewed in person.


Summer on the Shore
New 12" x 9" oil on Belgium linen panel
by Ellen Rice

The original is sold.
Prints are available.
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'Summer on the Shore'
by Ellen Rice

I've lived near the ocean most of my life. I feel as though it's a part of me. The rhythm, the sounds, the salt air ... and some storms.

As we move away from hopefully the worst of the pandemic, I needed to paint something soft and peaceful and an old reference photo of a friend's that I had saved kept coming to mind. As with any reference pic, I started with the basic things that attracted me then put the photo away and let memory guide as the painting dictated itself. These ocean paintings are like living things, moving as they develop.

I've lived in this particular house a mile back from the ocean as the seagull flies on the edge of a wildlife refuge for 27 years, the longest I've ever lived in one home. This morning I've been sitting on my deck listening to the peaceful sounds of nature and trying to think of this still-wet painting's 'right' name.

I'm not sure the one above is it, but it does encompass my love affair with Delaware's beaches that started as a teen babysitting cousins in Rehoboth Beach and became my home soon after. Somehow this painting reminds me of that early time. Though decades have passed, the ocean is timeless, isn't it?

Sometimes I can hear the ocean from my home, even indoors, but not today. It's very calm, much like my painting.

There is a soft, gentle quality to early mornings on the shore, especially during the first days of summer. The beach is fresh and clean from the ebb and flow of the night tides. Though the water is still chilly, jellyfish haven't yet arrived. The sounds of gulls beckon crossing the dunes. The feel of wet sand squishing between your toes for the first time tells you you've arrived.

I hope this small painting captures the feeling of moments like this for you and gives you peace and happiness now and in years to come.