GLEASON Lyn Asselta Overlook x
“Overlook” by Lyn Asselta.

Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor will open the solo show “Where Rock Meets Water” featuring works by renowned pastel painter Lyn Asselta on Aug. 2.

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 2, and the show will run through Sept. 3.

Four years ago, Lyn Asselta returned to Maine after spending most of her adult life in Florida. She asked to join Gleason Fine Art’s roster of artists.

Asselta has mastered the challenging medium of pastel to a degree that few others have. It is a daily occurrence for gallery customers and fellow pastel painters to exclaim in delight and awe while admiring her paintings. Furthermore, Asselta’s mastery of pastel has been acknowledged by many in her profession, bestowing her with many awards.

So, what is pastel, after all? Used since the Renaissance, pastel is a dry medium that consists of a powdered pigment and a binder. Asselta uses soft pastel, which comes in stick form and is known for its intense colors. Asselta achieves excellent coverage with soft pastel — that is, there are few spots where the underlying paper shows through. Unlike watercolors, pastel paintings do not fade upon exposure to light. Over the centuries, pastel has been used by many well-known artists including Leonardo Da Vinci, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt and Wolf Kahn.

For her show “Where Rock Meets Water,” Asselta has explored the boundary where Maine’s ancient rocky coast meets the ever-changing sea, the very elements that carry a sense of timelessness and endless possibilities for Asselta. In her hands, a granite ledge becomes a universe of shapes (ridges, crevices and plateaus) — and colors (grays, pinks, azures, greens, yellows and mauves). In “Waiting,” the delicate colors in the long stretch of ledge are mirrored in the sky beyond, where the sun is just beginning to set over a calm, pearlescent sea. It is a stunning painting.

An opening reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 2. Meet Asselta and share a glass of wine with her.

Gleason Fine Art is at 31 Townsend Ave., Boothbay Harbor. Summer gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call Gleason Fine Art at 207-633-6849, email the gallery at info@gleasonfineart.com, or go to www.gleasonfineart.com.