Summer at the shore courtesy of Faherty’s ‘Tidelands’ – reception Friday
OCEAN CITY — The gallery at the Ocean City Arts Center kicks off the new year with a solo show featuring the work of painter Tim Faherty.
“Tidelands” — a name that sums up Faherty’s fascination with the shore — opened Jan. 4 and will be on display through Jan. 29. A reception with the artist is scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 14. The gallery is located on the second floor of the Ocean City Community Center at 1735 Simpson Ave.
Faherty, 66, grew up in Ewing Township, Mercer County, and now lives in the Seaville section of Upper Township. He and his wife, Gayle — a watercolor artist and a former special education teacher in Upper Township — have two grown daughters, Katie, 38, of Ewing, and Erin, 36, of Shelton, Conn.
Faherty has always worked as an artist. For most of his career, he was graphics editor for The Press of Atlantic City, winning many awards for his columns, graphics and illustrations. His comic strip, “Just Add Walter,” was nationally syndicated by King Features. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Trenton State College, where he majored in English and minored in journalism and art.
“I did a lot of illustrations using computer drawing programs,” he said. “I did some painting in college, so when I stopped working full time in 2017, I wanted to get back to that, making art by hand.”
Faherty said he was fortunate to find some good teachers.
“There are great classes offered at the Ocean City Arts Center and through the Cape May County library system, and some of the nationally known artists in the area, people like Stan Sperlak and Lance Balderson, also teach,” Faherty said.
It was these local artists who inspired him to delve further into his newfound passion.
“There’s a great community of artists in this area, and they’re generous with their knowledge,” he said. “It’s been very cool to become friends with people whose work I admire.”
Viewing his work, it’s immediately evident why Faherty calls himself “a painter in love with the coast.”
Across his canvases, dawns flooded with color break over endless marshes, lifeguard boats crash through the surf and bridges curve gracefully over the bay.
“This is such a special area, where the edge of the continent rolls into the sea. It’s not just a place, it’s an experience,” Faherty said.
His work highlights locals who make their encounters with nature part of their everyday life, whether through work or play while fishing, surfing, sailing, kayaking or chasing beautiful sunsets.
In oils, acrylics and pastels, Faherty’s paintings try to capture these moments of intersection: people with nature, land with sea, ocean with sky.
Faherty often tries to capture movement in his work, especially the power of the sea.
“In a way, it’s like the act of painting itself,” Faherty said. “These paintings reflect my own interaction with the ocean, the saltmarshes, as well as with the canvas and the colors on my palette. It’s a give-and-take conversation, one that’s not complete until the viewer interacts with the painting.”
The paintings in “Tidelands” also seek beauty where it might not be apparent, in commonplace things such as a weathered door, a water tower or the wetlands themselves — often overlooked by motorists rushing to the beach — even broken seashells.
“Faherty’s shell paintings, with names such as ‘The Beauty of the Broken,’ may be a commentary on all of us, with our perfect imperfections,” states information from the Arts Center. “They also touch on a theme that underlies many of the beautiful landscapes and seascapes in this show — the fragility of everything we love about the shore.”
The show also includes a few woodcut/watercolor monoprints and some “reconstructed” works, in which images are cut up and reassembled, a way of presenting multiple viewpoints at the same time.
“This show at the Ocean City Arts Center is the remedy for anyone who’s missing summer this time of year. Working in oil, acrylic and pastel, Tim tries to convey the life and light of this uniquely beautiful area,” according to the Arts Center.
Regular Arts Center hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Call (609) 399-7628 for more information.