The Member Spotlight series at Newburyport Art is a new initiative, featuring a solo showcase of work in the newly designated Mural Gallery — the hallway and staircase bridging the downstairs Sargent Gallery and upstairs Hartson Gallery.
The current Member Spotlight is on NAA Artist Member Rebecca Klementovich, who presents Women who sailed Tall ships — a bold and fantastical collection of paintings dedicated to the women of Portsmouth who bravely sailed on tall ships in the 17th and 18th centuries.
More of Rebecca’s work can be found at klementovich.com
-
These tall ship paintings are dedicated to the women of Portsmouth between the 17th and 18th century. There is not much known about them, just bits from written information as marriage licenses and baptismal records. We do know that this woman Gerrish was sailing with her husband. Sometimes the captain would take his family with him during the voyages.
What to me was the most fantastical story that I had read was that women with their children sometimes they were on the ship with strap themselves to the mass below when there was a huge storm so that they wouldn’t get swept off to the ocean. This really keeps my life in perspective when I think of some of the stores that seafaring women went through.
-
Rebecca’s work unites Abstract painting with Semi Landscapes. She uses a unique colorful palette to express nature. Dropping the horizon line makes a landscape abstract. Graduating from the Fashion Institute of technology NYC, she specialized in fashion illustration. Rebecca was a textile designer and fashion art director for 22 years in the city, where she began her love of color. Her art career gave her a love of color and a strong design component in her paintings. Fashion illustration gave her the background for the gestural and bold color palette for my landscapes and abstracts.
Rebecca lived in northern New Hampshire near the Mount Washington area for many years. The mountains gave her the nostalgia and the lyrical feeling for the landscapes.. All of these elements have produced these large, modern, unique fine art paintings. She now lives near Portsmouth, NH.I started sculpting with clay only a couple of years ago, self-taught, after my Reiki 2 initiation I knew I had to become a sculptor.
My family and I moved in June 2021 to Essex in Massachusetts and in this slice of heaven I found my highest inspiration.
— pulled from klementovich.com where you can find more of Rebecca’s work online.
Come meet Rebecca and take in her stunning work during her Meet-the-Artist on Friday, July 14th from 4-5pm!
