Lyn Asselta’s pastel on paper, “As We Wait for Summer,” depicts coastal Maine beauty.
Gleason Fine Art gallery artist Lyn Asselta has earned “Gold” recognition for one of her paintings at the prestigious Juried Exhibition of the International Association of Pastel Societies. For pastel artists, this recognition is akin to winning the Kentucky Derby.
Asselta paints landscapes in pastel, a medium that is notoriously difficult to master, and her work is transcendent. Some pieces, such as the breathtaking “Slow Dance with Fog,” are delicate and moody. In others, such as the bold “As We Wait for Summer,” sunlight bounces from rocky outcroppings to greening shrubs to brilliant blue skies. Asselta revels in the natural world found along the Maine coast.
Asselta’s life and art career have recently come full circle. Having grown up in York and Cape Neddick, with a two-year stint at the former Portland School of Art, she headed south to Florida after a family tragedy, intending to be away from Maine for only a short time. That short time turned into 36 years, during which she raised a daughter and worked as an art teacher, a designer, and finally a landscape painter.
Never a fan of warm weather, Asselta longed for Maine’s ever-changing weather and rocky coast. Finally, last year she packed up her studio and moved to a house in midcoast Maine. Here, with sunsets over a tidal cove and mossy hills outlined with old stone walls, Asselta has found the inspiration she yearned for and has loved all her life.
Asselta’s pastels may be found at Gleason Fine Art, located at 31 Townsend Avenue in Boothbay Harbor. Her work may also be viewed on the gallery website, gleasonfineart.com.
