She seeks light and life by the seashore
Stach retrospective at Frederick Gallery through June

BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer

"Learning to Tack" oil on canvas

Some people say that the devil is in the details; for Little Silver artist Judy Stach, God is in the details.

Stach believes in the power of the three "Ps" - prayer, paint and peace.

Prayer, she said, is a meditation, something she does in her Fair Haven church every morning. It releases the inspiration she needs to paint the peaceful scenes of natural and man-made beauty that she sees all around.

Stach believes that the most important thing she can do as an artist is to provide a sense of calm, beauty and peace in her work.

"When I paint, I try to instill a piece of peace," she said.

Her love of nature, family, children, water and flowers, is evident in her exhibition "Living the Dream," at the Frederick Gallery in Allenhurst.

A 10-year retrospective that spans the years 1996-2006, the exhibit fills the first floor of the gallery at 401 Spier Ave. and will run through June 30 and is accompanied by a catalog of her work.

Judy Stach painting "En Plein Air"

The glossy, 48-page catalog is broken down into three categories: waterscapes, landscapes and innocence, which includes paintings of children and families.

The text that accompanies the painting "Garden Dew" says, "I took over a year and a half to paint this. I wanted to paint a special painting that was going to be a part of everything I love about life. This is it. I love God, and my family above all things, but this is where I see God every day in the garden."

Stach paints wherever she can: at homes in Little Silver and in Vero Beach, Fla., on the Sea Ray motor boat and on airplanes. But, for the most part, she paints outdoors in all kinds of weather. She is a founder of the Plein Air Painters of the Jersey Coast.

"We started two years ago with three artists, now we have about 90," she said, adding that on one recent excursion to Gateway National Park, Sandy Hook, about 35 painters showed up. The group has painted in Marine Park in Red Bank, Deep Cut Park in Middletown, Manasquan Reservoir and in Belmar.

"Great Day Ahead" oil on canvas

"We hit the coast as much as we can," Stach said.

Stach uses oils and often starts her paintings outdoors, but as the light changes she has to take photographs for use as reference in her studio. Unlike watercolors, oil paintings take awhile to complete.

She has painted all over Monmouth County and Florida. In her Allenhurst show, there are paintings that depict charming scenes of beach life at the Monmouth Beach Club and the Channel Club, as well as in her backyard in Little Silver.

One of her paintings is of children learning to sail at the Shrewsbury Yacht and Boat Club. She has painted in Love Ladies on Long Beach Island, in Keyport, Belmar and Belford. "In Belford there are working boats. It's like being transported back in time," she said.

"Make Believe" oil on board

In May, she was invited to paint at Epcot in Orlando, Fla., at the annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival, 2006 Art in the Garden show. She was one of only 15 artists from across the United States chosen to participate. Two of her paintings, done on location at Epcot, are in the Frederick Gallery show; a French street scene and an Italian courtyard.

A lifelong resident of Monmouth County, Stach said she started her formal training when she was 12 years old. Stach believes that as an artist she should share her love for painting and the joy of self expression, so she teaches oils an acrylics at her home studio in Little Silver.

Stach said her first painting was of her brother. She was only three years old at the time, but her mother made a fuss over it. Her grandfather owned a boat works in Red Bank by the Oyster Point hotel and she loved to hang around there, with a pile of carpenter pencils, drawing boats.

"Perhaps that's why I'm drawn to wooden boats," she said. Illustration and advertising were her majors in college, but more than anything else, she remembers learning to draw people there, something that she does so remarkably now.

Stach's paintings employ impressionistic brush strokes, light dancing off her subjects and wonderful attention to color. She sometimes paints the same scene in different weather and times of day, so she can capture the changing colors.

"I love mixing colors," she said pointing out how a gray sky has some yellow in it and water is changeable.

"It's like life; nothing remains the same," she said.

Hours at the Frederick Gallery are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and by appointment.

To view Stach's work online, visit www.judystach.com.