Gallery MAR | By The Water, Of The Water Partner Website

By Sabina Dana Plasse

Water is essential to life. It also serves as the focus of engaging, colorful, and profound exploration and emotion, which Gallery MAR artists T. S. Harris and Shawna Moore delve into in their new works for “By the Water, Of the Water,” opening on June 27, 2025. Gallery MAR has a history of advocating for female artists and supporting working mothers who are artists. Its collectors have long valued the work of both Shawna Moore and T. S. Harris. “By the Water, Of the Water” is a show that combines the connections of two women to water, offering unique perspectives and a sublime sense of living and life.

As a lifelong Californian immersed in art, T. S. Harris brings vision and introspection to her paintings for “By the Water, Of the Water,” capturing the essence of existence through loss, desire, beauty, and fleeting moments. Her work showcases a mid-century style and elegant appeal that is both classic and reminiscent of figures by the ocean, at the pool, or in the mountains, where what is on the canvas also suggests what is not seen. 

Harris’s connection to water is subtle and beautiful, often implied regardless of the season. Her subjects are established, existing in a tempting and enticing environment within nature, even in solitude, yet mysterious and sophisticated. 

“With figurative work, there needs to be weight. My figures must be solid, grounded, and inherently strong,” says Harris. “These are women from the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. They were distinct. They embodied strength. They do not float. They have substance.” She adds, “Understanding them and how they are portrayed is part of the creative process in these works because the body has weight, even when suspended in the air.”

Harris weaves sublime beauty throughout her work, presenting timeless imagery not for nostalgia but because it underpins our identity. “We are all little bits of our history and ancestry. We come forward, and my paintings remind us that this is our time.”

For Harris, water symbolizes a pool, a beach vacation, skiing in the mountains, and a feeling of access and engagement that ultimately diminishes. As a child, waiting for summer can seem prolonged, or a mother might find herself overseeing a day filled with the allure of these destinations. “It’s a feeling of being there,” Harris states. “It’s an incredible moment and time. We are alive. The passage of time and that moment are aspects I love to capture and celebrate.”

“These are women from the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s. They were distinct. They embodied strength. They do not float. They have substance. Understanding them and how they are portrayed is part of the creative process in these works because the body has weight, even when suspended in the air.”

–T. S. Harris, Artist

Harris employs shadows to create depth, vibrant color, and strength, allowing you to almost hear the water, whether it’s the gentle lapping of a pool, a splash, or the soft thunder of ocean waves rolling onto the beach. “It contrasts sharply with the sunlight, which would be dull without it,” she explains. “This contrast enhances the brightness, making it more wonderful and energetic. Water is present in every painting, even if it remains unseen.”

Harris’s paintings often evoke memories of past vacations and summers for viewers and collectors, recalling special experiences and places. “My work is like an exquisite perfume,” says Harris. “There is an initial scent, followed by lingering subtle tones that you want to embrace, and that is how I feel about my work. It has an initial impact, and then you dive deeper into the painting’s nuances and poignancy—life is bittersweet and fleeting. We can’t hold onto it forever. It serves as a reminder of the passage of time. You become immersed in the work, which is my goal.”

“We are all little bits of our history and ancestry. We come forward, and my paintings remind us that this is our time.”

–T. S. Harris, Artist

Harris’s work was featured in the independent film The Face of Love, starring Annette Bening and Ed Harris, in museums and galleries across the country and on book covers and magazines showcasing her “Sunlight Noir” style. For “By the Water, Of the Water,” Harris presents new works on canvas featuring her signature pools and oceans.

Encaustic artist Shawna Moore approaches her work from a deep inner sanctuary of process and intention. Residing on Whitefish Lake in Montana’s Flathead Valley, Moore maintains a connection to water that enables her to observe the lake through various seasons, which informs her artistic endeavors. She notices silvery reflections in spring, while summer brings out vibrant magenta hues at sunset. Additionally, as a surfer, Moore immerses herself in the vast oceanic field, as she calls it, where she reflects on water and humanity’s connection to it. She feels a sense of enchantment in the ocean, drawing from anthropological stories of cultural origins that speak of emerging from the ocean onto the back of a turtle or other mythologies, making her feel part of something magical.

“I aim to replicate seasonal patterns and natural occurrences as I work. It feels very creative to channel natural forms and expressions in my artwork.”

–Shawna Moore, Artist

“This year, we enjoyed a stretch of crystal-clear, smooth ice, which was visually spectacular. You could see fish swimming beneath you, as well as sunken boats and logs. The whole town came out to experience it and skate on it until it was covered by snow,” says Moore. “In the ocean, I am always struck by the colors and textures surrounding me.”

Captivated by the unknown and mysterious, Moore translates her universal meditations and those experienced at home, into encaustic paintings depicting ripples and water flowing through space. Through her observations, she shapes her vision, which frequently represents water in pictorial form or as art, particularly in her work for “By the Water, Of the Water.”

“Perhaps the secret superpower of the artist’s brain is that there is no difference between observation and experience. The picture and reality are the same,” says Moore. “I think it is deeply psychological how you relate to a place, and it is an expression of it. There is certainly an abundance of references to water, both calm and disturbed, in the meditative and consciousness practices that I have studied. I purposely try to keep the work varied and interesting.”

Moore’s approach to the encaustic process, which uses heated and fluid paint, enables her to shift between solid and liquid forms multiple times while creating a single painting. “I heat things and let them cool, then I might completely scrape them back to the first layer or perhaps add them back in. I aim to replicate seasonal patterns and natural occurrences as I work. It feels very creative to channel natural forms and expressions in my artwork.”

The ripples in Moore’s work are enticing and often mesmerizing because the familiarity of their existence creates a sublime artistic experience unique to each viewer. The meditative essence of water is captured by Moore’s encaustic expertise and her passion for a process that consistently produces something unique, rarely yielding the same result twice.

“The ripples seem to have become more tightly wound lately. I suppose the challenge is to play with the variety of a coiled spring (squiggly and wound-up) or a hanging power line (straight and slack), along with all the variations in between. I purposely try to keep the work diverse and interesting.” She adds, “The ability of the wax to behave in a liquid state offers opportunities for a certain type of bio-mimicry in the work. I drip and pour the wax, and I drag objects through the wax to create patterns of surface tension. These techniques are random, and although they are repeatable, they look different each time and have different combinations of actions. The way visual information is conveyed is actually the opposite of how I always thought it worked.”

Moore’s background in architecture and fine art and her inventive, inquisitive, meditative, and experimental nature are integral to her approach to her work. Her fascination with and exploration of water and her responses to it through sports, poetics, and art create a level of communication that inspires those drawn to her paintings. It transcends the individual. Through her encaustic work, Moore immerses herself in the flow of material and technique, where the light and shadows she conjures open up endless interpretations of how water manifests in her paintings—it is sublime.

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