Ellen Rice Gallery to relocate to Ocean View

Ellen Rice will host her last print debut in her Bethany Beach art gallery beginning at 1 p.m., Friday, April 14. The Ellen Rice Gallery is relocating next week to its new Ocean View location. Rice hopes to be reopening within a couple of weeks.

"Zenith," a 20-by-10-inch dancing wave painted in oils by Rice, is the subject of her first new print of the season. She will sign and personalize new prints from 1 to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, April 14 and 15.

"I love the sunlight going through the curl of the wave and patterns of its motion, captured at its zenith, in this painting," said Rice. "It's a happy painting for beginning the season and welcoming the sunny days ahead."

The multiple award-winning Delaware artist has more than 140 paintings in print of the coastal region she's called home since 1962 - and until her move Tuesday, April 18, all of her prints are sale priced.

The last days of her moving sale give everyone in town this weekend the opportunity to save on art and unique gifts while keeping Rice from having to pack and move quite as much. Everything in the gallery is on sale, except consignment works by local artisans and Rice's originals.

The gallery is at 98 Garfield Parkway in the Blue Surf building, ocean block, Bethany Beach, on the south side of the grandstand circle.

The gallery's new location will be in the former Kool Bean building in Coastal Plaza, approximately 2.4 miles west of Bethany's totem on Route 26. Venetian red shutters and paint were recently added to the building, the color used by the U.S. Coast Guard, as a nod to Coastal Plaza's nautical theme.

Rice's signature verdigris butterfly and dragonfly benches will soon flank the front corners of her new gallery, amid landscaping by Lord's Landscaping. "I'm really happy with this location," said Rice. "It was a hard decision to move. It's expensive, and we love where we are - our landlords, our neighbors, being so near the ocean in such a nice building - but we really need more space to expand, and our new building gives us that and more. We've got more walls and high ceilings in two showrooms that can accommodate some very large new pieces I'm working on, a separate area for additional handmade gifts and jewelry, and a large enclosed front porch where we can bring in additional pieces of our artists' garden art and garden furniture."

Refreshments will be offered during the Ellen Rice Gallery's last weekend in town. Everyone is welcome. The gallery will be closed Sunday in deference to Easter and will reopen at 10 a.m., Monday, for its last official day in downtown Bethany. For more information, call 302-539-3405 or go to ellenrice.com.