April 12 at Anita Peghini-Räber Gallery features sweeping landscapes

Spring is in the air, but not too long ago the winds carried snowflakes to the coast of Rehoboth Beach. The long walks at the beach with her adopted standard poodle inspired Anita Peghini-Räber, gallery owner and local artist. She admired and studied the ever-changing colors of the water and the wide-open skies.

The results of those experiences, sensual and sweeping landscapes, will be on display from 6 to 9 p.m., Saturday, April 12, at the Anita Peghini-Räber Gallery, 49 Baltimore Ave. in Rehoboth as part of Second Saturday events.

Peghini-Räber is fascinated by life. In her art she catches the vertical against the horizontal. Sometimes the rolling waves are in focus; other times the undulation of the sand formation becomes more important. She takes note of the skies carrying a breeze, or she counters the wide-stretched landscape with the vertical curtain of the blue sky.

"Our surroundings in winter are spectacular - the silhouetted bare trees on the horizon meeting at different angles, the bleached marsh against the blue skies - it is beautiful!," says Peghini-Räber.

Peghini-Räber even sketched out some of her poodle's encounters with other dogs playfully in three series of 8-by-10-inch oils on canvas. Her inspiration to paint stems from learning from international culture. Peghini-Räber lived in the French and German part of Switzerland; in Paris, the City of Light; Philadelphia, Pa.; and in Washington D.C. Being a mother of two sons taught her to paint on and be even faster and more excellent. Her professional career in communication led her to become an efficient communicator in the arts.

Peghini-Räber has been juried in at the Plein-Air Easton, Md. show and at the Ventura, Calif. open studio session. Peghini-Räber's art is in private collections across Central Europe and the United States. She has shown her work in New York City and in California. Her work can be seen at the permanent collecton of the Biggs Museum in Dover and at St. Andrew's School, Middletown.

The public is welcome to meet and greet Peghini-Räber at the Second Saturday event with refreshments on the host.

Gallery hours of operation are 6 to 9 p.m., Thursday; 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday; and11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday.  Visit www.rehobothart.com.

Also at the gallery, Tango DE Arte will meet from 8:15 to 9 p.m., Saturday April 26, with a free introductory class in Argentine Tango. Milonga goes from 9 p.m. to late. A $10 donation will be taken at the door. Go to www.tangolewes.com.

Art & Belly with Viva Viviana, an introduction into the art of belly dancing, takes place from 6:30 to 8 p.m., Thursdays, $10 donation at the door.

Call 302-227-2888 for information.