Don’t miss the exhibition “Night Ocean,” currently at the gallery at Toby’s in Point Reyes Station through Nov. 29. Artist Nancy Stein has created a visual feast, focusing primarily on her signature oil paintings of waves. 

The name of the show is inspired by these lines from Rumi, the 13th-century Persian poet, who identifies our kinship to the sea:

We are the night ocean
Filled with glints of light
We are the space
Between the fish and the moon
As we sit here together

What is it that makes Nancy’s wave paintings so compelling? Each canvas is a detailed portrait of an individual wave, with its unique combination of color, light and form in a single moment. She has managed to capture what my senses simply cannot grasp, even with concentration and first-hand observation on the shore. 

In her own words, “Each wave is an individual, living out a brief life in a spectacular form—a moment in a vast ocean of other beings.” Her work embodies these thoughts about the nature of lifespan, change and time, especially poignant at this moment in human history.

Nancy combines formal training as an artist with the experience of living in West Marin since 1975. She began her artistic career with the precision of a printmaker, depicting the birds, animals and farms of the area in detailed etchings. She then morphed into the rich color and freedom of pastels, which yielded images of trees and landscapes, along with her first waves. Only in 2019 did she purchase brushes and begin experimenting with applying oil paint to canvas. Decades into her career as an artist, she taught herself to paint by studying work she admired, from colorist Mark Rothko to local landscape painter Russell Chatham.      

When the pandemic arrived early in 2020, with its extended periods of isolation, Nancy developed a disciplined practice of hiking and photographing, particularly at Limantour Beach, the shoreline closest to her home atop the Inverness Ridge. Since then, her home-studio filled with canvases. These are being shown together for the first time at Toby’s.

As one who relates to both nature and art primarily through color, I find these works to be a glorious kaleidoscope. Not only is there every conceivable shade between blue and green, but there are also rich surprises, such as a vibrant red sunset sky or hints of coral and violet on the horizon. In the images where no horizon is visible, Nancy uses bright white for the foam that contrasts to the churning slate, turquoise or teal swells.

Nancy articulates what separates these images from photographs, as well as what makes them transcend the ordinary into the realm of the extraordinary: “Since the camera lens fails to capture the depth of this experience, I am exploring what is missing—the movement, the effect of wind and temperature, the transparency…all of these elements are what make the landscape something more than what we see, and speak to the experience of the human heart.”

Susan Page Tillett is a lifelong supporter of the arts, with a 50-year career in museums and artist communities. Last year she retired as executive director of the Mesa Refuge. She lives in Point Reyes Station, where she continues to interact with local artists, including Nancy Stein.