On Friday, Aug. 2, Gleason Fine Art in Boothbay Harbor opens a one-person show for the renowned pastel painter Lyn Asselta."Where Rock Meets Water" runs through Sept. 3, with an opening reception for Asselta on Friday, Aug. 2, from 5 to 7 p.m.

Four years ago, Asselta, recently returned to Maine after spending most of her adult life in Florida, asked to join Gleason Fine Art's roster of artists. After viewing her work, we knew right away that she would be a rock star in the world of pastel painting. She has mastered the challenging medium of pastel to a degree that few others have. It is a daily occurrence for gallery customers and fellow pastel painters to exclaim in delight and awe while admiring her paintings. Furthermore, Lyn's mastery of pastel has been acknowledged by many in her profession, bestowing her with too many awards to enumerate here.

So, what is pastel, after all? Used since the Renaissance, pastel is a dry medium that consists of a powdered pigment and a binder. Lyn uses soft pastel, which comes in stick form and is known for its intense colors. Lyn achieves excellent coverage with soft pastel, that is, there are few spots where the underlying paper shows through. Unlike watercolors, pastel paintings do not fade upon exposure to light. Over the centuries, pastel has been used by many well-known artists including Leonardo Da Vinci, Edgar Degas, Mary Cassatt, and Wolf Kahn.

For her show "Where Rock Meets Water," Asselta has explored the boundary where Maine's ancient rocky coast meets the ever-changing sea, the very elements that carry a sense of timelessness and endless possibilities for Asselta. In her hands, a granite ledge becomes a universe of shapes - ridges, crevices, and plateaus - and colors - grays, pinks, azures, greens, yellows, and mauves. In "Waiting," the delicate colors in the long stretch of ledge are mirrored in the sky beyond, where the sun is just beginning to set over a calm, pearlescent sea. It is a stunning painting.

Please join us for the opening reception. Come and meet Lyn Asselta and share a glass of wine with her. Gleason Fine Art, founded in 1985 by the Gleason family, is at 31 Townsend Ave.

Summer gallery hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Tel.: 207-633-6849; info@gleasonfineart.com. To view Asselta's new show, as well as the gallery's inventory of contemporary and estate art, visit our new, easy-to-use website: gleasonfineart.com.