Press Release - Honing In by Martha Shaw
Martha Shaw - House with Red Tree
Oil on canvas. 16 x 20 inches framed. 2024.
pt.2:
Honing In
a solo exhibition by
Martha Shaw
Opening Reception
April 19th at 6pm
On view until
May 31, 2025
pt.2 Gallery
1523b Webster St.
Oakland, CA 94612
pt.2 is pleased to present Honing In, a new exhibition of oil paintings by Martha Shaw. In Honing In, Martha Shaw turns her attention to a small group of subjects—a pair of trees, a yellow house, a beachside building, and a recurring calla lily. Painted on canvas at intimate scale, these forms appear again and again, subtly shifting in light, texture, and composition. Each repetition becomes a way of deepening focus, of searching for what lingers beneath the surface of the everyday.
Martha Shaw - Four Calla Lilies
Oil on canvas. 20 x 16 inches framed. 2024.
The exhibition opens with a series of calla lily paintings. These works establish the quiet rhythm of the show: the same flower rendered multiple times, each with its own sensibility. Set against softly shaded gray fields, deep black, or wood pattern, the lilies oscillate between clarity and subtlety. In some, the bloom stands alone and iconic; in others, it merges with its surroundings, blurring the line between object and surface. Shaw uses these variations to explore how attention—repeated, focused—can transform the ordinary.
Throughout the exhibition, works are hung in pairs and clustered groupings—sibling paintings that reflect and respond to one another. These quiet relationships underscore the artist’s interest in rhythm, variation, and the act of sustained observation. Nothing is overly composed or embellished. Each element is placed with care, allowing mood to emerge through restraint. Shaw’s repetition is not mechanical, but thoughtful—a way of honing in until something familiar becomes newly seen.
Martha Shaw - Building with Two Trees, Red Roof
Oil on canvas. 16 x 19 inches framed. 2020.
The exhibition concludes with a collection of paintings depicting a beachside building—an invented structure with a red roof, often flanked by trees. This place doesn’t exist, though it feels familiar, like the entrance to a beach half-remembered. Across several canvases, Shaw returns to this form with slight variations. These works continue her exploration of repetition, but with a subtle shift in tone. Here, she is not observing the real but conjuring the almost-real—painting toward something that doesn’t quite exist, but feels like it could. In these scenes, Shaw’s quiet persistence becomes a way of giving form to something just beyond reach.
Martha Shaw (b. 1943) is an artist based in Fairfax, California. Shaw received her BFA in Printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute, though painting has been her primary art form since the late 1960’s. She has shown her work throughout Northern California. Shaw is also known for her collaborations in clay with her husband, ceramic artist Richard Shaw. Her diligent studio practice is grounded in a shared artistic mentality that spans three generations.