Tranquil Vistas by Mak Dehejia
Tranquil Vistas is a solo exhibition by watercolorist Mak Dehejia at Park View Gallery in Glen Echo Park. The exhibition presents a small collection of landscapes created in 2025, drawing on scenes from Dehejia’s surroundings and memories. The paintings seek to convey peace, silence, solitude, and serenity during turbulent times, while leaving room for viewers to interpret the landscapes through their own experiences.
Dehejia’s work is shaped by childhood memories of rural India, particularly the vivid sunsets that followed dust storms and the cool relief offered by streams, ponds, lakes, and rivers. His paintings often feature hills, mountains, trees, water, and reflections, using simplified forms and warm colors to evoke moods rather than depict specific locations. He favors watercolor for its transparency, luminous color, and balance between artistic control and the medium’s unpredictable movement across paper. He also prefers painting outdoors, where watercolor’s speed is especially useful.
When: The exhibition opens Friday, August 1, 2025. The page does not state a closing date.
Opening Reception: Friday, August 1, 2025, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, during Art Walk.
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 12:00 to 6:00 PM, or by appointment.
Artist: Mak Dehejia.
Background: Dehejia began painting after retiring from careers in engineering and finance, despite having no formal art instruction during his early education. He first studied watercolor at Glen Echo Park’s Yellow Barn Studio and later continued at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. His teachers and mentors have included Bonny Lundy, Gwen Bragg, and Susan Herron, and he has participated in workshops with Tony van Hasselt and Mel Stabin. A week painting with renowned watercolorist Ron Ranson was a particularly transformative experience. More recently, Peter Ulrich, Michael Reardon, and Susan O’Neill have helped him move beyond simply depicting what he sees toward expressing what he feels.
Artist Statement: Dehejia describes the natural landscape as a source of solace, tranquility, and happiness. His watercolors use diluted pigment, white paper, and reflected light to create transparent, glowing fields of color. Warm reds, oranges, and yellows recall the dust storms and intense sunlight of his childhood in Gujarat and Sind in 1940s India, while water, shade trees, and expansive landscapes suggest refuge and calm. The works are intended to reflect moods and feelings rather than represent particular sites.
Awards and Affiliations: Dehejia received the 2023 Park View Artist Award. He is a member of the Yellow Barn at Glen Echo Park, a Signature Member of the Baltimore Watercolor Society and the Potomac Valley Watercolorists, and a member of the Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association and the Art League of Alexandria. He has exhibited throughout the Delmarva region and has received multiple awards.
Venue: Park View Gallery, Glen Echo Park.
Address: 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD 20812.
Tickets: Price not available.
Note: The gallery can also be visited by appointment.