The artists of the Main Gallery in Redwood City will begin the new year with a visual and conceptual look at Redwood City, from the forested hills of Skyline Drive through historic downtown to the salt flats.

The show will run from Jan. 8 through Feb. 2, 2003 and there will be a reception with the artists on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003 from 4-7 p.m.

Laureen Felton specializes in color prints from slides of local sites. One of her favorite bodies of work is called "The Salt Project." This work consists of landscapes and abstract images of the salt ponds off Seaport Blvd. Felton finds herself drawn to the reflection in still water, which are
abundant at this site. The subtle reds, browns and blues of this series contrast with her new work of forest scenes from the hills of Redwood City and beyond.

The highlands are also the subject of landscapes by painter Audrey Guerin and pastel by Terri Wilson Moore of Edgewood Park. Joanne Beasley will show an oil pastel of the San Mateo coast. Elaine Frenett, who has just jointed the gallery, will show a watercolor of the bay lands. "I was spending a summer morning painting, what appeared to be, the quiet of the Palo Alto bay lands," Frenett recalled. "I gradually discovered a symphony of color and a chorus of wildlife."

Robin Robinson and Jeff Klingler have photographed scenes from downtown. Robinson's work consists of a series of black and white images of the well-known celebration "Bethlehem A.D." Klingler's work consists of black and white images taken at night of signs along Main Street. Anyone familiar with Redwood City will recognize them immediately, yet they are not unfamiliar to anyone from a small town.

Redwood City has a rich history. In 1859, the Union Cemetery Association was established. This site and its history are the subject of several works in the show. Renee Fitts has taken infrared photographs of the cemetery and Helen Golden's mixed media/digital work is based on photographs taken of the tombstones. Karen Truesdell, a ceramic artist, took clay imprints from the tombstones, transferred them to porcelain sheets and painted them with oils. Her interest in the cemetery came from a wonderful booklet published by the Historic Union Cemetery Association. The pictures and colorful descriptions of the lives of the people buried there make history come alive, especially when roaming the cemetery with book in hand. These stories inspired Susan
Wolf's plate depicting several historical deaths. The booklet can be purchase at the San Mateo Historical Museum located in the Old Courthouse on Hamilton Street.

The Main Gallery is an artist-owned gallery housed in one of Redwood City's oldest buildings, the 1857 John Offerman House. It shares a Victorian garden with Alana's Garden Café located in the 1880 John Deilman house. It is located at the corner of Main and Middlefield in front of the Library and across from City Hall. Hours are 11 to 4 Wednesday to Friday and 10 to 3 Saturday and Sunday. 650-701-1018. www.themaingallery.org