Visit MH Art Gallery & Studio this month, and you'll enjoy a wide variety of artworks, all created by women.

"Women of MHG: New Works" will run through Sunday, Jan. 26, at the gallery, 42 W. Market St., Marietta. The exhibit hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

"These are six women who have a passion for art and love to share their experience and talent with anyone who visits the gallery," said Marita Hines, owner of MH Art Gallery and founding member of Marietta Art Alive. "Visitors can expect a visual feast that covers a wide variety of styles, media and subject matter."

Artists whose work will be showcased are Marianne Calenda, Melissa Carroll, Linda Mylin Ross, Joanne McIlvaine, Susan Davitti Darling and Marita Hines.

"Marianne's works are an exploration of aqueous media painting including acrylics and water-mixable oils, monotypes and contemporary drawing with charcoal, soft pastel and inks," Marita shared. "Her current portfolio is reflective of daily encounters along regional trails."

Melissa uses a collection of palette knives to work with oil paint on canvas in a contemporary impressionistic style, Marita commented. "She works 'en plein air' and in her studio and accepts commissions," she said.

Linda comes from a background of art academia. "Many of her pieces are large, and her media of choice are charcoal, pastels and mixed media," Marita said. "She portrays ordinary, everyday objects in unusual compositions and is inspired by nature and creatures."

Joanne paints landscapes using oils "alla prima," a direct method of painting wet into wet that is finished in one sitting. "She is drawn to patterns and dramatic lights and darks, and her work is soft yet full of emotion," Marita said.

Susan likes to recycle, reuse and reinvent, Marita remarked, adding, "Using discarded library books, old calendars and datebooks, pamphlets and brochures, she creates colorful collages that exhibit a designer's keen sense of composition."

For her own art, Marita loves to work in water media, most recently with gouache, an opaque form of watercolor. She is inspired by nature and paints outdoors whenever weather permits.

This group of women exhibits a few times throughout the year at the gallery and collectively is known as Marietta Art Alive. "It's the arts-in-action team of Rivertownes PA USA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the art, culture and history of lower Susquehanna Valley river towns," Marita shared. "You may know them as the organizers of the popular annual River Towns Plein Air, now in its fifth year."

Following this exhibit, MH Gallery will feature "Be Still My Heart," a regional juried exhibit inspired by still life subject matter. The show will run from Saturday, Feb. 1, through Sunday, March 16.

For more information, visit http://www.mhartgallery.com.