The Campbell House Galleries' February exhibit will feature "Impressionist Paintings" by Sara Gray.

The show opens Friday, Feb. 6, with a reception to meet the artist from 6 to 8 p.m. Cele Bryant, Ginny Farrell, Elda and Bill Hiser, Nancy and Tom Proctor, Sheila Sullivan, Eileen Strickland, Fay and Bill Terry, and Susan and Michael Woods host the reception, which is free and open to the public.

The exhibit is on display through Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays, and from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21. The galleries will be closed Feb. 16 in observance of Presidents Day. The Campbell House Galleries are located at 482 East Connecticut Avenue, Southern Pines.

Sara Gray is no stranger to the Sandhills art scene. She is a longtime member of the Artists League of the Sandhills, where she also conducts classes, and a former watercolor teacher at Sandhills Community College. Gray has had many shows at both the Artists League and the Campbell House, and her work is held in public and private collections around the world.

For the past few years, Gray has been ensconced in oil painting in the manner of the Impressionists.

"I have painted in many ways and always loved every part of it," says Gray. "I believe that each of us has a 'calling,' and we just have to find what it is and work hard at it. My calling is painting, and I can hardly wait to get to my studio each morning to begin work."

Gray has worked hard at many things during her life. Early on, she was a surgical nurse at a time when heart surgery was just beginning, and a patient's heart was slowed by placing him or her in a tub of ice cold water just prior to surgery.

After raising a family, Gray returned to college to become a ceramicist. Clay was delivered to her studio a ton at a time. After 25 years, it became evident that she could no longer lift 50-pound sacks of clay with ease, and so she retired to Southern Pines to pursue her love of golf and watercolor painting.

Gray promises that visitors to the February show at the Campbell House will delight in her Impressionistic works of art.

"But view them from a distance of at least eight feet," she says.

"Otherwise you will just see globs of paint!"

For more information about the February exhibit, contact the Arts Council of Moore County at 692-4356 or visit the Web site www.mooreart.org.