Artist Alley in downtown Southern Pines will hold a First Friday opening featuring the work of decorative painter Kathy Miller and fiber artist Nanette Zeller, both of whom are Southern Pines residents.

The event will be held Friday, Oct. 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. The artists will be present throughout the evening to meet with visitors and discuss their work. The event is open to the public, and refreshments will be provided.

Kathy Miller has been a decorative painter for 30 years. She has studied with several nationally known and published artists and designers as she moved to many different areas of the country.

Miller transforms unfinished wood items and furniture into one-of-a-kind works of art in a variety of styles and repurposes vintage antique or flea market items into artistic treasures using acrylic paint.

"Kathy has been exhibiting her work at Alley since it first opened in Aberdeen nine years ago," says Jean Skipper, gallery owner. "Her work is a perennial favorite with our guests because she is constantly rotating her exhibit, so her display always has something new and fresh to see."

Many of her new works include the seasonal colors of rusts, oranges and yellows on pumpkins and gourds or landscapes.

"This may be my favorite color palette to work with," Miller says. "Actually much of my home is decorated with this scheme too."

Miller has recently designed and painted a distribution box for PineStraw Magazine.

"For the PineStraw box, I decided to try to reflect our beautiful countryside and homes, including, of course, the horses," she says. "The pineapple motif, as always, stands for Southern hospitality."

The box is located in front of Artist Alley, and is kept stocked with copies of PineStraw magazine, Moore County's arts and entertainment publication.

Nanette S. Zeller is a mixed media fiber artist. Her work is a lifelong culmination of creative adventure and exploration with a color pallet deeply influence by her love and study of nature. As a young child, her creative drive was encouraged by her mother who taught her to crochet, sew, and otherwise express herself artistically.

"I think a lot of my abilities came from genetics," Zeller says. "My mother was an original mixed media artist, making seasonal dioramas from ham cans. And in his retirement years, my father explored his talents in wood working, photography and oil painting."

Zeller has translated her early creative nurturing into a love and passion for working with wool and cloth. In 2001, she started mastering her quilting skills and taking classes from nationally recognized instructors. More recently, she has begun incorporating wool fabric and fibers into her work.

"As a mixed media artist, I love combining objects and techniques into my finished work," she says. "My base is always a fiber or textile component, but I will add found objects, paper, metal, paint, or just about anything that seems interesting to me."

For this event, Zeller will debut her new series work titled "Strata." These new wall art pieces are rich in earthy colors and layering techniques. Also available at the Alley from Zeller are fiber art pins, pincushions and journals.

In addition to her artwork, Zeller has also authored several articles for Fibre & Stitch e-magazine and is a freelance technical editor for a major craft book publisher, and is also an active board member of Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative based in Flint, Mich. She also teaches classes at Linderella's Quilt Works in Pinehurst and presents demos at Jerry's Artarama in Raleigh.

Artist Alley features the work of more than 50 North Carolina artists and craftspeople. Regular gallery hours are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The gallery is located in downtown Southern Pines, one block east of the train station, at 167 E. New Hampshire Avenue.

For more information, call 692-6077.