Gallery To Display Artists' 'Imagination'

NEW PORT RICHEY - For lack of a better description, Michelle Astuto Collins' work is all over the place, she says.

Her eclectic collection, "Welcome to My Imagination - Please Excuse the Mess," will be showcased starting tonight at Progress Energy Art Gallery, 6231 Grand Blvd., just south of the Richey Suncoast Theatre.

A First Friday reception is from 6 to 9 p.m.

Collins, who has lived in the area since she was 14, regularly shows her art at the gallery and will unveil mostly new pieces for this exhibit, which runs through Dec. 29.

"My works are very different from each other as a whole - sometimes sad, happy, colorful, drab, deep, humorous, spiritual, thought-provoking," says Collins, who mostly works in acrylics.

She often explores other media such as watercolor, digital painting, sculpture and "whatever else I feel like dabbling in at the moment."

Collins attributes her abstract approach to the fact her family moved around a lot while she was growing up.

"The styles, tastes and musical interests were all over the map," she says of her siblings, who have a 20-year age difference between the youngest and oldest. "I think the influences and the constant changes in my surroundings that I became accustomed to carries through in my art."

Collins has devoted much of her time working as a staff member at the Progress Energy gallery for several years.

She created "A Woman's Work Is Never Done," a Worldwide Women Artists Organization exhibit last February, and over the summer designed and taught children's art classes.

"Michelle is a force of nature," says gallery director Karren Doll Tolliver. "She is high energy and optimistic, and that comes through in her work. Her paintings and sculptures really touch people and we sell a lot of them, especially once the customers meet Michelle."

Also exhibiting in the show are Suzanna Holland, Klaus Lang, Shannon Thek and Carey Yaskovic.

This month's First Friday opening coincides with Greater New Port Richey Main Street's Shop 'n' Stroll event and the gallery's holiday sale kickoff.

The gallery also will host a Holiday Fling that evening, with many artists selling their work at booths along the sidewalks.

Gallery hours are noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For information, call (727) 848-6500 or visit www.nprgallery.com.