A quintet of local female artists will hold a reception and open house next weekend in the gallery they opened in August 2004.

		More information The reception at the Artists' Corner will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday. An open house will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 4 p.m. next Sunday. Call 724-228-3774 or 724-356-2558.

The Artists' Corner, 98 E. Chestnut St., Washington, is a three-room building which houses working studios for the artists, all of whom live in Washington County.

Donna Jordan and Stephany Myers, of Washington; Charlotte Davidson and Maggie O'Lear, of Hickory; and Marion Gill, of East Finley, are painters who work in a variety of media.

The women got acquainted through the Washington Art Association, where they are members. One day in the summer of 2004, Ms. O'Lear invited her fellow artists to her home near Hickory to paint. The women enjoyed the experience so much they decided to look for studio space they could share.

"To help find a place, Charlotte Davidson phoned Susan Gagliardi, then the Washington city manager, who suggested our current home on East Chestnut," Mrs. Myers said. "When we took a look at it, we immediately fell in love with it."

Since moving into the building, the artists agree that they've become more productive. Before, most of them usually painted on their dining room tables and had to clean up everything after each session. Now they're able to leave their work at the studio and pick up the next day where they left off.

"We all seem to get along very well," Mrs. Myers said. "Four of us have full-time jobs, so we come and go as we please, which gives us a lot of flexibility."

Ms. Gill, who shares a room with Ms. O'Lear, likes working in proximity to the others and sees advantages in sharing space with like-minded people.

"We get to exchange ideas, information and constructive criticism," she said. "An artist, for instance, can look at their painting and know something is amiss. But because they're so close to their work, the problem may not be so readily apparent. On the other hand, a fellow artist who's not that emotionally involved with the work can often spot the problem."

During the reception, the rooms of the studio will be full of art created in the past year. Mrs. Myers will exhibit 39 pieces, mostly pastels with a few watercolors and pen-and-ink drawings. At the moment, many of her watercolors are on exhibit at the Mount Morris Welcome Center on Interstate 79 in Greene County.

Ms. Gill is working hard on an abstract painting. She wants to finish it in time for the open house, where it will hang near a realist work titled "Louie and Friends," named for the geese she discovered during a country drive through East Finley.

"The geese politely waited until I took photos of them from three different angles, then promptly took off," she said.

Refreshments (assorted hors d'oeuvres such as cheese and crackers) will be served during the reception along with wine, including several by the Plum Run Winery of Beallsville. The reception and subsequent open house Saturday and next Sunday will include works by guest artists Kandy Thome (photographs), Theresa Campa (pottery) and Barbara Hageter (pastels).

"Although all of our Artists' Corner members come from different backgrounds, we've been making art since childhood," Mrs. Myers said. "We've all taken classes, and Donna Jordan even earned an art degree from Washington and Jefferson College."

To promote the weekend events, each artist has been sending invitations to friends, relatives and fellow artists, encouraging them to visit the studios, look around and ask questions of what they see.

"This is our third reception, and we've had great attendance for each one," Mrs. Myers said. "We love what we do and feel we're making some very fine art. We hope people will come in to see it."