Art League of Marco showing Points of View multimedia exhibit

She takes those sketches back to the studio to develop her designs, often incorporating parts of other sketches to achieve the desired results.

Her watercolors — representing Venice, Chiaggio, Lake Orta and Bagno Vignoni, Italy — are currently on display until Feb. 25 as part of the Marco Island Art League's Points of View multimedia fine-arts exhibit.

The exhibit opened Feb. 1 in the Lauritzen and Rush Galleries.

Other featured artists include Greg Biolchini of Fort Myers; Joe Cooper, Frank de la Roche and Bill Gutzwiller, all of Naples; Robyn Hill of Kissimmee; and Maggie McClellan of Miami.

Island resident Piercy, an Art League member, said she feels location research is necessary to gain emotional involvement with her subject.

"Odors, noises, weather, people are all an intricate part of my finished work," she said.

Piercy didn't take up painting until her family was raised.

After studying with local artists, she went on to study painting and drawing under Caesar Borgia at the Riley League of Artists in White Plains, N.Y. She also studied with Ed Whitney, Frank Webb and other well-known artists at various workshops.

Her paintings hang in many states and in England, France and Germany. A member of the Florida and National American Artists Professional leagues, Piercy has presented in numerous juried shows and has won many awards.

Biolchini is an award-winning artist and teaches workshops throughout Southwest Florida. He is a master in oils, acrylics and pastels. His recent honors include being a finalist in The Artist's Magazine 2003 national competition, winning an award in the 2002 Pastel Society of America's 30th annual exhibition, winning the 2002 Grumbacher Gold Medallion, and being listed in 2002 Top 100 Arts for the Park.

Cooper, a stone sculptor, has taught sculpting for 33 years in Pennsylvania and New York. He now teaches stone sculpting in Southwest Florida, including at the Art League of Marco Island. His work is exhibited throughout Pennsylvania and New York.

De la Roche is a native of Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada. He received a degree from the Universite de Montreal and continued to study sculpture under the tutelage of Charlotte Lapointe at her private school and museum in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec.

He teaches stone sculpture in Southwest Florida, including at the Art League of Marco Island. A full-time sculptor, he is represented by numerous galleries in Canada and the United States. His work, done predominantly in bronze and stone, can be found in many private collections across North America.

Gutzwiller, a pastel painter who resides in Milwaukee and Naples, said he chose the medium because the brilliant color and dry application of pastel adapt ideally to painting in the outdoors. Gutzwiller studied at the Silvermine Guild in Norwalk, Conn., and the Milwaukee Art Institute of Art and Design, and he has worked with eminent pastelists Herman Margulies, Alan Flattman, Robert Hoffman, Elizabeth Mowry and Frank Federico.

His work is shown in expositions in the Midwest, Caribbean and Florida, and his work is in many private collections around the world.

Hill, an oil painter, has a bachelor's degree in fine arts from Florida State University and a minor in art history. She spent a semester abroad in Florence, Italy.

"The human figure has been represented throughout history by countless means," she said. "From the primitively sketched hunters of early cave paintings, to ambiguous representations of motion, the figure has become a symbol with many definitions. The significance of the nude in my work is born out of the admiration of the classical tradition."

McClellan is an artist and teacher. She paints with oils and watercolor. She has been teaching since 1978.

She said studying with four Chinese masters for 11 years contributed to her love of drawing and her sensitive eye for composition.

"Although all my drawings don't seem, at first glance, to show a kinship to Oriental painting, the awareness of negative space, interesting and varying contours, and topnotch proportional perception, all come from the Oriental background," she said.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.