N.J. Emerging Artists: Michalyn Tarantino - Watercolors The Monmouth Museum is continuing the N.J. Emerging Artists Series, which celebrates the breadth of talent that exists within the state. Six artists working in a variety of media are being showcased. Artists were selected by a panel of 10 jurors. The EmergingArtists series began last year with three monthlong exhibitions, and the second half of the series began in March. The fifth artist in the series, Michalyn Tarantino of West Windsor, will be exhibiting work in watercolor fromApril 25 through May 25 in the Nilson Gallery. An opening reception will be held 6-8 p.m. Friday. Tarantino describes her style of painting as "controlled realistic impressions, sometimes bordering on photo-realistic." Years of training in oils fostered a love of intense and vivid color and contrasting colors, she notes in an artist statement. "Upon learning the technique of glazing, I began to explore and experiment endlessly with color. As a child and even now, I amfascinated with all the values or color that one single pencil or one tube of paint can make. "Crazy Glass" "I love all the details that can be created with a pencil and a brush. Rusting and old mechanical equipment fascinates me. Intense sunlight excites me by the way it intensifies all the color within an object. My paintings of flowers and colored glass represent my vision of that sunlit intensity. "I also love to try anything new with watercolor, whether it is in my subject matter or in weaving with watercolored paper strips." In 2005, Tarantino was named one of 20 Emerging Artists in American Artist Watercolor magazine and she received the New Jersey Watercolor Society's Medal of Honor. The Monmouth Museum is located on the Brookdale Community College campus, Newman Springs Road, in Lincroft. The Main Gallery and Nilson Gallery are open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sundays.Admission is $7; members, Brookdale students and staff with valid identification and children under age 2 are admitted free. Formore information, call the museum at (732) 747- 2266 or visit www.monmouthmuseum.org.