Local artist Leta Heiberg loves colour and springtime in the valley.

“Mostly I paint things I can see from my house,” she says.

Heiberg has two young children, but that doesn’t keep her from exploring the beauty of the valley.

Heiberg opened her first exhibition at Gallery 2 (formerly the Grand Forks Art Gallery) on Saturday as part of the “Studio Watch” series which showcases individual artists.

Heiberg strives to interpret the world by capturing colour and special moments.

Heiberg says she enjoys exploring colour and technique in her acrylic landscape paintings. The paintings are all new works that capture the vibrancy of the season.

She said her exhibit came together quickly.

“It was basically a mad rush of painting in the spring,” she says. “My winter paintings are much darker.”

However, now that the mad rush is over, Heiberg is glad to be able to give the viewer a brighter interpretation of nature.

“I love gardening and love being outside,” she says. “Maybe younger people who see my work will appreciate being outside.”

Although she studied at the Alberta College of Art and Design, her love of nature was one of the things that brought her back to Grand Forks.

“I don’t really like the city,” she says. “It’s too gray.”

Also on display until Aug. 28 is Red: A Haida Manga by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and Toni Onley: A Survey 1946-2002.