NAPLES, FL.-Naples' oldest outdoor art festival celebrates its 51st anniversary season of featuring artwork from Naples Art Association members in juried shows the first Saturday of the month from November through April. The next show takes place on Saturday, Jan. 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Park Street alongside the admission-free von Liebig Art Center, and features a variety of media including paintings, photography, sculpture and jewelry. Musical entertainment is provided and refreshments are available. Admission is free.

Gabrielle Nappo of North Naples is the Featured Artist for the January festival. Nappo says her artistic endeavors include textiles and clay. She holds a masters degree in textiles from Kean University in New Jersey. She studied at the Maryland Center for Creative Arts focusing on clay and continued her studies of wheel throwing techniques with master potter Rinny Ryan of Naples. She also participated in workshops in ceramic design and glazing chemistry. Her textile education with its focus on texture and color provided her with the background to transition to clay.

Nappo's love of nature and especially an affinity for the sea is reflected in the many blues and greens she uses in herglazes. The pieces achieve their texture through the use of stamping, incising and sprigging as well as the application of multiple layers of glazes. Over the last several years she has continued to experiment with texture by creating her own stamp designs and tools to enhance the clay surface. She often uses multiple layers of glazes, slips and stains to achieve a richness and depth to her pieces. Her pieces are both decorative and functional using thrown and hand building techniques which are fired to cone 6 in an electric kiln.

Her studio is located in the Rosen Art Studios on J&C Blvd. in Naples. She is an active member of the Naples Art Association, Naples Artcrafters, Marco Island Art League and the Naples Art Group. She has exhibited at the Physicians Regional Center and at monthly shows during the season at Art in the Park and Artcrafters in Naples as well as other fine art shows in southwest Florida. Her commissioned pieces have included work for the Lutheran church and private patrons in Naples and Ohio.