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The basement at the Artists' Gallery of Steamboat has been mostly stripped of its remnants from the building's days as a newspaper office, but mixed media artist Maggie Smith still manages to find things she can use.

In her most recent work, Smith used old advertising plates and architectural plans to make collographs, monotypes and monoprints. The collection opens with a reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at Artists' Gallery. Paintings by Susan Corser and fabric art by Wendy Kowynia also are featured in the show, titled "Light Translations."

For one series of prints, Smith used 1970s architectural blueprints as a base for idyllic scenes, creating a contrast with undeveloped landscapes. Most of Smith's plates go through multiple printing runs as a way to use extra ink and create variations of similar scenes, she said. Lifting up the printing press after each run often carries an element of surprise, she said.

"Each one takes on a life of its own in terms of what its needs are and where you're going to go with it," she said.

Wendy Kowynia

When she was imagining the five-panel centerpiece of her part of "Light Translations," fabric artist and weaver Wendy Kowynia thought about the mystery of nature.

She looked to "Red Gold," a documentary about threatened salmon habitats, to create a through-the-water visual effect that blurs patches of red with green and copper colors. Kowynia turned to a favorite Cormac McCarthy quote from "The Road" - "all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery" - for the rest.

"I think a lot of us who live here in Steamboat, we understand mystery because we live in a place where nature is relatively un-tampered (with), and you just get that," she said. The piece, titled "Mystery," hangs from two parallel bars suspended from the gallery ceiling, a change from its original format on one long bar. Two bars give the work depth and follow with Kowynia's themes of layers and transparency, she said.

Susan Corser

Going along with the "Light Translations" name, Susan Corser focused on the value of the light more than she did objects in her oil and watercolor paintings, she said. By playing with the amount of light or lack of light in each work, Corser hopes the viewer will stay interested in the painting for a longer time. With years of experience in black and white photos, Corser has remained intrigued by how color - and the lack of it - affects a composition, she said.

"Light Translations" will be featured at Artists' Gallery through June 28.