Howard County artists really fill the gallery space for the exhibit "HoCo Open 2016" at the Howard County Center for the Arts. Indeed, the 141 exhibiting artists seemingly constitute a healthy percentage of the county's population.

Some of these artists don't need to venture very far from home for their subject matter. Local scenes include Alycia Senisi's acrylic painting “Tongue Row, Old Ellicott City.” The gray-toned little street is complemented by several gray stone-constructed houses, but other houses are brightly painted. This painting's crisply defined buildings call your attention to architectural details.

Main Street is this old mill town's spine, of course, and several artists set up along it. Paul D. Gretes' photograph “Main Street” was shot at dusk, and so there are twilight shades of purple, pink and yellow. The setting sun isn't the only light source, however, because car lights create streaks of light along the street.

Maria Marino's pastel “Singing of the Rails — ol' E.C.” depicts the lower portion of Main Street, which is dominated by the railroad bridge. The artist's chunky application of pastel reinforces the dense presence of that bridge.

Elsewhere in the county, Marie McGing's black-and-white photo “Wilde Lake, Columbia, Md.” presents a small boat in the middle distance and houses on the distant shore; David Fried's oil painting “Belmont” is a straight-on depiction of that historic house; and Jean Lloyd's oil painting “Winter's Thaw Along the Patapsco” places a ghostly gray haze over the entire river scene.

Other artists imaginatively venture far from Howard County. Among the painters, Natalie Gawdiak's oil painting “Venice: Midnight on the Grand Canal” emphasizes deep blue water and twinkling Italian lights.

Raquel Coleman travels back through art history for her oil painting “Vermeer's Apples.” It reproduces part of that 17th-century Dutch artist's painting “Head of a Girl” and places it next to a still-life arrangement of three apples. The black background behind everything reinforces the contemplative mood.

Other still-life arrangements can be found in Iona C. Martin's oil painting “Pear Supply,” which has some pears in a bowl and a single pear hanging in a balance as if to be weighed; and Janet Knighton's more modestly conceived oil painting “The Pear Family,” in which three pears are shown in isolation.

Among landscape artists, Alison Leigh Menke's oil painting “Golden Embrace” sets an end-of-year mood with bare tree branches surrounded by thick, abstracted brush strokes of orange and yellow.

A whimsical figurative tone is set by Mike Brown's oil painting “Picasso and Dali at Chess,” showing those two artists seated at a chess board whose pieces allude to their artwork.

Examples of total abstraction include Diana Ulman's acrylic painting “Brushes 3.” Its assertive colors announce their presence against a white background, with drips of color running down that whiteness.

Watercolors include Ye Feng's “Pavilion by the Pine Trees,” which reflects a traditional Asian approach to landscape.

Pastels include Brian E. Gray's “Impending Melt.” His depiction of glacial waters is presented via brooding shades of blue, white and gray.

Drawings include Carol Herren Foerster's “Owl,” which pays attention to the feathery details of this big-eyed bird; and Eileen Heefner's “Clark Gable: King of Hollywood,” whose sly smile and glance epitomize self-aware movie star charm.

Among the exhibited photographs are Douglas Hanewinckel's “Old Growth,” which pays attention to the bark on mature trees; and Janet Medina's “Stones at Beach,” which gets up close to tightly spaced stones.

Other mediums represented include Eileen William's fabric and mixed-media “In My Mind's Eye.” It's a wall-mounted triangular form covered with many projecting, fabric-covered geometric shapes and also three human faces.

Of those working in ceramics, a smile-inducing example is Jennifer L. Blake's “Soup Tureen with Driftwood Handle.” That's because the lid has a real piece of driftwood as its handle.

And the exhibited sculptures include Ed Kidera's metal “Airship-Unicorn.” This Jules Verne-evocative airship even has a golden unicorn as a figurehead.

?“HoCo Open 2016” and a second exhibit, “Let's Keep in Touch,” run through Feb. 26 at the Howard County Center for the Arts, 8510 High Ridge Road in Ellicott City. Call 410-313-2787 or go to hocoarts.org.