Growing up in Advance, Charla Andre was a quiet, introspective only child whose mother sometimes complained about the pictures of Indians that appeared on the paneling.

Becoming an artist may have been "some way to come out in a ferocious way," she says.

Artwork by both Charla Andre and Ernest Avery will be on display at Gallery 100 beginning Friday and continuing through Sept. 27.

Andre graduated from Southeast where she studied ceramics with Dr. Mark Burnett. After moving to the St. Louis area, she became a full-time artist.

Both Andre and Avery are members of the Oak Leaf Artist Guild in St. Peters and are friends who have exhibited together before in groups.

Andre thinks their work provides a good balance, since Avery's moody oils contrast with her more upbeat acrylic paintings and ceramic vessels.

"He draws the dark side, so we balance each other," she says.

Avery's work includes paintings of religious and societal images. A former commercial artist, he is the president of the Oak Leaf Artists Guild and has paintings in private and corporate collections in Germany, Puerto Rico, Holland and Japan.

He attended Washington University's School of Fine Arts and has won numerous Best of Show awards.

Andre's more contemporary work includes large acrylic paintings and sculptural ceramic forms and vases. She received the Grumbacher Gold Medallion for Excellence in Art along with other awards.

Much of Andre's work deals with music in a playful way. One of her large ceramic vessels, "Art on CD-ROM," incorporates a photograph from a piano book she took lessons from as a girl. It also utilizes computer hardware. Her husband Milt works for Hewlett-Packard.

One of her paintings, a 30-by-80 portrait of the Moody Blues, hangs in the band's corporate office in London.

She painted the band because her autistic son Philip suddenly said, "That was written for me" on hearing their song "Lean on Me Tonight"

The family eventually met the Moody Blues in Chicago, where they awarded Philip with a set of drumsticks.

A reception for the artists will be held from 5-7 p.m. Friday at the gallery, 6 N. Sprigg St.