Grace Meredith and Sam Colburn displayed in PG.

Photo by Barbara Edell Poole 2003: Grace Meredith in her studio; Colburn''s "Clint''s Place" (right) depicts Eastwood''s Pebble Beach home.

As a young girl growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, Grace Meredith dreamed of a fanciful world painted in watercolor.

Diagnosed with rheumatic fever, Meredith spent many years confined to her bedroom; and like Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, whose art was born of confinement and isolation, Meredith also discovered art as a means of freeing her heart and soul.

"When I was little there was a lot of turbulence and turmoil in my life," recalls Meredith, who will be exhibiting a lifetime of her work along with selected, never-before-seen watercolors by her husband and fellow artist, the late Sam Colburn, at the Art House in Pacific Grove beginning this weekend.

"I spent five years in bed and was only allowed up briefly. I could never see outside and, except for some quick trips through San Francisco where I tried to get as much of a feeling of the city and its people, I could only imagine the world outside. My art comes from painting in bed, and it was in my art that I discovered ''secret messages'' that had real truth."

Many decades later, Meredith''s art retains the same sense of enchantment with life. Living in a small cottage in Pacific Grove, Meredith continues to express a world she intuits and feels, literally surrounding herself with paintings. Both the floor and door of her combination bedroom/sitting room have been decorated with large abstract paintings. A lifetime of various art projects and pictures fill her room with joy and color. Although her art shares with her given name qualities of lightness, whimsy and innocence, there is much more to Meredith''s skills as an artist than first greets the eye.

Meredith''s watercolors are painted in a naif/primitive folk style, but they are anything but unworldly. Working with a rich color palette and sophisticated conceptual and graphic design sense, they incorporate elements of cubism, abstract art, African folk motifs and a Gauguin-like primitivism. Many of her most elaborate and richly designed paintings possess the qualities of fine batik in their blending of color and pattern.

"I learned how simple things can have tremendous value, and how you shouldn''t go through life so fast that you miss these things," says Meredith.

One of the youngest students ever accepted at the San Francisco Art Institute, Meredith often eschews traditional watercolor paper, using a range of materials that includes newspaper, shopping bags and brown butcher paper that may be torn, folded or wrinkled into compelling three-dimensional sculptural shapes. Both Meredith and Colburn, who is regarded as a pioneer in the use of watercolor as a medium for abstract expression, applied paint in ways that allow the colors and shapes to coalesce so that pure abstraction creates seemingly recognizable landscapes in the eyes of the viewer, and distinct landscapes melt into pure abstraction.

"I originally liked sculpture but I couldn''t get into that because of my health," says Meredith. "I like watercolors because you can do so much with them. You can make them look opaque like gouache, or make them look translucent."

Meredith, who moved to Carmel in 1943, first met Colburn at the Pine Inn when she was 17. During their lives together as wife and husband, and fellow artists, Meredith and Colburn made important contributions to the local art scene. Colburn, who passed away in 1993, was a founding member of the Carmel Art Association; their son Bolton Coburn recently curated the much-lauded show The Art History of Surfing at the San Jose Museum of Art.

Meredith will be on hand at the opening at The Art House to talk about her life and art on the Peninsula. According to gallery owner Barbara Poole, Colburn/Meredith at Play provides a special opportunity for local art lovers to appreciate important, rarely seen pictures from two important local artists.

"At Grace''s request the show will break the art rules about presentation and show the playful intermingling of these two artists'' works in a very direct and unpretentious manner," says Poole. "Grace is a charming character herself with great stories to tell. She is opinionated and outrageous in her attitudes, and is an artist''s artist."

In comparing Meredith and Colburn''s different approaches to watercolor painting, Poole finds Colburn''s work concerned more with breaking the boundaries of traditional watercolor, while Meredith is focused more on using watercolor to explore her emotional life.

"From my perspective Sam does some historical things in the area of landscapes that are more abstract and innovative," comments Poole. "Grace''s work is sophisticated too, but done in a primitive style with an interesting use of watercolor and paper unlike anything I''ve ever seen. While it''s mostly figurative, Grace''s work also has a strong emotional presence."

Although Meredith continues to paint frequently, she allows herself the freedom to paint only when she feels inspired to do so, and when she has something important to share with people.

"I don''t paint everyday at all," she notes. "I want to bring some real truth to my work, and humility would be the word I''d use to describe the way I''ve been trying to work with the essences of things. Perception changes as you mature, and I''ve started reaching for more depth in my painting. I work out of nature a lot and I''ve been told my work is very healing. Hopefully those properties go in my work and it is powerful enough to bring people comfort no matter how difficult things become."

Colburn /Meredith at Play opens Oct 17 with a reception at Art House, 226 17th St. in Pacific Grove. 373-8888.