For her upcoming exhibit at the Tamaqua Arts Center, Jillian Franko has painted skylines, forests, fruits and sandy beaches.

“I’m just inspired by whatever comes to me at the moment whether it’s an object that I see, or a person or an area,” said Franko, of Tamaqua. “I can be inspired by anything and everything.”

She’s calling the exhibit, “People, Places, Things, and Many Tiny Watercolors,” and she’ll be on hand for an opening reception from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at the 125 Pine St. center.

Like the name implies, the majority of work - actually just shy of 90 pieces - will be small watercolors.

The medium is a bit of a diversion for Franko, who typically creates with acrylic paints or colored pencils.

“I really - before this show - didn’t do a lot of experimenting with watercolors,” Franko said. “One of the reasons for that is that I kind of struggled with it.”

First of all, she said, it can be a difficult medium for many. And second, Franko has a condition that extremely limits her mobility.

Franko has Larsen’s Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that impacts the development of bones. She was born with club feet; dislocations of her knees, hips and elbows, and severe cervical kyphosis. She’s confined to a wheelchair, and lost the use of her left arm during one of her many surgeries.

Her right wrist - which she needs to paint or draw - is fixed in place.

But Franko hasn’t let the disorder limit her. She finds ways to adapt.

“With a lot of my artwork, I’ve found that if I work in smaller sections, sometimes it’s easier for me to accomplish on my own,” she said. “So I decided I wanted to do tiny watercolors.”

She chose floating frames made of two pieces of glass. Measuring 6- by 6-inches, she cut her watercolor sizes to 4- by 4-inches. The completed pieces fit inside, lending to a clear border.

“I found that by working on a small scale, I was able to do a lot more than if I were painting bigger pictures. I found that by creating so many, I was able to learn so much. I was able to see how different colors layered on top of each other - and I learned a lot of techniques by doing it over and over,” she said.

Her mother, Celeste Franko, placed a few of the creations on a table inside her daughter’s studio.

“No two are alike,” she said.

All watercolors will be for sale during the gallery show. She’ll also bring some of her colored pencil drawings, acrylics and other works.

This isn’t her first exhibit at the art center. In September 2021, she presented “Pieces of Me.” It featured many large paintings, which she completed on 3-inch pieces that were assembled into a larger image.

The “panel” paintings included portraits of family members, celebrities and pets.

Some of those portraits, like one of the Jonas Brothers, and another of singer Kelsea Ballerini’s dog, have landed into the hands - and homes - of the celebrities. Franko loves music, and frequently attends concerts with her mother.

The art center exhibit will run for approximately three weeks.

When she’s not creating in her studio, Franko works as a full-time accounting assistant for a nonprofit organization.

After graduating in the Top 10 of Tamaqua Area High School’s Class of 2015, she furthered her studies at Lehigh Carbon Community College and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting.

A documentary about Franko is underway. To see more, visit www.drawinghopefilm.com.