For her upcoming exhibit at the Tamaqua Arts Center, Stephanie Wojciechowsky focuses on her love of old-fashioned children’s storybook art.

Folks are invited to an opening reception for Wojciechowsky’s “Fable and Whimsy” exhibit, which will be held from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 3 at the 125 Pine St. center.

“The exhibit’s pieces showcase themes and styles of art that are something like you would find in old-fashioned children’s storybooks filled with sweet characters, or of the days where women wore ballgown to the theater,” said Wojciechowsky of Pottsville.

Wojciechowsky said attendees will see fairy tales — like a girl returning a lost sea horse to its home, and a child running with his grandfather through a forest of twisted trees in a race against turtles and jack rabbits.

“They will see pieces of the last scenes of some existing old-time fairy tales like ‘Hansel and Gretel’ and ‘Town Mouse, Country Mouse,’ ” Wojciechowsky noted. “I try for each picture to tell a story: a bride leaving a letter behind at her wedding, a cozy little corner inviting you to come read a good book during a storm.”

She said that all her themes are old-fashioned in nature, such as watercolor paintings of marionettes and polymer clay circus dolls.

“My pieces are designed to show the simple beauty in what once was,” she said.

To add to the pieces, her husband, Chad, helps with repairing vintage frames for her work.

Wojciechowsky graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with plans to become a children’s book illustrator.

“That field, however, or really any field surrounding the fine arts, does not seem to exist very much in small towns like Pottsville,” she said. “Now I am a staff accountant, so I guess the inspiration for me was to just get back to who I really am a little bit. I love the art and beauty of the past, so that is what I decided to try to put out there.”

The exhibit will be on display until Oct. 28.

Wojciechowsky is a strong supporter of the arts.

“Art is a part of your everyday life. It is in the music we listen to, the style of house we live in, the design on our T-shirts, the movie we watch on a Friday night. It is where our enjoyment in everyday life comes from,” she said. “I just hope enough people can realize how important art is and support it before it is gone.”