Drawn in Motion at Jenna & the Paper Stars

Silverdale has gained a new place for people who cannot walk past a display of brushes, colored paper or tiny jars of paint without immediately imagining a project.

Jenna & the Paper Stars is part art shop, part working atelier and part quiet invitation to make something. The shelves carry sketchbooks, paints, handmade paper, beads, brushes and craft materials, while the bright studio space at the back hosts workshops and small exhibitions.

Its first exhibition, Drawn in Motion, opens this weekend.

The show brings together work by local artists exploring movement in its many forms. There are charcoal drawings of gymnasts suspended halfway through a turn, painted figures leaping across deep blue skies and small sculpted characters caught in moments of improbable courage. Elsewhere, paper stars trail across a gallery wall like a constellation that has declined to follow the usual arrangement.

Several pieces borrow the visual language of comic books without depicting familiar costumed heroes. Their subjects are dancers, athletes, children, musicians and ordinary people doing something that required a little more bravery than expected. Some fly. Others merely stand their ground. The exhibition makes a convincing case that the distinction is smaller than we think.

Visitors can also contribute a small paper star to a growing installation in the atelier. Draw on it, paint it, write down an idea or cover it in enough glitter to create problems for the cleaning staff. Every star will remain on display until the exhibition closes.

Jenna & the Paper Stars is not a large gallery, and that appears to be part of its charm. Finished artworks share the space with stacked canvases, paint-stained tables and shelves full of materials waiting to become something else. It feels less like entering a formal exhibition and more like arriving just as an idea is beginning.

Drawn in Motion opens Saturday at Jenna & the Paper Stars. Admission is free, and art materials used during the public workshop are provided.

You may leave with a painting, a new sketchbook or an urgent need to glue stars onto something.