"Illusions of Timelessness," an exhibit of photographic images by Westlake Village resident Terese Pencak Schwartz, opens Tues., May 2 at Gardens of the World, 2001 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks.

The show continues through June 4, with an artist's reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sat., May 6. Gardens of the World is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free.

An artist and fine art photographer, Schwartz has won several awards for her photographs since she first began exhibiting in fall 2003.She's a member of the Thousand Oaks Art Association and the Westlake Village Arts Guild and an active supporter of the arts. Schwartz began to create artistic images after seeing her photographs in digital format.

"Every image held a world of little tiny cubes of color. By touching the image with the cursor I could make it deeper or brighter, or change the colors from blue to magenta to from green to golden buff," she said.

"I realized that I could transpose a photograph into a Dali-like melting timepiece or a Renoir-ish boating party. I could create rococo clouds with the click of a mouse," said Schwartz.

Using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and other software, Schwartz has developed her own style and technique for creating painterly images from photographs.

"I often spend hours with one image-clicking and tweaking until every pixel is perfectly in its place," Schwartz said.