(Enlarge) Ragnar Naess’s fanciful design work is part of the joint exhibit at the Columbia Art Center and Howard Community College.

Artists can't get enough of art. Indeed, they're often as big on collecting art as in making it. That impression will only be reinforced by "A Collecting Affair II," a Columbia Festival of the Arts-related exhibit being hosted at both the Columbia Art Center and Howard Community College.

Artists are not exhibiting their own works in either gallery. Rather, they are sharing works by other artists that they have been moved to collect.

The roster at the art center features Kini Collins showing wood-turned vessels by Mark Supik; Martha Gilbert showing fiber art by Elizabeth Poole; Matt Hyleck showing ceramics by Jeff Kleckner; Janet Maher showing mixed-medium works by Nancy Linden; Nancy McIntosh showing ceramics by McKenzie Smith; Ron Roberson showing paintings by Bill Tamburrino; and Colleen West showing paintings and drawings by Jim Adkins.

The roster at the college features Peter Collier showing paintings by Helen Traugott; Joyce Michaud showing ceramics by Kristin Muller; Jim Paulsen showing mixed-medium works by Randy Morgan; Symmes Gardner showing paintings by Bruce Day; Daniel and Elizabeth Schiavone showing ceramics by George Kokis; and Hunt Prothro showing ceramics by Ragnar Naess.

Each collector has provided a statement explaining the appeal of a particular artist, and the artists are represented by a large enough selection to give a sense of their creative identities.

Among the artists who look good hanging in a gallery and presumably just as good in somebody's home is Bill Tamburrino, whose oil paintings depict solitary nude women in domestic settings. "Nude at the Window" and "Woman with a White Towel" are among the paintings in which the women peacefully occupy these sparely furnished rooms.

There is an art-historical tradition for such scenes, of course. Tamburrino's "The Geen Bathroom," in particular, evokes such 19th-century artists as Edgar Degas.

A calm atmosphere also characterizes the nude female models in works by Jim Adkins, including the oil painting "Contemplation" and the charcoal drawing "Nocturne." These are bodies at rest. Even when there are two women sharing the same space, there isn't even the hint of conversational exchange.

In contrast to that stillness are the mixed-medium works by Nancy Linden in which painting, drawing, applied objects and artist-written texts present human figures evoking narratives that have autobiographical meaning for the artist.

Among other painters, Helen Traugott is represented by her oil paintings like the Maryland-set "Deep Creek" and "The Little Gunpowder." These are modest depictions of modest landscapes.

Bruce Day's oil paintings, including "Bananas" and "Pretzel Study," place these very humble items within a venerable still-life tradition in which they generally don't appear.

The numerous examples of ceramics and other crafts include Kristin Muller's "Waterfall," a tall and slender wood-fired ceramic vessel whose craggy natural ash-covered surface somewhat resembles its title; and Mark Supik's expertly crafted wood vessels, which call your attention to the varied grains and colors of such woods as red cedar, pear, walnut, holly and black locust.

"A Collecting Affair II" runs through June 27 at the Columbia Art Center and Howard Community College. There is a reception at both sites this Friday, June 26, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. For information, go to www.columbiaartcenter.org and www.howardcc.edu.

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