Sparta - Oil and pastel paintings by Laurie Harden will be on display through April 28 at the Drue Chryst Gallery, 14 Winona Parkway and 21 White Deer Plaza at Lake Mohawk, Sparta. Harden, who was raised in Morris County, attended Kansas City Art Institute, where she majored in painting. In 1973 she transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1976. She has continued to study painting and pastel while working as a freelance illustrator. Her clients include Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, N.Y. Daily News, N.Y. Times, Antheneum Books, Harper and Collins, Grosset and Dunlap, Globe Fearon Publishers, Dell Magazine Group and the American Lung Association. Her work is represented in many galleries in New Jersey and Rhode Island, and she has exhibited in the Salmungundi Club in NYC, the Cathedral Arts Show in Jersey City, the Papermill Playhouse, the Mountain Lakes Country Club, among others, in both group and solo exhibitions. Her passion is painting people of all ethnic backgrounds. Harden resides in Morris County with her husband and two sons. For information or directions to the gallery, call 973 729-0609.