Above all else, Liz Godfroy, owner of Leapin Lizard Art Gallery, wants people to enjoy the works displayed in her gallery. “You know when you walk into a gallery and they look at you like you’re not supposed to be there? I don’t want that feeling,” she said. “When people come in and whisper and giggle, you can really tell they’re enjoying a piece. I love that. It just makes it all worth it.”

Godfroy started the gallery on whim last summer, when a small building along the road in Town Hill became available for lease. Sales were slow, but the artist turned businesswoman made invaluable connections in the local art community.

“I want artists who have it in their blood, who I can tell are really passionate about their work,” she said.

Several of Godfroy’s 30 or so featured artists at the new location in downtown Bar Harbor are her former classmates at College of the Atlantic, budding local artists whom she discovered when they showed their work at the school’s Blum Gallery.

Painter Heather Thayer often incorporates natural materials and found objects into her monochromatic oil and acrylic works, now on display at Leapin Lizard.

An old wooden window is transformed by tiny fish darting from pane to pane in “Sunfish Window.” In “Frenchman’s Hill with Wings” lacy paper from a wasp’s nest forms the wings of a sepia-toned fairy, painted with moistened soil. And in “Backward Struggle” – Godfroy’s personal favorite – a human figure on horseback blends into a swirling tempest of brown and blue.

Sculptor Adam McPherson creates giant, exotic animals from welded steel. He sold several elephants last summer – including one that went to a prestigious gallery in New York City – and is currently displaying a soaring piece called simply “Giraffe” at Leapin Lizard, with two more works on the way, Godfroy said.

The collection at Leapin Lizard is eclectic by design, with works ranging from gently tinted serene landscapes by painter Nathan P. Hall, to “Wondrous Creatures,” wild pins crafted from fabric and beads by Pennsylvania artist Sandra Klink.

Godfroy selects all the works herself, creating a balance of traditional and funky pieces that are affordable for a novice collector.

“I want to have a nice mix so everyone can find something that really talks to them,” she said.

Leapin Lizard is located at 227 Main St. in Bar Harbor. The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. In mid-June, hours will be extended to 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.

– Misty Edgecomb

Art notes:

. Wally Mason, director of the University of Maine Museum of Art, is pulling out the big names again for the museum’s annual summer show. “The Potential Self … Portrait as Signifier” will cover the small museum’s walls with 115 selections from the university’s permanent collection. The show includes works by Diego Rivera, Roy Lichtenstein, Berenice Abbott, David Hockney, Mary Cassatt and Waldo Peirce, along with 87 other artists. “The Potential Self” opens Friday and runs through Oct. 20 at the galleries in Carnegie Hall on the UMaine campus. For information, call 581-3255.

. A collection of works by local printmakers Claire Rau, Rebecca Krupke, Kris Sader and Danuta Musynska will open tonight at Trefoil Design Lab on Oak Street in Orono; a reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. This is the first in a series of exhibits at Trefoil Design Lab that will highlight emerging artists with ties to the area. This show is on view from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday through July 20. For information, call 866-2619, Ext. 44.

. Though better known for his Broadway performances than his painting, Zero Mostel started out as an artist. The actor, who won Tony Awards for his performances in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” and “Fiddler on the Roof,” used art as another outlet for his creativity. A selection of his paintings will be on display through June 30 at Aucocisco gallery, 615A Congress St., Portland. For information, call 874-2060 or visit www.aucocisco.com.

. The “Greater Portland Regional 50,” which showcases the work of emerging and underrecognized artists within a 50-mile radius of Portland, will be on view at the Maine Artists Space/Danforth Gallery through June 23. The gallery is located at 20-36 Danforth St., Portland, and is open from noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. For information, call 775-6245. For a virtual preview of the show, visit www.maineartistspace.com.

– Kristen Andresen