Sandy Jones was inspired by the statuary she saw in New Orleans' above-ground cemeteries.

"The statues were uplit. It was very surreal," she recalls. "They're very European in size and detail. I found out later that the sculptures were mostly done in Europe and shipped over."

Working from photographs she took on her graveyard visits, Jones created a series of charcoal drawings of the statues, setting them against vibrant airbrushed backdrops.

Three of these works will be featured in the ninth annual Triton Museum show on June 5­6, including one depicting a monument to those lost in a shipwreck on their way from France. The statue is of two angels embracing in grief.

"I wanted to capture the chiseled marble," Jones says. "I'm making art of art. It's a tribute."

Jones is new to the show this year, but fellow Willow Glen artist Lori Krein has been participating for three years. Her torn-paper collages and decoupaged furniture and vases have won awards at past shows.

"The best thing about the show is that it's quaint and low-key," Krein says. "You can talk to people; it's not a mob fest like the street fairs. My sales aren't as good at the Triton as they are at other shows, but it totally makes up for it in atmosphere."

Krein's fascination with texture began early in life.

"When I was a kid in elementary school, I'd cut things out of magazines and make collages," she says. "My inspiration comes from all different places. My son, Kevin, who's 6, loves to color rainbows, so I made a rainbow collage."

As a school art docent for the San Jose Museum of Art, Krein shares her artistic vision with the younger crowd.

"I want kids to see that art isn't just what's hanging on the walls when you go to a museum," she says. "It's the things you see every day; it's everywhere.

Krein adds, "I never went to art school. If I was professionally trained, I don't think I'd make all this stuff. It comes purely from inside."

Jones also has a unique view of her chosen art form. She took up airbrushing about 12 years ago and soon found a way to incorporate it into her charcoal and pastel drawings.

"Most people who get an airbrush think it's really cool because they've seen the T-shirts," she says.

But Jones considers airbrushing a fine art. She's taken an adult-education class in the form three times, even though the instructor told her at one point that he had nothing left to teach her.

"It helps to network with a finite group of people," she says.

To help herself grow as an artist, Krein used to attend monthly critiques at the Triton given by museum director George Rivera.

"I learned more from those sessions than I could have anywhere else," she says. "I was inspired to make something every month so I could bring it to the critique."

This is the ninth year that the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara has hosted the "ArtFest at the Triton."

The event, which is casual and outdoors in the lush sculpture gardens of the museum, features a juried and judged art competition and fine-art sale.

A variety of art demonstrations as well as music and food are planned for both days.

The ninth annual ArtFest at the Triton is June 5­6, 10 a.m.­5 p.m., in the sculpture gardens of the Triton Museum of Art, 1505 Warburton Ave., Santa Clara. For more information, go to www.tritionmuseum.org.