“Manfred Lindenberger Retrospective: Graceful Exuberance,” an ebullient and colorful show by the German-born painter, opens with a reception and conversation about his work Saturday at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner.

“A Conversation: Celebrating the Art and Life of Manfred Lindenberger” is at 1 p.m. and the reception follows from 2 to 5 p.m. at the museum. Participating in the presentation are Herbert Lindenberger, Mary Lindenberger, Kathleen Moles and Patrick Woods.

The reception also celebrates the opening of a new glass show, “Kait Rhoads: As Below, So Above.” Both shows continue through March 8.

Lindenberger was born in 1914 in Berlin, where he was inspired by the museums filled with works of the old masters, according to a biography on Foster/White Gallery’s Web site. He immigrated to the United States and studied at the University of California, San Francisco, before moving to the Northwest in 1939, where he remained until his death last year at the age of 94.

The MoNA exhibit follows the artist’s evolution from his early realistic watercolors, through his expressionistic landscapes of the 1950s, which were influenced by studies with Windsor Utley at Cornish Art Institute in Seattle.

It finishes with his acrylic figurative paintings of the 1980s, with their abstract and expressive depiction’s of the bustle and energy of crowds. According to a press release from the museum: “Using bright colors in varied and unexpected combinations, Lindenberger’s later canvases and watercolors teem with humanity and hum with vivacity, a reflection of the artist’s world view despite a great deal of adversity in his life.”

Lindenberger once said he tried to express exuberance, rhythm, excitement and contrast, thus accentuating the pulse of life.

“To be able to convey this concept is magical,” he said.

Glass artist Kait Rhoads creates soft sculptures, wall panels, and solid sculpted work that portray horizons, skyscapes, natural forms of land and sea, as well as patterns in nature. She mimics cellular structures in a laborious process, weaving copper wire with hollow hexagonal glass cut in cross sections. Her pieces are delicate yet strong, their forms defined by outlines as well as texture and subtle color.

As well as undergraduate and graduate studies in glass, Rhoads worked for Dale Chihuly and Sonja Blomdahl. After receiving a master’s in fine art, she spent a year in Murano, Italy, studying traditional Italian glass design as a Fulbright scholar.

“My color and pattern combinations are inspired by a reverence for nature. To render natural imagery such as feathers, seaweed, and cherry blossoms, I use the traditional Italian patterning techniques of cane and murrine,” Rhoads told MoNA. “The fluid nature of the created line illustrates how obstacles can inhibit or enhance movement; this aspect of melting and fusing the colors infuses each piece with rhythmic movement and organic growth.”