At a time when art needs to scream to be heard above the cultural din, there is something to be said about imagery that beckons with a whisper.

Local art photographer Claire Lerner''s current exhibit of small, mixed-media Polaroid transfer photographs, on display at A Woman''s Wellspring, entices the viewer with a degree of intimacy and subtlety that runs counter to current trends in fine-art photography.

"To me it''s a little more intimate experience, and while the subject matter varies, it is the style and technique that ties the show together," says Lerner, who teaches color photography at Monterey Peninsula College. "This is more of a printmaking process, and I believe there is a thread the way I use my color, and the way color and form meld."

Lerner''s current exhibit features approximately 20 images that are generally 3 by 4 1/2 inches in size, and that range in subject matter from portraiture, floral still-lifes, and architectural details from such far-flung corners of the globe as Venice, Italy and Taos, New Mexico.

To produce her marvelously evocative images, Lerner begins with a color, photographic slide, which is projected onto a professional Polaroid film that, when pulled apart, leaves a negative along with a positive image. The negative is then pressed onto wet watercolor paper, which pulls the emulsion off the film base. Lerner then applies paint or pencil to the paper to create images which possess a subdued and textural old-world elegance, similar in look to gum bichromate prints.

"After doing black-and-white and color printing, this medium appealed to me by combining photography and painting," says Lerner of her essentially one-of-a-kind images. "It gets beyond the straight photographic image and becomes more of my personal image and allows me a lot of freedom. They are like small paintings and are hard to make or duplicate. I''m still exploring the technique and want to work in larger size."

Lerner will conduct workshops on her Polaroid transfer process this summer at the Santa Catalina school''s summer photo program. cw

Lerner''s Polaroid transfer photographs will be on display at A Woman''s Wellspring, 575 Calle Prinicipal, Monterey, through July 31. Call 649-2320 for additional info.

Carl Cherry Center for the Arts

Mixed-media sculptures by Norman Foster and mixed-media drawings by Diana Greenleaf. Guadalupe Street and 4th Avenue, Carmel. 624-7491. Reception: 6/5, 5pm. Through: 6/26.

Carmel Art Association

"Orphans of the Storm." Art work in various media featuring animals. Five works will be raffled off, as a benefit for the SPCA, during a 6/28 garden party. Plus, an exhibit of work by CAA''s seven newest members (Susan Giacometti, Robert Reynolds Hewitt, Heidi Hybl, Peggy Jelmini, Melissa Lofton, Carol Parker and Jeff Smith). Also, watercolors by Edwin Adamson, Alicia Meheen, Margaret Roberts, William F. Stone, Jr. and Edward Norton. Dolores Street, between 5th and 6th avenues, Carmel. 624-6176. Reception: 6/6, 6pm. Through: 7/1.

La Mirada

"Gardens as Art and Sacred Space." An exhibit that combines photography, painting, and mixed media installations that "rejoice in the extraordinary bloom of the garden, after our devastating winter." Featured artists are Elizabeth Murray, Mary Holmes, Susan Dorf and Jeanne J. Templeton. 720 Via Mirada, Monterey. 372-5477. Reception: 6/7, 1:30pm. Through: 7/17.

Vest Pocket Gallery

"Pleasant Memories." Watercolors by Len Lasnik. At Forest Hill Manor, 551 Gibson Ave., Pacific Grove. 657-5200. Reception: 6/5, 6:30pm. Through: 6/30.

A Woman''s Wellspring

Exhibit featuring recent Polaroid transfer-process photographs by Claire Lerner (see article this page). 575 Calle Principal, Monterey. 649-2320. Through 7/31.

Art Listings

Back Porch Fabrics and Quilt Gallery

"Painting with Fabric." An exhibit of quilts by Margie Copsey. 157 Grand Ave., Pacific Grove. 375-4453. Through: 6/26.

Carmel Valley Manor

"A Collection of Posters." 8545 Carmel Valley Rd., Carmel. 626-4711. Through: 6/30.

Center for Photographic Art

"Brad Cole: The Last Dream." Dreamlike images culled from Cole''s most recent works, described as "a visual sojourn moving between the land, sea and reality." At the Sunset Center, San Carlos Street and 9th Avenue, Carmel. 625-5181. Through: 6/26.

Chapman Gallery & Frame Shop

"Cat on a Top Ten Riff." "Dennis the Menace" cartoonist Hank Ketcham exhibits his fine-art paintings of jazz musicians and sports figures. 7th Avenue between San Carlos and Mission streets, Carmel. 626-1766. Through: 6/15.

Clark Fine Arts

Impressionist works by W. Watts (early Carmel), H. Dooley (Carmel modernist), and YS Lin (contemporary). Cannery Row Antique Mall, 471 Wave St., Monterey. 655-0264. Through: 7/12.

Cooper-Molera State Park

Third annual exhibit by members of the Pacific Rim Sculpture Group. Alvarado and Polk streets, Monterey. 625-1207. Through: 6/13.

Fireside Gallery

"Crossing the Mirror." The exhibit includes photographs from two bodies of work by Martha Casanave. One group features pinhole photographs of staged scenarios; the other, "Beware the Dog," includes close-up studies of peoples'' pooches. At the Highlands Inn, Highway 1, Carmel. 624-3801. Through: 7/27.

First Murphy House

Turn-of-the-century summer dresses from the Gallery of Historic Costumes. Lincoln Street and 6th Avenue, Carmel. 624-4447. Through: 7/31.

La Mirada

"Fragile Traditions: The Art of the Asmat." Traditional works by native people of New Guinea from the collection of Loet Vanderveen; "Armin Hansen and William Ritschel: California Paintings from the Permanent Collection," through 7/26; "Gardens as Art and Sacred Space," through 7/17. 720 Via Mirada, Monterey. 372-5477.

Monterey College of Law

Plein-air paintings by Karen Kvenvold, sculptures by Kenneth Wiese. 404 Franklin Street, Monterey. 659-3933. Through: 7/10.

Monterey Peninsula Airport

"In Flight." In addition to humans, migratory birds visit Monterey each year. See the humorous avian art and photographs in the Mezzanine Gallery: Also "A Bird''s Eye View," fourth and fifth grade students from Bay View School take an artsy look at our area from above. In the Upper Level Gallery. Off Monterey-Salinas Hwy. 68, Monterey. 624-7910. Through: 6/30.

Pacific Grove Art Center

"Journey as Blessing." multimedia exhibit by Juliet Wood; "Intersection-Interaction," monotypes by Gloria Shaw; "Open House," photographs by Nancy Sevier; "Flowers at Home and Abroad," by watercolorist Susan Jordan. 568 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. 375-2208. Through: 6/5.

Rox Arcana

Group show by members of Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild featuring jewelry and other small metal works. Carmel Plaza, Ocean Avenue and Junipero Street, Carmel. 624-3122. Through: 7/31.

Searle Art

Figurative drawings by Rick Harper, Melanie Yanez, Anita Benson; "Paris Metro Stops," works by Karl Edwards. 639 Lighthouse Ave., Monterey. 373-0126. Through: 7/3.

Shallcross Gallery

Abstract oil paintings and prints by Mira Kamada. Inside Galerie Monterey, 499 Calle Principal, Monterey. 655-0642. Through: 7/31.

Stowitts Museum

"Stars of the Golden Age of Dance." An exhibit of performance paintings of dancers Anne Pavlova, Michel Fokine, Tamara Karsavina, Adolph Bolm, Vera Fokine, Isadora Duncan, Stowitts and Nijinsky. 591 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. 655-4488. Through: 6/30.

Vehicle Gallery

Photographs of Central Coast wildflowers by Caroll Bernstein and Lou Bernstein. In Camera Exchange, 551 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove. 373-0448. Through: 6/30.

William Giles Studio

"Children''s Art Fair." Exhibit features 624 works of art--one from each child attending Tularcitos Elementary School--co-ordinated by nationally known photographer William Giles. 12 Delfino Pl., Carmel Valley. 659-8058. Through: 6/12.

Zantman Art Galleries

New florals and landscapes by Marilyn Simandle. 6th Street and Mission Avenue, Carmel. 624-8314. Through: 6/12.