History, art and photography lovers will be in seventh heaven when they see the Harbor History Museum’s new exhibit, “Through the Artist’s Eye: The Holmaas Collection of Historic Renderings.”

John and Carole Holmaas started to preserve photographs of Gig Harbor four decades ago in a unique way: They commissioned local artists to create renderings of the photos. They sent personalized Christmas cards of the renderings to their friends during the holiday season.

The photos and drawings capture everyday living in the harbor that truly captivates viewers.

Yet the Holmaases were taken off-guard by the turnout at the exhibit’s opening reception last week.

“We’re surprised this many people came to see it,” Carole said. “We’ve been doing this for 41 years, giving out the Christmas cards since we were married. People seem to be very interested in looking at the artists’ renderings. These have never been showcased in this way.”

The Holmaases were instrumental during the process of getting the Harbor History Museum built. A plaque which bears their name is on the wall in the lobby just to the left of the front door.

“We’re happy they were able to use it (the collection),” John said.

Museum curator Vicki Blackwell said museum officials were thrilled to host the collection.

“By painting these photographs, we see the history and the artistry,” Blackwell said. “We see the artistic license. Most all of them were made with ink, graphite pencil or carbon pencil.”

Blackwell said she enjoyed watching visitors looking at the pictures. She said a lot of them tried to place where in the harbor the image had been taken.

The original photo from which the rendering was taken is next to the drawing so visitors can see extra details the artists chose to focus on, or added features that were not in the photograph.

The artists in the exhibit include Mary E. Smith, Helen Boyle, Judith Graves, Mabel Kurtz, Paul Nordleaf, Jack Pumphrey, Lita Dawn Stanton and John Sutch.

The exhibit will be at the museum through Jan. 22.