By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times

“Winter Magic,” a watercolor by Glenn Blue, will be featured at the Chadds Ford Gallery starting Friday.

For years, State Trooper Glenn E. Blue routinely patrolled communities throughout Chester County, an assignment that periodically brought him face-to-face with hardened criminals.

Blue was part of the posse that captured Norman Johnston, a four-time murderer who hacked his way out of a maximum-security prison in 1999. Blue’s appearance on television’s “America’s Most Wanted” in 1996 led to the conviction of Dennis L. Miller, a Chatham fugitive who had raped and murdered his wife in 1995. He was also one of the troopers dispatched to the Amish schoolhouse massacre in 2006.

Through it all, Blue found solace in painting, an avocation that eventually trumped his police work. Since his recent retirement, Blue, 52, has focused full time on his art, a path that his younger brother Bruce, 50, could emulate.

“En Pointe” by Bruce Blue will be included in the “Blues Brothers” art exhibit.

On Friday, the Chadds Ford Gallery will present “The Blues Brothers,” paintings in watercolor, oil and acrylic by Glenn and Bruce Blue. An opening public reception with refreshments will be held from 5 to 8 p.m.

Glenn Blue is now a regular at the gallery, where his evocative watercolors, many of which are softly infused with light, have proven popular. During a 2006 solo show, he sold more than half of the 47 works he displayed.

The brothers grew up in Montgomery County surrounded by art since both parents were high-school art teachers, but they took divergent paths, Glenn Blue said.  Bruce become an art major in college, then went to work in computer drafting. Glenn entered the military and later joined the state police, but continued taking private art lessons and workshops.

Although Glenn Blue sold his first painting in high school, he said his art career didn’t begin accelerating until 2000, momentum that increased after he won acceptance into several juried shows and started garnering awards. He said his brother renewed his interest in art several years ago, taking a few private lessons and showing his work in a limited quantity.

“This Chadds Ford show will be Bruce’s professional debut and a chance for collectors to get in early on his work, which has been very limited and collectible,” Glenn Blue said. “Bruce’s paintings are diverse and emphasize classic foundations of painting.”

For more information on Glenn Blue’s work, visit www.glennblue.com. The Chadds Ford Gallery, located at 1609 Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford, is open Tursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The Blues Brothers exhibit will continue through Feb. 24.