The Daily ItemBOSTON – The French Library Alliance Française of Boston is celebrating love in February with Marblehead resident KH Krena’s exhibit entitled, “L’Amour.”Karen Horowitz, who uses the name KH Krena professionally, said the exhibit is comprised of photographs she took in Paris, France and a collection of handmade valentines.”February is the darkest time of year,” she said.”The times are so dark and dismal with the economy. I wanted to do something uplifting. It should be a very colorful and uplifting show.”Horowitz said she started using KH Krena because there are at least 35 other individuals with the name Karen Horowitz.”I wanted a name that only my own,” she said. “Krena was an affectionate nickname I was given in high school so I use KH for Karen Horowitz with Krena because it’s my own.”The gallery show will feature the black and white photographs from Krena’s ‘Love, Paris’ series and the complementary photographic series called ‘Hot, Paris,’ celebrating the Parisian passion for art, style and fashion.Horowitz said the ‘Love, Paris’ series was inspired by several photojournalists who were able to capture spontaneous photographs of couples in love. In her private homage to the photojournalists, Horowitz said she was able to photograph couples kissing, embracing, holding hands, hugging, talking or walking. She said all the couples were oblivious to their surroundings and weren’t even aware they were being photographed.”This subject matter coincided with my feelings about love,” she said. “It’s a strong force on the planet and there is a continuing need for expressions of love.”As for Paris, Horowitz said she loves Paris and visits it as much as she can.”It feels like a second home to me,” she said. “A part of my heart resides there.”In addition, there will be a selection of handmade Valentines created by Horowitz, her husband Bruce Greenwald and Susan Greco of Marblehead.Horowitz said 28 years ago the couple started sending out handmade valentines but she can’t recall how the tradition started.”The valentines are works of art in themselves,” she said. “We put a lot of work into these. It’s crazy.”After we sent the valentines in 1999 we decided to end this annual endeavor. But Susan (Greco) urged us to keep going and offered to help with the valentines. When Susan joined us it moved to a whole new level of insanity.”Horowitz described Greco as a talented interior designer, chef and creative team cheerleader.”She has elevated our design to a new level of collaborative craziness and challenge,” she said. “This year we started before New Years,” she said. “It takes us weeks to do the valentines – a long time to go from idea to design.”The exhibit is at the French Library Alliance Française of Boston, 53 Marlborough St., Boston, from Feb. 2-28. An artist’s reception will be held on Feb. 11 from 6-8 p.m. Additional information is available at www.khkrena.com.