Janet Lau, a recent mainland transplant who got hooked on surfing a few years ago, sees the ocean as a playground for water lovers as well as marine life.

Using the sea as her muse, she painted a watercolor, illustrating a surfer dwarfed by hills of white-capped waves and dotted with sea animals, for an educational exhibition of 57 works of art on display until June 14 to celebrate June as National Oceans Month.

The ocean-inspired artworks, along with Lau’s painting, “The Playground,” can be viewed at the Honolulu Hale courtyard downtown at the “Ka ‘Ike o ka Moana: The Knowledge of the Ocean” exhibition, which opened May 24.

With the intention of stimulating awareness to protect the world’s oceans, artwork was contributed by the Hawaii Watercolor Society, the Sunday Drawing in Manoa and Friends group and students from St. Andrew’s Schools.

Most of the works were created specifically for this event, according to Scott Goto, spokesman for the Mayor’s Office of Culture & the Arts, a major sponsor.

The Waikiki Aquarium and the National Marine Sanctuaries Pacific Islands Region, event co-sponsors, are providing informational displays.

Lau, a full-time planner for the city Department of Planning and Permitting and a two-year member of the watercolor society, said she moved to Honolulu for the position and to ride the surf.

“Art and surfing are great gifts to me. They help me to appreciate what I’m seeing and experiencing better,” she said. “I usually surf at 5 in the morning and I think: Woo! We’re all out here, and it’s like a playground! And I’ve seen turtles and dolphins and fish out there, so I painted that because it’s like everybody’s playground.”

The hours for “Ka ‘Ike o ka Moana: The Knowledge of the Ocean” are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at Honolulu Hale, 530 S. King St. Call 768-6622.