Going on its 17th year, Lopez Island will find 44 artists in 26 studios greeting visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, August 31 and September 1. Visitors go to see art and studios, but in the process of talking with artists about creative work they may begin to reflect on their own life and activities too.

Lopez affords many opportunities to experience fine arts and crafts  – including the Lopez Artist Guild shows at the Lopez Center and the Hamlet House, and at shows at the Chimera and Colin Goode galleries – but the studio tour is something different. Visitors go directly to the studio to meet the artist, ask questions, see techniques and materials and gain insight into why artists make their art.

All of the artists are experienced professionals who have exhibited, often on Lopez and the other islands but also at galleries on the mainland including Seattle, Bellingham and beyond.

Artists have something to say through their art. The tour gives them a chance to extend this communication in person in a give and take.

“It’s about telling your story,” says one of the artists.

While visitors are often interested in where the artists get their inspirations or the processes they use, the artists are interested in how visitors are receiving their work – reading, interpreting, questioning, evaluating and appreciating it.

As one artist puts it, “Being on the tour is a gift that lets me see myself through other people’s eyes. They help me remember why I’m doing this!”

Signing up for the tour is also an incentive for artists to complete new work. Opening one’s studio to visitors is a call to put the house in order, to get things sorted out and cleaned up.

Many artists share studio space for the tour. Clustering enables the visitor to experience several artists all in one stop.

Art works are often for sale, although some may simply be on display and not available for purchase.

The Lopez Artist Guild organizes the Tour to support Lopez Island artists – those who work full or part time on the island – whether they are Guild members or not.

Lopez Island is an extraordinary environment of working artists. They make Lopez a better, richer, more beautiful place to live. Yes, they fill the art galleries and people’s homes with their work. But they also teach, inspire, enrich, and model the values of the community.

There is a rich array of arts on the tour.  Visual arts ranging from figurative and representational to abstract, and from water colors, pastels, printmaking of all kinds and more. Pottery and ceramics including purely functional pieces and sculptures. There are a number of woodworkers along with glass artists and fiber artists. Jewelry makers, stone sculptures, book-binding and photography. Metal works and pressed flowers, hand-woven wearables and paper mache.

You can find the 12-page Tour brochure  (available at the Chamber, lopezisland.com, Chimera Gallery chimeragallery.com and other places of business) to navigate. You can also visit www.lopezstudiotour.org for more info. Visit the Art Tent at the Lopez Island Vineyards lopezislandvineyards.com on Fisherman Bay Road, open 12 -5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, to see a selection of artists on the tour.

Come to the Opening Reception at the Art Tent on Friday, August 30, from 4-6 p.m.