Annual holiday studio tour opens this weekend
Published 1:30 am Tuesday, November 29, 2016
The annual island Holiday Art Studio Tour, featuring 34 locations and more than 80 local artists, is slated for this weekend and next from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays December 3 and 4, 10 and 11. Tour brochures and maps are available at most island businesses and online at VashonIslandArtStudioTour.com.
On the north end, painter Carol Schwennesen’s studio includes Kathy Johnson’s intricately beaded angels and photographs, Ann Nicklason’s abstract oil paintings and Elizabeth Conner’s found object wreaths and baubles. Also on the north end and new to the tour, see Jesse Johnson’s archival prints and portraits. Check out Ken C Judd’s assemblages and drop by Empty Nest Studio for a wide range of jewelry, from beach glass to gemstones.
Down Cove Road, drop by Kristen Reitz Green’s studio to see her scrumptious oil paintings and bold mosaics. On the Westside, Mary Margaret Brigg’s studio offers artistic linen tea towels, notecards and more. Visit Gay Schy’s studio for embellished, layer-rich encaustics.
Stroll through SAW, where 90 artists fill the space with leather, glass, jewelry, knits and more. Behind Heron’s Nest, another dazzling showcase of island arts and crafts, Studio V offers artisan bags made with upcycled materials, from leather scraps and upholstery fabric to horse tack and shower curtain liners by Regenr8’s Roxy Hathaway and Nancy Scott Wienker. Seamstress Sally Shivers shows flowing silk tops and bottoms; custom orders are available, too.
Printmaker Brian Fisher, on Redding’s Loop off Wax Orchard returns to the Tour with large and medium scale Greek myth-inspired rust prints and monoprints, cards, gift-size giclée prints and 3D garden sculpture.
Common Thread showcases Christie Penning’s jewelry, Claudia Campbell’s knitted items, Laura Clampitt’s classic, felted cloche hats, Sharon Schoen’s hand-dyed felt items and Kim MacDonald’s hand-knitted wearables. A portion of the studio’s proceeds benefit children’s education and animal rescue non-profits.
Along Quartermaster, Penny Grist shares mosaics and silversmith Larry Muir shows custom jewelry. Swing into Reimnitz Studio to see classic watercolors and monoprints by Ilsa, land and waterscape oils and new woodcuts by Hartmut and steel sculpture by son Gunter.
In Dockton, start with Pink House Painters, a pop-up holiday venue with Donna Botten’s signature watercolors, acrylic and oils by Gretchen Hancock and rich pastels by Janice Wall. Dockton potter Gale Lurie fills her studio with works by four artists.
Oil painter Rose Belknap debuts her new Dockton studio with luscious Northwest landscapes. She is joined by her friend of 40 years, tilemaker Irene Otis, bringing new and favorite tiles and imaginative cups. Belknamp will donate 10 percent of her art sale proceeds to the VHS Ryan Krug Scholarship Fund.
Chris and Darsie Beck’s Waterworks home/studio deck the halls with 20 artists and will participate in First Friday.
Most stops offer refreshments along the way. Support Island artists and ‘do The Tour.’
–Janice Randall
For the Beachcomber
