This weekend was the 20^th annual San Juan Island Artists’ Studio Tour, with sunny weather and friendly artists welcoming visitors into their studios.  This happening started in 1990 when nine artists got together with the idea of having a free tour in Spring weather to give island residents and visitors an opportunity to see where they worked and what they had come up with over the winter.  The idea was not to sell artwork, but to inspire others.  Since that time the original concept has remained the same, but the increasing number of artists coming to the islands to live has increased the number of open studios to 19.  We visited the studios with our grandson, age 4, who was welcomed as heartily as we were.  We visited a bronze sculpture studio and a potters studio.  On the way we saw alpacas in the fields getting ready to be shorn and stopped at Roche Harbor Store for a beverage.   The quality of the work of the artists was truly inspiring and it was fascinating to learn how they created their work and found their inspirations. As the artists say in their brief history, “The fact that these diversely artistic people have come together united by their love of the arts and their willingness to mutually support each other is nothing short of a class act.”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 9:15 pm and is filed under Activities, Friday Harbor, Island Style, San Juan Island, Tourism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.