Submitted by Richard Woods

The second annual Art Drives tour begins this weekend, with 28 local artists showing (and doing) their work at their own studios or in galleries Oct. 5-6 and 12-14.

These artists live and work in just about every community in Grays Harbor County. From Ocean Shores to Pacific Beach, Hoquiam to Montesano, and Cosmopolis to Grayland, aficionados can find potters and painters, carvers and fiber artists.

The inaugural event drew about 500 visitors last year, and the organizers are hoping for more this year as they have streamlined the tour.

“The first year included two counties: Grays Harbor and Pacific. This proved geographically difficult to manage — and, for visitors, more than can be covered over five days in two weekends,” said event director Mery Swanson, an Aberdeen watercolor painter.

People can visit art galleries any time of year, of course. But opening the artists’ workspaces to the public for events like this allows them to observe the creation process.

“Art is an extension of the creator’s personality,” said Westport painter Lyn Hayes, one of the event organizers. “When you visit someone’s studio, you have a chance to briefly step inside the artist’s mind space. You leave with more than you entered with.”

In addition to individual studios, seven art galleries all over the Harbor are participating this year.

“We formed a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization to allow donors to receive tax credits, and to include our area galleries,” said Swanson.

A preview party and artists reception will be held Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at a temporary “pop-up” gallery at the Shoppes at Riverside, 1017 S. Boone St., in South Aberdeen. (It’s just inside the mall entrance east of Sears.) Hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served.

This space will display a single piece of work by each artist in the tour, creating a buffet for the senses. Feast your eyes and then plan your tour with a catalog that contains a map of the artist studio locations, as well as suggested routes.

The pop-up gallery also will be open both of the tour weekends, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. On Sunday, Oct. 13, musicians will perform there.

“This is a collaboration with the Garage and their music promotion for the month of October,” said Hayes, coordinator of the pop-up gallery. “It is exciting to add another art form to the studio tour. There will be rack cards printed out to advertise the musicians’ locations.”

Landscape watercolorist Tim Rossow looks forward to opening his Ocean Shores studio for the tour. In addition to displaying dozens of his paintings and demonstrating his work, he will have the equipment on-site to create prints upon request.

“I will have my paints wet and, as I have time, I will be doing demonstrations during the two weekends of Art Drives,” he said. “I am also happy to answer any questions of budding painters.”

Mixed-media artist Sandi Furlong creates a wide variety of art at her Montesano studio. “I do charcoal work, pen and ink, graphite, paint, mosaics and sculpture. Then I veer further, by participating in wearable art, and even writing,” she said. “I will say this: I keep busy.”

Right now, she has a new project in progress.

“After using newsprint and white glue to fashion beads awhile back, I wanted to expand on the idea,” she said. “I am beginning a head and shoulders sculpture of an old lady, with her hair wrapped with a wide band, so it is all curly and sticking up and out of the top. We will see how the experiment goes. That will be in progress during the tour, as it requires significant drying time.”

The Harbor galleries participating in the tour are the South Beach Arts Association gallery in Westport; Alder Grove Gallery at the Aberdeen Art Center; the Gallery of Ocean Shores, Mermaid Cove Gallery and Fusions Gallery, all in Ocean Shores; the Ocean Crest Resort Gallery in Moclips; and Sandphifer Gallery in Pacific Beach.

“Arts of all kinds contribute a large amount of revenue to the financial health of small and large towns and communities,” Swanson noted.

“Everyone benefits from living in a thriving art community,” agreed Hayes. “Our emotional well-being is balanced by the beauty one finds from simply sitting down and looking at a piece of art, listening to music or watching a play.”

Tips for the traveler: Pick up a tour catalog at local art galleries, or visit the pop-up gallery first. Refer to the artists’ street addresses, as the catalog map locators are approximate. You will need a good street map or a GPS app.

To view the Art Drives catalog online, visit www.artdrives.org. For more information, email artdrives2019@gmail.com.

Richard Woods, a Hoquiam watercolor painter, is among the 28 artists participating in the tour.

Signs are stacked at Mery Swanson’s home in preparation for the tour.