Last week, I was invited to visit a handful of studio spaces belonging to some of Astoria’s talented painters, jewelers and potters.

The occasion was the Astoria Open Studios Tour, organized by Astoria Visual Arts, during which dozens of artists opened their homes and workshops to visitors.

For some, the tour was an extension of work shown regularly at local galleries. For all that we saw, it was an invitation to listen and learn about the creative process.

Our first visit was to the hillside property of ceramicist and retired Clatsop Community College instructor Richard Rowland. It’s a place where trees are planted to honor people and where the property’s centerpieces, a pair of ancient Japanese kilns, fire pots in a weeklong process that considers even the rhythm of the tides.

Closer to downtown Astoria, we visited the bright and colorful home of Jeff Donnelly, took a liking to opalized obsidian at the jewelry studio of Tabor Porter and found the Fornas property on Grand Avenue, a former neighborhood grocery store that housed paintings by Robert Paulmenn.

For those who missed the studio tour, take a look at the “Artists of Astoria” exhibit from Astoria Visual Arts, or find some tour artists’ work on Saturday during the Astoria Art Walk.