Ceramic items wait on a table for the next stage in a firing process that uses heat to transform clay onto decorative or usable items. The sign at right is one of many that will direct visitors to open studios on the Long Beach Peninsula.

Karen Brownlee delights in creating ceramic art. Her other pleasure is sharing it with others. The Long Beach, Washington, potter is one of more than 30 artists signed up to show a variety of works in the Peninsula Arts Association’s summer studio tours.

Her involvement in the late summer event has Bette Lu Krause, the association’s co-chair and a studio artist herself, enthused.

The summer studio tours are “hosting the largest number of artists we’ve ever had participate,” Krause said. “From fiber arts and leather craft, pottery, paintings, mosaics, jewelry, metal art, upcycled art and so much more, a remarkable array of artisans will be on hand to show, sell, demonstrate and talk about their work.”

Escape

At Brownlee’s home studio in Long Beach, she teaches classes in addition to sharing creations. Producing handmade clay art, she notes, has other benefits.

“It’s very calming and meditative to throw things on the wheel,” she said. “Some people love it — some get really frustrated.”

Brownlee moved to the peninsula in 1999 with plans for a psychology career, but instead turned to art. Classes at Clatsop Community College in Astoria taught her calligraphy, basket-making and ceramics. The latter proved to be her forte.

“It was my escape. I wanted something for me,” she said, recalling her satisfaction with three-dimensional functional art. “When you make something out of mud, and it gets made and it is fired, and you can drink your tea out of it, it’s like. ‘Oh, my gosh!’ It is so exhilarating to me — that was the best feeling in the world.”

Brownlee has invested in a kiln that fires clay pots and other items in temperatures that reach up to 2200 degrees Fahrenheit.

Her work is on sale at BOLD Coffee, Art & Framing in Long Beach, as well as at Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco. Classes and demonstrations, like the upcoming tours, help share her philosophy that owning a one-of-a-kind, handmade item like a coffee mug is accessible.

“I like to show people that I do make everything by hand,” she said. “People think that machines do it. But there is a lot of education around what goes into doing it — by hand, from scratch.”

Treasures

A new venue at the Port of Nahcotta will host nearly a dozen artists in connection with the summer studio tours. Displayed work ranges from Brenda Sharkey’s mixed media paintings and ornaments to JoAnne Webster’s miniatures and dolls.

“You’ll find treasures tucked away in studios and galleries from Ilwaco to Surfside — just follow the signs,” Krause said.

Her own studio, located in Ocean Park, will show paintings, prints and shirts. Other Ocean Park participants are Don Perry, showing metal art; Cathy Hamilton, with seashell art and Greg Gorham, showing acrylic, oil and linoleum print paintings.

In Seaview, Catherine Clark will show her impressionistic and pastel paintings. The Old Train Depot will showcase fiber arts from Rita Brown on Friday. Vicki and Michael Sullivan will show fish, mushrooms and jewelry while Steph Day will present jewelry, candles, art and photos.

Marie Powell, Penny Treat and Don Nisbett, three artists with neighboring galleries overlooking the Ilwaco waterfront, will also participate. BOLD Coffee, Art & Framing in Long Beach and the Bay Avenue Gallery in Ocean Park are also active supporters.

Peninsula Arts Association summer studio tours

Open studios throughout Ilwaco, Ocean Park, Seaview and Nahcotta

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Maps available online and at participating studios

www.beachartist.org