“Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We’re so glad you could attend. Come inside! Come inside!”

Those immortal words made famous, once upon a time, by the rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer, could well apply as the cry of so many Whidbey Island artists next week.

It’s not every day you will hear an artist utter such words.

Indeed, artists can be an elusive bunch, as their profession requires them to mostly hole up in their studios and create, excepting perhaps those such as photographers and plein air painters.

That’s why the Whidbey Open Studio Tour is such a special occasion.

All day, on Saturday, Sept. 26 and Sunday, Sept. 27, studio tour patrons are invited into the studios of 92 island artists. And if the previous tours are any indication, this 13th annual tour will be an art lover’s dream come true.

Tour participants are privy to not only that secluded place where an artist works, but many of the artists will hold demonstrations and talk to patrons about the process of creating what they do. Patrons also have the extra bonus of being able to buy art directly from an artist on the spot.

Tour goers can see painters, sculptors, textile artists, surface designers, jewelry makers, furniture craftsmen, printmakers, photographers, potters, tile artists, felters and glass artists. In short, artists working in just about any media imaginable.

Sculptor Jan Hoy lives along the watery stretches of Coupeville where she creates in bronze and clay. Hoy’s pieces are studies in roundness — sensuous forms that provoke the light to fall where it may, adding to the sumptuousness of the whole.

“I try to create works that are a complete statement unto themselves — the shape feels whole and tells its own story independent of its environment,” Hoy said.

“It is the simplicity of these forms that appeals to me. Many times they begin as more complex statements and I have to ‘take away’ until there is an essence that is actually stronger than its more complicated beginnings. I like taking a curved form and combining it with a hard edge.”

Hoy creates the pieces in water-based clay which makes the working of the clay easy, providing her with a malleable substance.

“I enjoy that, once it is cast in bronze, it still has the original sense of malleability — as though it has been captured in time.”

Hoy calls them “sculptural forms,” but the words almost don’t do her pieces justice. These sculptures seem almost alive in their movement, like dancers folded into themselves ready to awaken and walk gracefully away.

But, no matter what viewers take away from her work, Hoy said she creates it simply because she loves to do it, and her inspiration comes solely from within herself. It’s abstract, yet it is thoroughly hers.

“I think people will like to see it, because my work is unique,” she said.

Hoy has a long list of galleries that have shown her work, but her most recent shows include those at the Fetherston Gallery in Seattle, the Simon Gallery in Yakima and a new commission with the Lucia Douglas Gallery in Bellingham, for which she is building a series of clay pieces.

Hoy will demonstrate her work with water-based clay to create the original sculpture, which goes through the lost wax process to be cast in bronze.

But keep moving, art fans, because there is so much to see.

The beauty of the Whidbey Open Studio Tour is the categorical diversity of art you’ll find while wandering through it, such as the vast spectrum of styles practiced by the painters.

Although Freeland painter Linda Webster said she has adapted the techniques of old masters such as John Singer Sargent and Leonardo da Vinci, Webster has used what she has learned to create paintings that are very much her own. There is a feminine and fantastical quality to her paintings which include sumptuously colored landscapes and figures that seem vibrant with life, yet somehow exist beyond the terrestrial realm.

Webster said that to her, painting is much like the art of storytelling. It may begin with a setting, real or imaginary, she said, then characters appear, a plot develops and the story unfolds.

“A good painting, like a good story, is not easily forgotten and gains more appreciation as it withstands the tests of time,” she said.

Hailing from a background that includes commercial art, graphic design, pottery, fine arts, mixed-media and various other artistic ventures, Webster has developed her own personal style of applying high-quality oils to fine Belgian linen.

She is currently continuing work on a series of formal Victorian-style paintings of young women. But, formality aside, it would be a challenge for this painter to leave out the emotional life that dominates many of her figures.

“I read a quote recently which I thought was profound. I don’t remember it exactly, but basically it said that if you combine skill with love you will inevitably get a masterpiece,” Webster said.

Many painters, she said, paint society as it is, as a social statement about what is wrong with the world.

“I feel as an artist I want to paint things as they should or could be; to see the goodness and beauty in someone or in the landscape,” she added.

“Basically I’m combining that love for the subject with my skills.”

During her demonstration, Webster will apply the first coat of color to the shadow areas which will already be sketched on the canvas. She will show tourists how she lays down the brightest lights and the deepest shadows, which creates the basic form and composition of her paintings.

The Whidbey Open Studio Tour will hold preview exhibits from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, tomorrow and Friday, Sept. 25 and through the end of the tour Sunday, Sept. 27 at the Crockett Barn in Coupeville. A South End preview exhibit will be available for viewing at the Open Door Gallery + Coffee in the Bayview Cash Store from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, tomorrow and through the end of the tour.

The tour is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27.

The $10 ticket includes a tour guidebook, map and 15-month art-soaked wall calendar.

The Whidbey Open Studio Tour is presented by the Whidbey Island Arts Council and is organized by a hard-working team of volunteers of the studio tour committee. Heading up the list of sponsors this year is Whidbey Telecom.

Proceeds from the event help provide scholarships and grants to local students and aspiring artists.

To purchase tickets online, click here, or call 221-4121 or the Pacific Northwest Art School at (360) 678-3396.

Find out more about the Whidbey Island Arts Council and its benefits to artists by clicking here.