Local artists Peggy Juve and Bob Hodges are married, but they beat different paths when it comes to media.

She paints and he is a glass blower. And while they may work separately and in very different mediums, together they create a bounty of vibrant color for pieces that are a joy to behold.

MUSEO hosts a husband-and-wife show of these unique island artists through May 27 at the Langley gallery. An opening reception is planned for 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, May 5.

With titles like “Madrid and Beyond,” “Through the Looking Glass,” and “Head in the Stars,” it is apparent that Juve’s paintings are influenced by the colorful people and places of her experience.

All of the paintings in this current show are figurative, and Juve said her family life informs much of her work.

“Family is a reoccurring theme of mine and the stories come out of that,” she said.

All of the paintings in this show bounce with color and whimsical forms. There is a dramatic element at play which is the direct result of a process that Juve said allows her intuition to take over when she is drawing on the canvas.

She makes no preliminary drawings but instead tries to approach the start of a painting in a non-cerebral, organic way. Then she steps back and takes in what she’s done, trying to be accepting of what is emerging on the canvas.

“I know when it’s the right thing,” Juve said.

Juve is an avid volunteer at the Whidbey Children’s Theater in Langley and her daughter, Kate Hodges, is in her first year of college as a theater major.

Like her family life, the influence of theater is also strong, she said.

“I like that separation between illusion and reality,” said Juve.

This is evident in “Through the Looking Glass,” which refers to the classic sequel to Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

Deep reds, greens and yellows regale the composition of the painting of an “Alice” figure who seems to be staged somewhere between the real and surreal, wearing the polka dots, stripes and cat-eared hat of a figure in an entertaining dream, while another darker figure lurks on the edge, watching. It is indeed reminiscent of Carroll’s book with its preponderance of illogical sequences, mirror themes, opposites and time running backward.

Another painting entitled “Head in the Stars” is ripe with blues, reds and yellows and a perfectly “linear” family with funny hats and starry surrounds. The father, daughter and mother are three heads in a row and reveal a hint of the life of the artist.

“I’ve decided that it probably is me with my parents,” Juve said.

She explains that she grew up with a farmer father and teacher mother and five siblings who were all encouraged to discover their gifts.

“I have amazing parents,” she said.

Juve said her father gave up a dream of becoming an opera singer because his family needed him on the farm. He wanted his children to have the opportunity to follow their dreams, and so Juve and several of her siblings are now working artists.

After 28 years of marriage and some of those years collaborating as artists, Juve and Hodges still enjoy feeding off each other’s creative impulses and their persevering work ethic.

“We’re comfortable together,”

Juve said. “We stay connected.”

That connection is evident in their love of color; just as Juve’s paintings vibrate with colorful figures, Hodges’ bowls and vases abound with it.

It is often said that artists suffer for their art.

Glassblowers are no exception. Glassblowing is an arduous process. It entails literally “slaving over a hot stove” and if an artist persists in the profession it can lead to years of back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome and hazardous breathing of particles.

But if the glass artwork of Hodges is any indication, all the pain of the glassblower is worth it.

Hodges produces exquisite pieces of intricately inlaid color and design, mastering the “crackling” technique in many of his pieces.

A recent foray to the Island Art Glass studio which Hodges runs with his partner — artist Rob Adamson — revealed the process of glass blowing and an interesting look at an art form that requires extreme training and an intense level of aptitude.

A team of artists is required for the creation of each piece. A large bowl layered with two or three colors can take up to two or three hours to create. Hodges works with a gaffer who starts the first bubbles of glass by blowing through a long metal tube or rod. There is also an assistant who holds wooden paddles between the artist and the hot object which protects the artist from the intense heat of the piece while he works. Another assistant works at reheating the piece for the artist before each shaping.

On this day Hodges had glass artists Donald Singleton and Eric Leiberman as his gaffer and first assistant and his daughter, Kate Hodges, was the paddler.

According to Hodges, the primary inspiration for his glass sculpture is the interaction of color and light.

“There is a certain amount of spontaneity in each piece,” said Hodges. “But not as much as there once was because now I know what I’m doing.”

What was once perhaps “spontaneous” for Hodges when he began is now definitely a controlled mastery of the form after 30 years of crafting glass. It is obvious from watching a session in which he created a large red and black, crackled bowl that Hodges is able to create something that is as beautiful as he intended, designed purposefully, with layers of chosen colors and spontaneous only to the point at which he allows an element of chance to come into play.

Many of the pieces in the upcoming MUSEO show are made with this layering technique of folding colors over the piece to create various effects with color and light.

Between these two artists, not only have they created a marriage of two unique artistic sensibilities, but also they give the island a color-coated dream of an art show.

MUSEO is located on First Street in downtown Langley.

Visit www.MUSEO.cc. or call 221-7737 for more information.

Patricia Duff can be reached at 221-5300 or pduff@southwhidbeyrecord.com.