Sometimes it takes the push of a deadline to get the job done.

“The studio tour makes me wash my windows!” laughs printmaker and collage artist Tina Brown.

A group of Orcas artists will welcome the public into their studios for three days. The free offering features 35 islanders working in painting, print making, stone cutting, woodwork, blacksmithing, encaustics, ceramics, fiber arts, sculpture, photography, jewelry and more. This is the second year of the event.

The Orcas Artists’ Three Day Studio Tour is on Friday, Aug. 17 through Sunday, Aug. 19 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors will have the opportunity to watch demonstrations, meet the artists and purchase their most recent work. A pre-tour show will be held at the Orcas Center from now through Sept. 4.

Brochures with maps and directions can be picked up at the Orcas Island Chamber of Commerce office or online at www.OrcasArtistsStudioTour.com. Call 376-6957 for more information.

Brown shares a two-story studio with weaver Geoff Shilling, whom she collaborates with frequently.

“It pushes us both and gives us a homework assignment,” Brown said. “We’ve done three significant pieces. We made an eight-foot tall tree. He wove the trunk out of wood blocks and wire and I made the branches out of laminated decorative paper pieces and wire … it will be re-installed on the outside of the studio for the tour.”

Other artists are: Josie Barrow, water color, pastel, oil; Barbara Bentley, fiber artist; Joe Ciskowsk, woodworking; Siouxz Duncan, assemblage/mixed media; Mary Jane Elgin, ceramics; Chris Emmert, mosaic art and sculpture; Lori Fast, charcoal, pastel, watercolor; Peter Fisher, photography; Peter Fromm, photography; Marguerite Greening, oil, collage; James Hardman, watercolor, acrylic, oil; Jorgen Harle, forged steel; Dave Haslett, stone sculpture; Jaqueline Kempfer, oil, watercolor, ink; Zackarya Leck, wood, stone, iron; Janis Mattox, paintings, fabric; Maria Papademetriou, assemblage; Don Pencil, wood and woodturning art; Karen Pencil, photography; Peter Pere, ceramic sculpture; April Pollock, glass and steel wire; Jan Rimerman, mixed media; Lorinda Roland, sculpture, landscapes; Anusha Solayea, custom jewelry; Todd Spalti, wood and metal sculpture; Kandis Susol, encaustic, mixed media; Carolyn Wayland, oil, acrylic; Pete Welty, steel and stone; Ellen Wherritte, woodworking; Bruce Wilson, thermal oil and wax; Laura Yeats, wood bowls, vessels and furniture.

“Everyone likes to see how things are done and meet the artists,” Brown said. “I also look at is as having three whole days in my studio!”