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Courtesy Stacey Neumiller

ABOUT 30 MILES—and a ferry ride— north of Seattle, on a long, puzzle piece of land, resides what’s often known as the Puget Sound’s largest artist colony: Whidbey Island. Home to poets and sculptors, glass artists, and woodworkers, the island is a haven for creative types and the collectors of their work.

An art trail map by the Whidbey Island Arts Council (whidbeyarttrail.com) makes it easy to visit the studios of painters layering beeswax on pure pigment, run your hands across handcrafted wood furniture, or pick up a handmade clay platter perfect for grilling a fresh salmon fillet.

From the studios of sculptor Dan Freeman and painter Bruce Morrow near the Clinton-Mukilteo ferry dock, to a ceramicist’s studio in Oak Harbor, the Trail comprises 13 studios stretched across nearly 37 miles. Watch azure glass take shape under the glow of a torch at LaChaussee Blown Glass, near Langley, then continue up the road to explore the layered imagery in Patty Pico’s encaustic paintings. Lunch on Penn Cove mussels pulled out of the waters at the edge of town in Coupeville, then scoot around the cove to where four studios stretch across a narrow bridge of land. Take in Stacey Neumiller’s mottled chickens, Mike Wise’s oil paintings of nightfall on the Puget Sound, or the hand-thrown works of five potters at Penn Cove Pottery before making a final stop at Dan Ishler Ceramics before reaching Deception Pass. —JULIE H. CASE

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