APSLEY — The magic number at this year’s Apsley Autumn Studio Tour is 30 — it’s the 30th anniversary and the annual celebration and tour will feature 30 artists.

The self-guided tour will see artists and artisans in northeastern Peterborough County show off a wide variety of works — from paintings, jewelry, glass art and sculptures, fabric art to pottery, felting, carved stone and metalwork. The artwork will be showcased at 11 studios on Sept. 16 and 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Participants can meet the artists in person and purchase some of their work. Many of the studios are nestled in scenic locations throughout the countryside.

Jacques Deslauriers, of Knar Designs, is a self-taught wood worker who uses the woodlot on his property at 273 Warners Rd. in Apsley near Chandos Lake to make hand-crafted furnishings. He only uses dead or fallen trees.

“Gnarls, insect holes and spalted wood (initial stages of decay) are my materials of choice,” Deslauriers notes on his website.

“I’m always ready for a creative challenge of any size.”

Sharing his studio for the tour is guest artist Carolyn Jongeward, a painter and handwoven tapestry artist who uses patterns and colours to express her artistic self.

“I’ve always loved colour and pattern in nature: shifting patterns of light in the myriad blues of water and the infinite greens and golds in the forest,” Jongeward said.

“And also patterns in the underlying geometries of organic and inorganic forms. This feeling for colour and pattern informs my art — tapestry weaving, painting and block printing. The push-pull of colour rhythms and harmonies brings continual surprise.”

Her tapestries have been exhibited since 1974 and are in collections can be found in Canada, the United States and England. Jongeward’s paintings have also been exhibited in solo and group shows since 2000, primarily in Ontario.

“The exploration and innovation involved in creative processes is a constant inspiration for new works and so is the ever-new beauty of nature and the enduring heritage of diverse cultural traditions,” Jongeward said.

The studio tour was founded three decades ago by June Harris, Beatrice Earnshaw, Rosslyn Reed and Molly Moldovan. The idea was to create a weekend of open studios where artists invited the community to view their work.

More than 400 people visited the nine participating studios that year, and bought the work of 12 local artists.

Biographies of all artists can be viewed at apsleystudiotour.com

Brendan Burke is a staff reporter at the Examiner, based in Peterborough. His reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.

Brendan Burke, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Peterborough Examiner