During the fifth annual Coeur d'Alene Artists Studio Tour, one local artist invited her guests to do some painting of their own.

"Everybody put paint on the volcano," acrylics and oil painter Julie Rae said with a smile Saturday morning. "I'm pretty thrilled about that."

Rae had a canvas with a sparse painting of a volcano set up near a table of paints in her backyard, ready for the next person's artistic touch. She planned to finish the painting after the tour and award it to one of the guest painters who dropped their name and contact info in her raffle box.

"I’ve always loved art, and I love the creativity,” said Terri Dickerson of Coeur d'Alene, after adding to the volcano piece. "I just appreciate seeing the creative artistic talents of people, especially when they’re local here. I do ArtWalk every month. And Julie's fun; she has a fun personality."

The tour, presented by the Coeur d'Alene Arts and Culture Alliance, featured 25 local artists in 12 studios in the greater Coeur d'Alene area. The creations varied from book binding, oil paintings and charcoal to sculpting and glass.

“I like to create multi-sensory experiences for my works, especially with the large-scale stuff,” said sculptor Sarah Thompson Moore, who showcased a model of her 28-foot-tall steel piece, "Everything Between," which was on display in New York for a year. "I came from an artistic family."

Moore has been creating since she was a child and hopes to keep making art the rest of her life. She said an event like a studio tour is beneficial for the artists as well as the community.

"I think it's important to get out there and engage with the public," she said. "In a lot of ways, that's what public art does, it takes you out of your element and it brings people into an art space that they aren't necessarily looking for. You're going to reach people you wouldn't ordinarily reach."

Kevin Jester, chair of the Arts and Culture Alliance, visited with guests who wandered through his wife Patti's luscious backyard garden and into his workshop studio. He attributed a comment to his art colleague and friend, oil artist Kathy Gale, that she said in a recent radio interview.

“I thought Kathy phrased it really well,” he said. “She said, ‘This is not about seeing fancy studios — this is about seeing where art happens. Sometimes it happens in closets, sometimes it happens in a bedroom, sometimes in a basement, sometimes in a garage. It doesn’t always happen in the classroom, and it doesn’t always happen in a fancy studio. That’s what this is about, is for people to see where art happens.’ I thought, ‘Yeah, she’s right, this is exactly what this is about.’”

Gale showed some of her works on the Jesters' front porch. She is one of the founders of the tour.

"We need everybody to know that we’re here, and there’s so much to see,” Gale said. "My joy in this is seeing the artistic community come together to show their studios and to show their process."

Info: www.artsandculturecda.org