Several artists from the Garry Oak Gallery in Oak Harbor will showcase their work in an upcoming art show in Anacortes, bringing local creativity to a wider audience.

Visitors are invited to experience the artwork inspired by winged creatures in the Skagit Valley Bird Show, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 7-15 at the Anacortes Depot Art Center.

“They do a really nice job,” Peggy Shashy recalled being in last year’s Anacortes fine art show. “It was museum-worthy, the way they had everything displayed.”

The Garry Oak Gallery receives less foot traffic than art galleries in Langley and Coupeville because it is farther off the beaten path, she said, and the gallery is not legally allowed to display large signage. As a result, visibility at outside shows is important for these artists and helps encourage people to visit the gallery.

“The arts community is alive and well all over the island,” Garry Oak Gallery artist Kelly Lidtke said. “Oak Harbor is starting to rise to the occasion a little bit more.”

Shashy’s glass piece, titled “Under The Great Kapok Tree,” is inspired by her past career as a veterinarian and her love for preserving the environment and promoting biodiversity. A first-time participant of the bird show, but longtime artist, Shashy said her glass piece representing an Amazon parrot is based on a children’s book about tree preservation called “The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest. “

“I’m just crazy about birds,” Shashy said. “I’ve been taking care of them and rehabilitating them since I was very young.”

Shashy creates all her pieces in a kiln via a technique called glass fusing. By incorporating two methods for her glass creation, it allows her to create a three-dimensional picture, she explained.

First she used modeling glass, which turns powdered glass to a clay-like substance. She also performed a freeze and fuse method, which is done by freezing a mixture of powdered glass and water in its mold before firing it.

Lidtke, whose artwork has been featured worldwide, will showcase her ink pointillism piece called “Cloud Maker” at the bird show in Anacortes. Through meticulously placed dots, her drawing features a black-capped chickadee picking apart a cattale to form cloud-like fluff. Her inspiration is all around her, she explained, reminiscing about watching meadow birds play in cattails.

The public opening will be from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 6.