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Tacoma visual artists let everyone visit their private studios during the annual Art at Work Tacoma Studio Tours. This weekend, meet 73 local artists of diverse specialties and catch them with work-in-progress on the easel in a casual studio setting. It is also a chance to watch demonstrations, ask artists questions, purchase one-of-a-kind creations and, in come cases, even try your hand at creating your own masterpiece.

The studio tours are Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 7-8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Weekly Volcano art critic Alec Clayton highlights a few must-see studios:

Holly Senn is fast becoming Tacoma’s premiere sculpture/installation artist. Her work using cast-off books as material is intelligent, provocative and well designed. Visitors to her studio will be able to create their own collages using pages from old books. 3202 Alder St.

Bill Colby, printmaker. See how woodcuts and etchings are made and ask the artist why blue is his favorite color. 1847 N. Skyline Dr.

Chandler O’Leary, printmaker, book artist and proprietor or Anagram Press. See how she makes her prints and make your own small keepsake print on an antique Kelsey platen press. 634 N. Oakes St.

Oliver Doriss, glass artist and owner of Fulcrum Gallery, named Best Tacoma Gallery two years in a row by this critic as well as by a poll of Weekly Volcano readers. Doriss’ studio is in the gallery so you get to see where he works and see the latest show at Fulcrum in one stop. 1308 Martin Luther King. Jr. Way

Carlos Taylor-Swanson and Steve Lawler are both fine art woodworkers and furniture makers. See their work at Madera Fine Decorative Furnishings. 2210 Court A

Tacoma Community College â€" You can be an art student for a day, make a cast aluminum block tile or throw your own pot on a wheel. TCC art faculty will be on hand to guide you ($5 material fee required). Building 5, near South 12th and Mildred

The husband and wife team of C.J. Swanson and David N. Goldberg open up their home studio. See how they work separately but side-by-side and see if you can spot ways in which they influence one another. Where do you draw the line between stylized imagery and pure abstraction and why is Goldberg’s latest work morphing toward more recognizable imagery? 1101 Lenore Dr.

Some studios are open both days and some one day only. Schedules, maps and descriptions are available in the Art at Work brochure available at many venues around town and at the Art at Work Web site, which has the most up-to-date information about all participating artists and an interactive Google map so you can plan your preferred route. There are also links to a downloadable PDF of the Studio Tour brochure.

LINK: The Weekly Volcano went on the tour last year