Every day is an archeological dig for North Whidbey artist Jerry Pike.

Last week he leafed through countless books on ancient cultures and primitive arts. He eyed the images carefully, examining every detail and intricacy.

Pike considers himself a ceramic archaeologist who started his artist journey as a young man in the Snake River country of Eastern Washington.

“My dad took me steelhead fishing there and while he was fishing I searched the riverbanks and found Indian artifacts,” he said. “Touching those relics gave me a mystical and spiritual connection with the ancient artists who made them and with the naturally sculptured land that had inspired them.”

Pike, along with his wife and fellow artist, Brenda, are just two of the artists people will have a chance to meet on this weekend’s Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour.

Pike is inspired by the artifacts and sculptures of ancient and primitive cultures — particularly pre-Columbian and African civilizations, but also Northwest Coast Native American. He is always digging for ideas, always gathering inspiration. One of his recent pieces, “the king and four queens,” draws inspiration from a fourth century B.C. terra cotta Nigerian altar. His North Whidbey studio is filled with masks, statues, pots and bowls crafted by his modern hands but inspired by times long ago. Inside the Pike home, Brenda’s digital imagery adorns the walls, and her decorative touch has intermingled Jerry’s sculptures and their home furnishings in a dance that’s art on its own.

The 11th annual Whidbey Island Open Studio Tour, presented by the Island Arts Council and sponsored by Whidbey Telecom with support from the South Whidbey Port Commission, will feature more than 100 artists on this year’s tour. It is an opportunity for people to get an insider’s look into the art, creation and lives of Whidbey’s artists. All proceeds go toward Island Arts Council dispersed grants and scholarships to island artists and students in need.

Tour headquarters will once again be the Bayview Cash Store just outside of Langley. This is where you’ll find an exhibit of each artist’s work on display in the upstairs gallery now through the tour weekend.

Studio tour artists range from seasoned veterans to fledgling artists. Their media of choice is acrylics, boatwrighting, blacksmithing, carving, sewing clothing, collage, digital imagery, encaustics, etching, furniture making, glass blowing, hand-dying, jewelry making, mixed-media, oil painting, pottery, photography, printing, pastels, quilting, sculpture, textiles, woodworking, weaving, watercolors and everything in between.

Whidbey’s art and artists are known around the state, the region, the nation and the world. They are trailblazers, innovators and artists that others strive to emulate. The tour has seen a huge boom of growth from the tour’s humble roots of five studios when it began in 1997, and a once dominantly south-end venture is quickly blazing north.

The Pikes moved to Whidbey three years ago after retiring as “corporate citizens” in the Bay Area of California. Jerry is originally from Pullman while Brenda grew up in Battle Creek, Mich. Their 8.5 acres in the Silver Lake area gives them constant inspiration and artistic rejuvenation.

“Back in California there was plenty of ‘stuff’ to enjoy but here we’re so close to nature and the energy is good,” Brenda said. “You hear the owls and other birds, not engines starting.”

Jerry studied anthropology and archeology in college, which brought him closer to thousands of years of primitive and native art and the cultures that long attracted him.

After college he entered the Army. Upon returning from serving in Vietnam he discovered the art of pottery at a stateside Army hospital.

“They had all these rehabilitation classes we could take and the one things that intrigued me was working with the pottery wheel,” he said.

Long before that, Pike can remember making mud pies as a child, but didn’t feel encouraged to follow his artistic tendencies.

“In Pullman, art for boys just wasn’t the thing to do,” he said.

But one high school art teacher gave Pike a piece of wood, told him to make a mask, and launched a passion. Masks continue to be a theme and focal point of Pike’s work. That high school creation continues to hang in his studio.

Brenda Pike’s journey as an artist also took a detour.

“When I was young I really liked art, but those were the days you had to make a choice of where your focus would be in school,” she said.

Brenda chose to put her love for photography on hold until she was 30 years old while she worked on a degree in vocal music education.

But after a boyfriend encouraged her to take along a camera on a trip to Mexico, photography took a new meaning.

“It had always looked too technical for me,” she said. “But the pictures I took so fascinated me how I could look through the lens and capture images forever.”

And now Pike has fully embraced the technology that she shied away from years ago. She uses a digital camera, computer and scanner to bring her work to life. Some of her most recent creations appear to capture flowers floating in a black abyss.

Pike credits digital technology for adding dimension to her creativity, and discovering talents she didn’t know she had has taught Pike that everyone’s talents emerge in different ways.

“We each have our unique gifts, our unique art,” Pike said. “We can turn our attention toward them, focus on them, allow our gifts to capture our hearts and use those abilities to make a difference.”

It is through understanding the differences in creativity that Pike said will lead to understanding the difference in each other.

“I have loved the way that photographers can stop a scene for a minute so that we focus on one subject,” Pike said. “I continue to carry that early talents for seeing as well as a need for constant exploration. I feel this strongly when I look through my camera lens. I see an image that leaves me breathless at times.”

Sometimes this strong emotion moves Pike to write poetry about the images she sees.

“Visual images are strong teachers and can convey ideas that help us along life’s journey,” she said.

Brenda and Jerry actually met while both worked for a large pharmaceutical company in California. Both had found their art to be their therapy, the thing that kept them sane. Both often created pieces for the large art shows sponsored by their employer.

“Art is huge down in the Bay Area,” Brenda said. “Employers support and nurture it. The art shows are very elaborate.”

Jerry continues to show his work in galleries in California. Brenda’s work has been on display in island galleries such as Artworks in Greenbank, at Shady Ladies on Pioneer Way as well as galleries in LaConner and Anacortes.

The Pikes are eager to meet the people who will show up at their home and studio this weekend.

“You know they’re already interested in your art because they decided to show up,” Jerry Pike said. “Already there’s that personal connection.”