Bainbridge Arts and Crafts have a full slate of activities in February. They include: Tall Cylinder Demonstration: By Annie Robbins, 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. February opens exhibitions by two artists with strong technical proficiencies in their respective media.

Bainbridge Island artist Sheila Ross’s oil paintings and monotype prints both dance with vivid color and bold forms. In her floral series, orange poppies strike a sharp contrast with white magnolias. She works from fresh-cut flowers to “capture the freshness and spontaneity of growing things.”

Monotypes are one-of-a-kind prints: After Ross paints colored inks onto a blank plate, she presses paper over it to pick up the image. Only one full-strength print can be made with each plate. Ross has been making monotype prints for more than 15 years.

Ceramicist Annie Robbins’s passion is for long-necked porcelain bottles and vases with thin flared lips of classical proportions and the look of antiquity. Where other clay artists may build large works by combining two or more pieces, Robbins exhibits the rare ability to throw large, difficult pieces as a single unit. Passionately dedicated to clay, Robbins delights in pulling pieces to heights of 27 inches, occasionally more. She finishes her extraordinary works with oxides and often heavily textured surfaces to achieve the look of a classical treasure. Robbins shows courtesy of William Trader Gallery.

Featured Retail Gallery Artist: Nana Kuo, ceramicist. Left brain, right brain: Is anyone’s life complete without both? Nana Kuo gave one career to the left-brain in the high-tech world of computer software. Now she lives in the creative world of the right brain as a clay artist.

The quiet elegance of Kuo’s porcelains derives from classic Asian forms and glazes over slight textural design. Light celadon glazes emphasize and complement the purity and grace of those porcelain pieces.

Kuo’s work in stoneware showcases both the sturdy functionalism and the natural beauty of the medium. She fires stoneware in a soda kiln; soda vapor forms a light glaze that allows the natural integrity and nobility of the clay to show through. “My goal is very simple,” she says, “To create beautiful things that look good, feel good, and are useful in daily life.”

Art Xchange: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at BAC, 151 Winslow Way East, and the Pavilion, 403 Madison Avenue N. New and formerly new art work looking for a new home. The event is open to the public and admission is free. Art is accepted on consignment or donation, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday to Monday, February 16-18 at the Pavilion.

Bainbridge Library Speakers Series: BAC sponsors David F. Martin, slide lecture entitled, “Painted With Light: Pictorialism and the Seattle Camera Club,” 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at the Bainbridge Public Library. The lecture is part of the Library Speakers Forum.

For more information, and previews of the featured artists’ work, visit www.bainbridgeartscrafts.org. The mission of Bainbridge Arts and Crafts is to advance creative achievement in fine craft and art, support the development of local and regional artists, provide educational opportunities, and fund visual art programs in the schools. BAC gratefully acknowledges organizational support by Washington State Arts Council.