Neon artist Laurie Lewis patiently coaches a newbie in the art of bending glass rods. Fingers of flame shoot from a crossfire propane torch, converging on a spot on a hollow glass rod. Lewis instructs the newbie to hold the rod at both ends and rotate it in the flames while maintaining steady air pressure inside the tube by blowing through a rubber hose connected to one end of the tube. It’s a bit like patting your head while rubbing your stomach.

As the glass quickly heats to 800 degrees and begins to soften and sag Lewis says to lift it out of the flames slightly and begin to bring the ends up to form a right angle — and keep the air pressure constant. The newbie blows too hard and a bubble forms in the softened glass, then bursts.

“Whoops — too much,” Lewis laughs. “Here, try again.” She pulls another glass rod, about the diameter of a bubble tea straw, from a large collection under the workbench.

The second attempt is a little better, but uneven air pressure while bending creates a kink on the inside of the curve.

The third time she tells the newbie to try bending a tight U-curve. The lopsided result teaches a valuable lesson: bending glass is a lot harder than it looks.

But then, Lewis has had 26 years of practice. After having spent most of that time on the “bread and butter” of creating neon business signs, she is delving into a new area, the art of neon. Her Hansville studio is making its public debut at the Art in the Woods tour this weekend.

“I just thought it was time to get Kitsap lit with neon,” she said, adding, “People love to see how it’s done.”

The stop at Custom Neon will include a hands on demonstration of the neon design making process, from bending glass rod into shape to filling it with neon or argon gas and hooking it up to electricity.

Lewis is assisted by Joan Peter, and together they are taking Lewis’ neon in a new direction — away from “open” signs and into the prehistoric past. With Peter’s background in anthropology and design they have come up with what they call “neon outside the box.”

Their first public showing was earlier this year at the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts Gallery, where it was billed as “20th century petroglyphs.”

The novel design features simple cave drawing-like figures of animals, made out of neon and mounted on slabs of slate or shale.

“We liked the juxtaposition of glitzy modern and ancient design,” Peter said. She points out that their killer whale design, done in blue, is an exact replica of one drawn on rocks at the ancient Ozette Indian village on the Olympic Peninsula coast.

Many of their designs are based on coastal Native designs, such as the multi-hued “Blueberry-picking bear,” mounted in a cedar box. Others are from the Southwest, with zig-zagging snakes and crawling lizards.

The pair would also like people to start thinking of neon as a viable form of lighting for any home. It doesn’t have to be a glaring red sign blinking on and off. Neon art can be any color, depending on the color of glass and if it’s filled with neon or argon, and it uses very little electricity. A wall hanging can double as a lamp, casting an ambient glow.

For the studio tour they will be offering a variety of neon art pieces, with a variety of prices as well. Neon is very labor intensive, but simple patterns mounted on square stone tiles will go for around $100, and Lewis will be making glass icicles — non-lit — for under $5.

Art in the Woods is a free three-day self-guided tour of 22 artists’ studios in North Kitsap County, sponsored by Cultural Arts Foundation NW. Forty-seven artists will show their works in the studios, ranging from pottery and metal art to photography and jewelry. Some of the studios will have only the resident artist, others will feature work from numerous artists.

Knowles Studio in Poulsbo will have paintings by Leigh Metteer, Robin Weiss, Daniel Rice and Claudia McKinstry, woodworking by Floyd Walker and photography by Thomas Layton. Designs by Loyes in Kingston features stained glass, metal and woodwork and jewelry by Loyes Drury, woodworking by Howard Todd and paintings by Shari Hutchinson-Walker.

Art in the Woods takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 10, 11 and 12. Brochures with maps and studio details are available at all studios, Verksted Gallery in Poulsbo, the Kitsap Mall information booth in Silverdale, the Visitors Center in Port Gamble, Betty Claire Earth Dance Pottery in Kingston and Roby-King Galleries on Bainbridge Island.

The tour brochure is also available online at www.cafnw.org.