Art is more than seeing something and saying “That’s nice.” It’s about being touched.

Or so say the four women artists who will be “showing their stuff” at a Bayview Art Exhibit next week.

Each of the artists has a different medium, and together, have more than 140 years of collective professional experience.

The art on display will vary from jewelry by Beth Haughton and pottery by Robbie Lobell, to mixed media by Kathleen Otley and encaustic paintings by Michel Tsouris.

With so much art to choose from, the artists are promising something for everyone.

The four women put their hearts into their work, so they hope that those who see it on display will allow themselves to let the art influence them — to induce an “Aah-ha!” or a higher thought.

“I want someone that will move in closer and touch and feel and see what’s in there,” said Lobell, a studio potter and teacher.

“I think it’s important that we are able to identify what we’re feeling. And that is not just about looking at something and saying, ‘that’s nice,’” Lobell said.

“Nice is a generic term that doesn’t mean anything,” Tsouris, an encaustic painter said. “Nice means, ‘I didn’t let that in.’”

The women are going to help audiences learn more about the artist’s approach through a gallery discussion.

“We all are going to talk about the process that we go through to make our work,” Tsouris said.

The artists will discuss their choice of materials, how they arrive at forms, and the content of their art.

“So we can give anyone whose interested in hearing a little bit of insight about why we do what we do and how we do it,” Tsouris added.

“I’m really interested in educating my public. I want people in my community to understand why it is that I make what I make. So for me this is also an educational event,” Lobell said.

The gallery exhibition will be a learning experience for the artists as well.

“We do this to try to make a living, but also we do it to stretch ourselves,” Tsouris said.

“When you are working at the studio and looking at the work, it’s one thing,” she said. “But when you actually put it out there and have all kinds of different eyes looking at it, it gets transformed a bit. And that’s very exciting.”

All four of the artists have been on South Whidbey for less than a year. They chose to move to the South Whidbey community for a reason.

“I liked it because it was so beautiful,” Tsouris said. “I also liked the pace of it and I really liked the people I met.”

The support and friendship of community members has also made a lasting impression on them.

“That hit me right off the bat,” Tsouris said.

Haughton, a jewelry artist, said islanders have a high regard for the arts as well.

“One of the things I’ve respected about Whidbey — and come to know as true — is that it really is supportive of the arts community,” Haughton said.

Lobell, the potter in the group, is anxious to see how her art is received.

“This is my first time getting a pot out of the kiln on the West Coast,” Lobell said.

The Bayview show will feature work from the first firing of hand built propane-fueled soda and wood kiln.

“I am very interested to see what the response is going to be here,” Lobell said. “I’m hopeful.”