Shuffling around CNN’s Northwest News Desk, director Christine Sharp thrived off the adrenaline rush from covering all the breaking news – the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, Simpson and the Unabomber.

But something told Sharp to slow down.

“I kept having symptoms of heart flutters and problems with my lungs and I thought it was maybe stress,” Sharp recalled on a recent afternoon in her Kirkland studio of her transition to an artist several years ago.

A life-threatening pulmonary embolism landed Sharp in the hospital, where blood tests later revealed she had a genetic blood clotting disorder. Her 10-day stay in the hospital “gave me pause to think about what I was going to do with the rest of my life,” she said. “So that was a very definite turning point for me where I wanted to do more of the things that I had put on hold.”

So Sharp quit her fulltime job to pursue another passion – art. Since then, she has become a professional artist and six years ago founded the annual Kirkland Artist Studio Tour (KAST). The self-guided studio tour will be held this Mother’s Day weekend, May 9-10 at studios around Kirkland.

In her treehouse studio, Sharp sifts through stacks of her bright watercolor and oil paintings of scenic Northwest beaches and Marina Park, where she goes to sit by the dock and gather inspiration when it is warm.

“Actually, we moved to Kirkland because of the arts,” she explains. “I wasn’t an artist then, but my husband and I remember coming to Moss Bay Days with all the arts and it was such a cute little town.”

She’s always associated Kirkland with the arts, she said, so it was a “natural thing” when she decided to get involved in the artist community.

In her “Bioscapes” exhibit that was recently displayed at Park Lane Gallery, Sharp interprets the work of Thomas Deerinck, a microscopist. She takes images of cancer cells and tissue and transforms them into art.

“By these images, you realize how important these structures are and how important the science is behind it,” she said, adding that her art is satisfying on those levels.

She also enjoys the appreciation and learning that comes from working with other artists, which is how KAST came about.

Six years ago, she and a group of fellow artists were concerned that the galleries were closing in Kirkland.

“There was this sense that we wanted to do something to keep the arts alive in Kirkland,” Sharp said. “We didn’t want it to be seen as a town that doesn’t support arts.”

She had gone to some artist tours in Seattle and decided to bring one to Kirkland. The first year, Sharp and Kirkland resident Joanne Shelton rallied a dozen artists who each pitched in $100 for the first studio tour in Kirkland.

Since then, the participation has grown to about 60 area artists and hundreds of art enthusiasts who go on the tour. Sharp has also secured City funding from grants that has helped keep KAST going.

“I think it’s become more important than we ever imagined,” Sharp said of KAST, “because now there are fewer galleries than ever – I think they’ll come back when the economy turns around – but in the meantime, it really helps people appreciate the art they have here.”

In its sixth year, the tour will be run this year by the Kirkland Arts Center.

During Mother’s Day weekend Saturday and Sunday, tour visitors are invited into 24 different studios, representing about 60 local artists. A wide range of artwork will be on display and available for purchase among the studios, including jewelry, glass art, paintings, photography, garden art, furniture and more. Several studios will also feature art demonstrations.

Printed KAST maps are available through the Kirkland Arts Center or they can be downloaded from www.kirklandstudiotour.com. In addition, the Kirkland Arts Center will host Art for All, a free art making event for children and families on Saturday, May 9. Free clay demonstrations will also be ongoing in the ceramics studio.

For information about Christine Sharp, call 206-949-8357 or visit KAST