Sherry Scharschmidt, a self-described “slightly demented, half- Korean, pet-loving, recent transplant from Chicago” is the special guest at the Olympic Peninsula Art Association’s February meeting.

Association members meet Thursday, Feb. 23, in the Parish Hall at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 525 N. Fifth Ave., Sequim. The meeting starts with a meet-and-greet at 9:30 a.m., followed by Scharschmidt’s program and demonstration. Visitors are welcome and the demonstration is free.

Scharschmidt studied fine art at U.C. Berkeley in the late 1970s but fearful of starving to death (her words), she transferred to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif.

Upon graduation she moved to New York City and spent 35 years working as an art director/creative director at advertising agencies from New York to Chicago to Tokyo.

Working alongside talented professionals gave her a lifelong love of design, illustration and typography. But the best thing about people in advertising, she says, is their sense of humor and this has filtered into her paintings.

“My paintings combine salvaged sign letters (and sometimes bits of junk!) with images of slightly demented cats and dogs in rebus-like combinations,” Scharschmidt said. “I have been painting furiously amid the pet hair for the past 17 years.”

For more information, go online at www.sequimarts.org or check out the group’s Facebook page.