With the weather in the East Bay finally warming up, more Oaklanders are getting out of the house on the weekends.

Looking for something to do close to home, while at the same time supporting local artists and arts-related businesses? My suggestion: East Bay Open Studios.

More than 460 local artists opened up their studios and portfolios to the public last weekend, giving visitors a chance to appreciate their work and get a glimpse inside their creative process. It also gave the community a chance to find some great bargains by purchasing art directly from the artist.

The East Bay Open Studios runs just one more weekend, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, June 12 and 13. To view the artist directory, click here. For a map of open studios, click here. Still need some nudging? Here’s a preview to what you can see:

Painter David Miller lives on the Temescal/South Berkeley border and frequently draws inspiration from the beautiful vistas in the East Bay parks.

"We have an incredible resource just a short distance from us," Miller said. "Parkland that stretches 31 miles from Richmond to Castro Valley - Wildcat Canyon, Tilden, Sibley, Huckleberry, Roberts, Redwood, Anthony Chabot and Lake Chabot parks are all connected by the Skyline National Trail and the Bay Area Ridge Trail."

Artist and framing shop owner Heather Piazza of Creative Framing and Gallery said she sees a double benefit in participating in the Open Studios event.

"I am a new business owner; I recently purchased the custom frame shop that I had managed for the last seven years,” she said. “Showing my own art work at my business once a year works well to bring in art lovers and to show my regular clients what else I can do in addition to helping them with their custom framing designs."

Piazza, whose gallery and framing shop is located in the Oakland hills off Highway 13, also finds inspiration from living and working in Oakland.

"I love the diversity, culture and art influence of Oakland,” Piazza said. "There are so many hidden treasures to find."

Another of Oakland's hidden treasures lies west of 880, near the Oakland estuary, in the studios of commercial and fine art photographer Graham Bird.

A Yorkshire man by birth, Bird moved to the Bay Area in 1996, enjoying a career in high-tech marketing and management before becoming a professional photographer.

"Open studios is a good way to get people to see my work, both fine art and commercial - a good way of spreading the word and look for commissions for portraits, etc.," Bird said.