Looking out over the 800-foot summit of Dunstable Downs – part of the Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire, England – Petronella Fursman waits for the wind to blow against the face of the hill.

When the glider pilot gets her ridge lift, she sets adrift.

“Then you soar to and fro in that up current,” Fursman explains in an English accent of her adventures as a glider pilot when she was 25 years old.

Now at 76, Fursman still beams when she describes the experience. “You can just go anywhere. It’s lovely – very free and very quiet. It’s beautiful.”

During a celebration of life event in her honor at the Peter Kirk Senior Center on April 7, more than 50 friends and family members came to share memories with Fursman and thank her for her artistic contributions to the community as one of the founding members of the annual Kirkland Artist Studio Tour (KAST). Fursman was recently diagnosed with terminal leukemia.

A photo collage set up on a table displayed pictures of Fursman’s adventuresome life: a young lady in an open cockpit as a glider pilot, windsurfing on Lake Washington, ice climbing in Alaska and trekking in the Himalayas.

Ask Fursman about any one of her experiences, and she has an extraordinary story for each one.

There was camping in a Belize jungle.

A local boat guide took her and some friends up the river, where they camped alongside the Monkey River.

“We swam in it and the top half was cold and the bottom half was warm,” she recalled. “We couldn’t make out how that could be.”

There was Ecuador, where she camped on a platform because the area was flooded.

“The water was so reflective, you couldn’t see where the reflections began and where the island finished,” said Fursman. “It was all very reflective and wonderful birds and things there.”

And her most favorite adventure – snorkeling in Thailand. They took a boat out to an island with a green cave. But it wasn’t easy to get to the cave.

“So we swam through this pitch black tunnel. We got to the middle and it’s a tiny opening and all these vines were hanging down and this white beach. It was exquisite, it was just wonderful.”

During the event, friends laughed with Fursman as they recalled “adventures” they had with their dear friend. Kirkland resident Sandy Andersen once took tap lessons with Fursman. However, “that wasn’t a great success,” laughed Fursman.

Family and friends also had the opportunity to look through her artwork and take a painting home. “I thought rather than having them stored in my garage, I’d rather people enjoy them,” said Fursman.

Many of her watercolor paintings on display portrayed her travels. Other paintings included owls, bright red umbrellas and a myriad of vibrant flowers: petunias, a bouquet of lilies and Himalayan blue poppies. And she adds a splash of home in her artwork too, with paintings of the Kirkland Arts Center, the Marina Park pavilion and statue of kids frolicking.

Several friends commented on her waterfall paintings. She began painting waterfalls when a woman who was getting married met her at a lodge by Snoqualmie Falls and commissioned her to do a painting. Redmond resident Heather Nolder, who met Fursman in an advanced fitness class at the senior center, recalled when Fursman was working on the painting.

“Every once in a while she’d call and say, ‘I can’t get the water right,’” said Nolder. “But then she’d call, ‘I got the water right. I think I got the water right!’ She’s just a perfectionist and it shows in her work.”

An England native, Fursman moved to Kirkland in 1968 when her husband worked for the Boeing Co. A graphic artist by trade, Fursman has used her artistic craft to benefit others, painting bucks for a PACE (Performing Arts Center for the Eastside) fund raiser in Bellevue and bronze pigs for the Pike Place Market. For the past seven years, she has also opened up her home to show her artwork during the KAST on Mother’s Day weekend. This year, however, she “had to opt out because it’s a lot of work,” she says. “I didn’t know how well I’d feel.”

Her leukemia diagnosis came as a shock. “I just had this cough I couldn’t get rid of,” she said. “You think you’d get knocked for a loop, but friends have been so supportive and family have been incredible. It really brings out the best in everyone.”

She added that she was happy to see all her friends and family during the event.

“You usually have this at your funeral, and then you miss it all,” said Fursman, who has two children and three grandchildren.

Her friend, Sharon Driscoll, organized the event, photographing all of Fursman’s artwork and putting the photos on a DVD for family members. “This was her carrot when she was in the hospital,” said Driscoll. “I told her you need to get out of here because we’re going to have an art show.”

Victoria Book, Fursman’s daughter, said she was amazed to see the turnout. And though her mother had to cancel several upcoming trips this spring, she is still determined to go to Hawaii with family next week. “We planned this way back and so I hope I’m well enough,” said Fursman. “I love to snorkel and that was my dream to take the grandchildren snorkeling.”