Protecting the next generation. Photograph by David Johnson.
Greetings from the North Shore, where fancy snowflakes floated from the sky overnight, coating everything with sparkling whiteness. And in the woods, hoarfrost coated trees with transcendental beauty. In short, it’s January on the North Shore. Welcome!
North House Folk School says the same thing as it welcomes everyone to enjoy a medley of fascinating crafty films to inspire and entertain this month. Its Virtual Winter Film Festival features a collection of three films offered each week through Jan. 31.
This week, it is “The Sign Painters,” a film that takes a close look at the past, present and hopeful future of the hand-painted sign industry in the U.S. Also this week, two other shorter films: “The Last Ice Merchant”and “High Steel.” The films will be available through Jan. 7. Free. Click to see the video.
Sign Painters FULL MOVIE. from samuel j macon on Vimeo. (Just click on it to see.)
During week 2, (Jan. 8-14), the Virtual Film Festival will feature “Another Work Possible,” a film about timber framers, “The Last Honey Hunter,” which documents collecting wild honey in the isolate Kuluna culture and “Lige” and “Lige,” which documents the life of a wangler and rawhide braider in the Great Basin outback. Visit Northhouse.org to get links for Week 2.
And on Friday, WTIP will launch a new local, virtual live music program which will air from 4-7 p.m. every Friday through the end of the month called The ‘TIP Jar Performance Series. The series kicks off with music by singer/songwriter Michael Monroe, followed by Adam Moe and then Gordon Thorne and Jim Elverhoy.
The series is supported by generous music lovers in the community who started The ‘TIP Jar Fund as a way to assist local musicians who have been negatively impacted by the global pandemic and to provide them a way to share their talents with listeners world-wide. To find out more about the ‘Tip Jar Fund, visit the Cook County Chamber of Commerce site here.
Exhibits:
Also on Friday, “The Art of Healing,” a virtual art exhibit sponsored by the Violence Prevention Center, opens on the Johnson Heritage Post website at 8 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 8 and runs through Sunday, Jan. 24. It is online only, due to Covid concerns.
The exhibit features a wide variety of work local artists. The Violence Prevention Center invited artists “who have been affected by or subjected to domestic violence, sexual assault, or human trafficking” to submit work to the exhibit. The VPC says that “art is a means to respond, heal, celebrate, express, and process all life experiences,” and this exhibit documents this. Here are a few examples of what you will see.
“Blood Heart,” multi-media, by Terry Lewis.
“Endure, Persist, Survive,” bead painting, by Jo Wood.
Healing II, acrylic, by Linda Ricklets Baudry.
The Heritage Post site will show all work the work as well as give viewers the opportunity to shop. To see the whole exhibit, click here after 8 a.m. on Friday.
Upcoming:
February is Fiber month at North House Folk School, with a full selection of online offerings, including free webinars and Lunch & Learns, coursework, and more. This very popular event also includes presentations and is open to all, online.
North House Folk School’s Fiber February features lots of opportunity to learn about and make things with fiber. This year’s event is entirely online. Click here to learn more.
The event runs fro Feb. 1-28. To find our more about Fiber February and to register, click here.
Join six masters of traditional Swedish Song in virtual workshops hosted by Ross Sutter this spring and winter. Swedish singers Cajsa Ekstav, Eva Tjörnebo, Emma Härdelin, Agneta Stolpe, Anders Larsson, and Ulrike Gunnarsson will run these interactive workshops, which include an audio recording and lyrics of the songs taught at each workshop. The workshops will be taught on Sundays at noon, starting on Jan. 1o with Cajsa Ekstav ()Uppland) who will teach all the workshops in January.
Master Swedish song instructor Cajsa Ekstav will teach a series of virtual song workshops at noon on Sundays in January.
For details and to register, click here. To hear her sing, click here.
In outdoor news, the Norpine Fat Bike Classic will be a tour-free event this year, with an informal fun ride for enthusiasts who can sign up to ride either a short (14 mile) or long (20 mile) course anytime between Jan.23-31
The Norpine Fat Bike Classic returns in January as a touch-free event.
Links to registration and detailed information can be found at VisitCookCounty.com/Norpine. In addition to this event weekend, the Norpine system is now offering over 20 kilometers of dual-use groomed trails for both fat tire bikers and cross country skiers.
And, in other outdoor news, a deer that was stranded on the pancake ice in the harbor for more than. 24 hours last week was rescued by DNR employees, who nudged the ice flows with an open boat, encouraging the deer to find her way to shore.
A deer ran onto the ice in the Grand Marais Harbor and was stranded over night, to the chagrin of many local residents. Photo by Lynda Stone.
John Keefover caught this close-up of the deer in the harbor.
Mary Manning, DNR Conservation Officer, was interviewed on WTIP Community Radio about the rescue. Listen to it here.
Artists at Work:
Grand Marais photographer Bryan Hansel has been taking photographs at the same spot on Artists Point at dawn on New Year’s Day for the last few years. Here’s what his New Year Project looks like so far.
First sunrise, 2018, by Bryan Hansel.
First sunrise, 2019 by Bryan Hansel.
First sunrise, 2020 by Bryan Hansel.
First sunrise 2021 by Bryan Hansel.
Here are examples of work by being done by other artists in the county.
17-inch cedar crotch bowl by Lou Pignolet.
“Melting Snow,” felt and beads by Shannon Crossbear.
“Wild Ice” by Kathy Weinberg.
Experiments in intaglio by Betsy Bowen.
Melting Ice on Lake Superior by Hella Buchheim.
Felter Elise Kylo was featured in Northern Wilds recently. To read the article, click here.
My 100-day project theme is darkness and light by Patricia Hagen.
Potpourri
Here’s a collection of links that might be of interest:
This is a very interesting documentary about Tetsua Miyamoto, the inventor of the Kenken puzzles. It asks the question, can computers design a better puzzle than a human? but this documentary is much more than that. It’s about 30 minutes long.
Here’s a compilation of incredible photographs from around the world.
Workers gather incense sticks into bundles at a village near Hanoi, Vietnam. Photograph by Azim Khan Ronnie. To see all the photographs, click here.
Here’s another grouping of best photographs of 2020.
International Photography Awards, and Place, Oneshot, movement by Claudio Piccoli. To see the collection, click here.
.Here’s a fascinating story about uncovering the Lost Works Of Female Renaissance Artists.
Restoring one of the lost works of female Renaissance artists. To read and see examples of the work, click here.
From one of the issues of Brain Pickings: The Snail with the Right Heart–A True Story. It’s really a great story. Heart-warming. 
The Snail with the Right Heart: A True Story by Maria Popova. To read the story, click here.
Virtual Music:
Photographs:
Let’s start with wildlife:
Happy Holidays by Katie Mumm.
Great Gray Owl by Michael Furtman.
Nine wolf pups in den by Layne Kennedy. This photograph was shot when Kennedy was on assignment doing a story for the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer.
Why did the lynx cross the road? By Michael Furtman.
My first encounter with an ermine (short-tailed weasel) by Matt Rohlader.
Flying Squirrel youngsters by Paul Sundberg.
Not exactly wild, but …
Sometimes you just need a baby goat by Jacqui Peck.
Landscapes, seascapes, ice scapes & sky scapes:
Pancake ice at dawn by David Johnson.
A night sky in Finland by Tina Tormanen.
Wishing you all a happy, healthy, better New Year by Sarah Reller.
Wow… that was a looong sunrise by Jamie Rabold.
Walking the causeway by Mark Tessier.
Winter sculpture by Annie Possis.
Hoar frost landscape by Carol Siebenmakr-Miller.
Snow flowers by Dennis Chick.
Sky at Sunset by Jennifer Trowbridge.
Beautiful grays by Joan Farnam.
Adios 2020 by Martin DeWitt.
Frost-covered pines on the Gunflint Trail. Courtesy of the Gunflint Trail Association.
Fast-moving cirrus clouds sprinkle ice crystals across the night sky creating a moon dog by Layne Kennedy.
The Raven and the Snowy by Yvon Mounier, Quebec City, Canada.
Have a great weekend, everyone. And stay safe!
BTW: If you enjoyed NorthShore ArtScene this week, make a donation today. It’s easy. Just click on the icon below. And Thank You!
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