A Hearty Warm-Up

by Joan Farnam on February 18, 2021

An icy Valentine to warm your heart by Chris Artist.

Greetings from the NorthShore, where we almost dodged the Polar Vortex bullet (at one point there, the Twin Cities was colder than we were on the shore) and warmer temps are on the way.

Granted, we’re Minnesotans, and are pretty much prepared to deal with sub-zero temps, as compared to people who live in Houston, for example, who are not. Here’s a photo I found last night that tells that story better than anything:

It’s pretty frosty in Houston. Photo courtesy of Sailing Anarchy.

Here’s to more survivable temperatures for those live south of us in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Fiber February continues at North House Folk School, with a variety of online classes and workshops on making things out of wool and other comfy fabrics.

Of special interest: the free Lunch & Learn webinars that are held every Thursday at noon during this event. This week, LaChaun Moore will present “Contextualizing Textiles: Family Ties and Textile History,” starting a noon on Feb. 18.

LaChaun Moore will present at a Lunch & Learn through North House Folk School on family ties and textile history at noon on Feb. 18. If you miss it, you can watch a recording at a later time at northhouse.org.

In this webinar, Moore will start with a dive into her ethnographic textile research, which focuses on the history of race and agriculture in the US. For the short workshop portion of this Lunch and Learn, she will ask participants about their first interaction with agriculture and to choose a garment from their closet in order to start a dialog about their personal connection to the fiber content and its context. It should be a fascinating presentation. It is free but registration is required. To register, click here. All the Lunch & Learn events are available for viewing here.

Another online event of interest is the weekly Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram Takeover, featuring an featured artist talking about and demonstrating their work on Thursdays and Fridays.

This week, ceramic artist Rhonda Willers, a visual artist, researcher and author of “Terra Sigillata: Contemporary Techniques,” will be featured.

Rhonda Willers will be the takeover artist on the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Instagram account this Thursday and Friday. Here she is holding a bowl full of the clay she uses to create soft, smooth surfaces on her pieces.

Willers will be teaching a class at the Art Colony in May. Click here to learn more.

Exhibits:

The exhibit, “A Potluck of Art” continues at the Johnson Heritage Post through Jan. 28.

The Pot Luck of Art exhibit at the Heritage Post features work in every media, including painting, fiber, ceramics, wood, glass and metal.

The Pot Luck of Art exhibit at the Heritage Post is aptly named and features work in every media, including painting, fiber, ceramics, wood, glass and metal. The Heritage Post is open to the public with Covid precautions in place Thursday through Sunday.

The exhibit features a wide variety of work from members of the North Shore Artists League, the Northwoods Fiber Guild, and artists who show at the gallery shop. Look for paintings, weavings ceramics, wood, glass and metal — fun to see. The Heritage Post is open to the public with Covid protocols in place from 1-4 p.m. Thursdays, 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. Free. Masks required.

John Books is exhibiting his sculptures in the windows of Studio 21, the Grand Marais Art Colony’s new building on Hwy. 61 in downtown Grand Marais.

John Books has a sculpture exhibit in the windows at Studio 21, the Grand Marais Art Colony‘s new building on Hwy. 61. The exhibit is entitled “A Gathering of Ghosts.”

The exhibit features work in bronze and wood and is entitled “A Gathering of Ghosts.” It continues through the end of February. Books’ s work can be found at Yellowbird Fine Art and Karlyn Yellowbird Gallery.

Opportunities:

The Spirit of the Wilderness Episcopal Church has put out a call to artists to participate in an exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post entitled “From Darkness to Light.” The exhibit opens at the Heritage Post March 5.

The Spirit of the Wilderness will sponsor a community art exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post in March.

To find out more about this exhibit and drop-off dates, click here.

Printmaker Nan Onkka will teach a virtual introduction to block printing class beginning March 8.

Nan Onkka will teach a virtual class on block printmaking.

The class will meet via Zoom on four Monday evenings. For more information, click here.

Kudos:

Kathy Fox Weinberg’s painting, “Tango After Dark,” has been juried into the 47th Annual Northern Lights International Online Juried Art Exhibition sponsored by the White Bear Arts Center.

“Tango after Dark” by Kathy Fox Weinberg has been juried into an online exhibit at the White Bear Arts Center.

Two other artists who are members of the North Shore Artists League, Mary Matthews and Kim Dayton, have been accepted to the show as well. The exhibit opens March 4. To see it, click here.

Artists at Work:

Bryan Hansel recently received a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council to do a series of videos about winter photography. Here’s the first one: Shooting a Winter Sunset Over Lake Superior.

In other Bryan Hansel news, he has developed a new filter for photography that has just been released. To find out more, click here.

Also, he will give a virtual presentation about canoe and kayak photography at the Wisconsin Camera Council on March 6 as well as at Canoecopia the following week. Stay tuned.

Here’s an in-process video that artist Charlotte Durie is developing about Merlina, the Queen of Ravens at the Tower of London, who has disappeared. Durie lives in Wales, and has connections to the North Shore.

Local artists have been working this week as well. Here are some great examples:

Pine Tree, fused glass, by Nancy Seaton.

Biboon Waagosh, Winter Fox by Sam Zimmerman.

The Crossing by Susan Marie Gecas.

The Farm in Winter. The Garden Shed by Betsy Bowen.

Online Potpourri

Here’s a fascinating opportunity to “hear” a Kandinsky painting.

The Kandinsky Project lets you hear the Kansinsky masterpiece, “Yellow, Red, Blue.” Play it here.

Abstract artist Vassily Kandinsky had synesthesia, the neurological condition that allowed him to hear colors and shapes through sound.

Google has crafted a way to “play” Kandinsky’s famous painting “Yellow. Red, Blue.” “Play” the painting Yellow, Red, Blue here.

To read about it, click here.

Here’s a great video to watch, entitled “Holy Frit.” It’s about a group of artists who set out to make the largest stained glass window in the world. Check out the trailer below. It’s part of the 2021 Slamdance Film Festival. Tickets are $10 to see everything.

HOLY FRIT Trailer from Justin Monroe on Vimeo.

And since we live in Minnesota and it’s winter, this might be amusing to watch.

Have you ever heard of Radio Garden? This site lets you listen to radio stations all over the world. It’s amazing how many there are, and what they’re playing. For example, there are English-speaking stations in Dubai, they play County music in Guam, alternative music in Algeria, jazz in Paris. Click here to become a radio world-traveller. Enjoy!

Radio Garden lets you listen to radio stations all over the world. Just hover over the green dots and see what they’re playing. Click here.

Liz Sivertson has painted a wonderful series on the musicians and bands in Cook County, which are currently on view at Sivertson Gallery. You can see all of them here.

Here’s her painting of the Plucked Up String Band, followed by a video which aired on WDSE’s The Playlist a few years ago. In this video, they’re playing “Knit You a Sweater” on a rooftop somewhere in Duluth. Click here to see.