Ready, Set, Go! Photo by Beth McClain.
Greetings from the North Shore, where we’re settling into an early spring and seeing signs of it everywhere. Pine Siskins are at the feeders, the ground is softening up and Red Osier Dogwood is turning a beautiful dark red. The daffodils are popping up in some neighborhoods, too.
The daffodils are up by Jamey Penney-Ritter, who lives in Bayfield, Wis.
And gardeners and growers are planting.
The very beginning of a tomato jungle. Photo courtesy of CreakingTree Farm.
It’s a quickening, no doubt about it.
This is true in the art world, too.
Parts for a woven paper collage painting by Maxene Linehan.
Testing new options, fused glass, by Nancy Seaton.
For those who want to dip in and learn new techniques, Joy and Company offers opportunities every week during Art Night. This week’s topic: Paint the night sky.
Paint the night sky during Art Night this week.
Art Night is held from 3:30-5 pm at the shop and is open to all. Supplies will be available as well as short instructions. Free, with a suggested $5 donation.
Also on Thursday night, Cook County Trivia will be held at Up Yonder from 6-8 pm.
Cook County Historical Society Trivia will be held at Up Yonder from 6-8 pm on Thursday. Open to all. Free.
The game is open to all and features some questions about Cook County history as well as standard Trivia questions. Prizes.
Also on Thursday night, Dappled Fern Fibers opens its doors from 6-7 pm for crafters during its winter Hygge Party.
Dappled Fern Fibers welcomes crafters on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings.
The shop also holds a Fiber Circle from 10 am to noon on Saturday. All are welcome to bring their projects and work together in the shop. Free.
On Friday, it’s Winter Plein Air at the Johnson Heritage Post featuring wonderful paintings by members of the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota. They spent a week at YMCA Camp Menogyn on West Bearskin painting the world around them and are sharing their work with us at the gallery.
Snow Starting At Three, oil, 2022, by Allison Ecklund. Ecklund is one of the painters who will be exhibiting at the Heritage Post Gallery show.
The opening reception is from 5-7 pm Friday. Refreshments will be served. The exhibit continues through March 24.
Also on Friday, it’s Movie Night at the Grand Marais Public Library. This is the last film that will be shown at the library this winter. This week’s movie: “The Cow Who Sang into the Future,” (NR; 2022). See the trailer below.
The movie starts at 6 pm and is free. Refreshments will be available.
On Saturday, the Second Chance Art Sale, a fundraiser for Care Partners, will be held at The Hub from 10 am to 2 pm.
The fundraiser for Care Partners at the Hub on March 9 will include pottery seconds and art. Photo by Joan Farnam.
The sale will feature pottery looking for a forever home as well as a selection of art. The sale is by donation only and all proceeds will go to Care Partners. All are invited to help support this important Cook County organization.
Also on Saturday, Celtic musicians Patsy O’Brien and Dick Hensold will be in Grand Marais to teach workshops on Traditional Scottish Music for the Recorder and Celtic Backup Guitar at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts from 1-3 pm. They will also be in concert at the ACA at 7 pm on Saturday.
Patsy O’Brien and Dick Hensold will teach workshops on Saturday. They will also be in concert at the ACA on Saturday night.
Traditional Scottish Music for the Recorder: According to eminent Scottish musicologist David Johnson, the recorder was an important instrument for playing traditional Scottish tunes in the first half of the 18th century in the Scottish lowlands. This finding is based on what was found in a number of recorder manuscripts from that period. Explore some of the music from those manuscripts with Dick Hensold, master of Northumbrian small pipes, Scottish reel pipes, whistles, and recorders. Sheet music will be provided, as well as notes and discussion of history and interpretation. Bring an alto recorder. Music will be provided for both C and F fingering. This workshop is intended for both traditional music aficionados and recorder players more familiar with standard early music practice. Participants who don’t read music will need to bring recording devices since the workshop will be mainly taught from written music scores. $15.
Celtic Backup Guitar workshop: Learn how to accompany Irish jigs, reels, and other common rhythms on guitar in standard tuning or DADGAD. The workshop will be taught by Patsy O’Brien, award-winning singer and guitarist who hosts guitar workshops all over the country and who has collaborated with giants of the Celtic/World music scene. Hands-on learning. Some knowledge of basic chord shapes will be required. $25.
No pre-registration is necessary.
The concert at the ACA starts at 7 pm. Here’s a song by the duo: “When a Man’s in Love.”
Tickets for the concert are $18 at the door or online here.
On Sunday, the Cook County Historical Society, along with the Historical Alliance of Cook County, will be showing Parts 1-3 of the film Lost But Not Forgotten: A History of Commercial Fishing on Minnesota’s North Shore and Isle Royale at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
Lost but Not Forgotten, Parts 1-3, to be screened at the ACA on Sunday.
The film was created by Fred Dudderar, NorthPoint Productions, Duluth, Minnesota. Attendees are welcome to view the whole film, or come and go for certain parts during intermission. Admission is free. The screening will be from 2-5:30 pm. For more information, click here.
Monday is Wood Week at North House Folk School, featuring classes, demonstrations, presentations, and more.
Wood Week at North House Folk School starts on Monday. To find out more, click here:
Julia Kalthoff of Kalthoff Axes is one of the guest instructors for Wood Week this year.
Friday, March 15 is the annual Carver’s Conference, a day full of demonstrations, workshops, skill shares, and community gatherings, including a pizza bake. Open to the public For more information, click here and stay tuned.
Exhibits:
Allison Baker’s exhibit “Tender Vignettes: A Class Narrative,” continues at the Duluth Art Institute.
Allison Baker’s exhibit Tender Vignettes, a Class Narrative continues at the Duluth Art Institute.
Baker’s collages document moments of lower-class living. In scenes of everyday life, viewers will find evidence of Baker’s upbringing: tattoos at dining room tables, dilapidated houses, and maybe a little too much beer. Baker notes that these details humanize the working class and explore the complexity of poverty. Approaching each collage with raw tenderness, she portrays living with scarcity, recognizing how poverty impacts choices, habits, and actions. Baker offers an example: “Playing the lottery is often seen as the only route to class transcendence,” She says. “It signifies hope.”
The exhibit continues through March 20.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art is currently exhibiting Chinese works from its collection entitled “Year of the Dragon: Mystical Creatures of the Sky.”
China, Emperor’s winter robe (detail), Yongzheng period (1723–1735), silk tapestry (kesi) is at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. To read a Beginner’s Guide to Dragons, click here.
Upcoming:
Next weekend is St. Patrick’s Day and St. Urho’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated all over the country, including at Cascade Lodge Restaurant and Pub.
Cascade Restaurant and Pub will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a special menu and live music next weekend.
St. Urho’s Day is often celebrated in Finnish communities, especially in Finland, Minn.
St. Urho’s Day will be celebrated in Finland, Minn., on March 16 with a parade, and family fun. Photo courtesy of the Duluth News Tribune.
St. Urho is credited with saving the vineyards in Ireland from a grasshopper invasion. Participants are encouraged to wear purple and green. The public is invited.
Kudos:
Grand Marais musher Erin Altemus is competing in the Iditarod this year.
Erin Altemus at the start of the Iditarod with Rena Rogers riding along during opening ceremonies. Photo by JG Thomas. Click here for updates from her husband, Matt Schmidt.
Artists At Work:
Chuck Olsen has printed a collection of his photographs on metal.
North Shore of the Big Lake by Dan Weimer. Weimer is the Artist of the Month at Sivertson Gallery.
Seems to be a black hole day by Mary Beams.
Project Complete by Frank Lehto.
“Passage to the Spirit Tree: Air” by Hazel Belvo can be seen in the lobby of North Shore Health.
Art for a small space by Ron Piercy.
The Trapper’s Daughter & The Spring Moose, linocut by Rick Allen.
In Saint David, Arizona, acrylic, by Susan Marie Gecas.
Birch bowl by Jim Sannerud.
Ch-ch-ch-changes by Lori Sparkly Franklin.
Paradise Beach, March 2 by Bryan Hansel.
Palisades, watercolor, by Kim Dayton.
Online Findings:
The ruins of the first lighthouse built on Lake Superior are still visible on Park Point
Online Music:
Live Music:
Thursday, Mar 7:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
- Open Old Time Appalachian Music Jam, Log Cabin, 7-9:30 pm
Friday, Mar 8:
- Bump Blomberg, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Roxann Berglund, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
Saturday, Mar 9:
- Scottish Recorder or Celtic Guitar Workshop, Arrowhead Center for the Arts, 1-3 pm
- Al Oikari & Friends, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
- Patsy O’Brien and Dick Hensold, Arrowhead Center for the Arts, 7 pm
Sunday, Mar 10:
- Fred Anderson and Ben Obinger, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 10 – noon
Tuesday, Mar 12:
- Eric Frost, North Shore Winery, 4:30-6:30 pm
- Open Stage, Up Yonder, 6-9 pm
Thursday, Mar 14:
- Timmy Haus, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Gordon Thorne, North Shore Winery, 6-8 pm
Friday, Mar 15:
- Pat Eliasen, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 4-6 pm
- Bless Your Heart, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 6-8 pm
Saturday, Mar 16:
- Bless Your Heart, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 5-8 pm
- Black River Revue, Up Yonder, 8-11 pm
Sunday, Mar 17:
- Briand Morrison, Moguls Grille & Taproom, 10 – noon
- Bless Your Heart, Cascade Lodge Restaurant & Pub, 11 am-1 pm
- Briand Morrison, Bluefin Grille, 8 – 10 pm
Monday, Mar 18:
- Southpaws Duo (Al Oikari and Steve Johnson), Bluefin Grille 8-10 pm
Photographs:
Here’s a selection of photographs we found this week:
Wildlife:
Nesting by Beth McClain.
One of these is not like the others by Kevin Biskaborn.
Winter Great Grey Owl by Isaac Spotts.
Chickadee enjoying leftover mountain ash berries by David Johnson.
Potpourri:
Somewhere in Grand Marais by Bryan Hansel.
Mount Rushmore, Jefferson and Washington by Layne Kennedy.
Shadows playing by Sheila Smith.
Ready to leap into summer for a malt in Duluth by Martha Lind.
Landscapes, Sunsetscapes & Waterscapes:
After 7 pm by David Johnson.
Ice Swords by Ron Benson.
Hello sun friend by Chuck Olsen.
Full Snow Moon by Paul Sundberg.
Spooky Night Moon by Chuck Olsen.
Bus driving benefits by Andy Keith.
Grand Marais Historic Fish House at Dawn by Paul Sundberg.
A Lake Superior Wave Day by Jeffrey Doty.
The morning light dancing over the fertile fields of Palouse, Wash. by Layne Kennedy.
Icicles and Rocks Reflected in Lake Superior by Roxanne Distad.
Angel Cove by Mary Lou Williams.
Chasing Lake Superior Waves by Hayes Scriven.
Harbor Sunrise by David Johnson.
Another beautiful sunrise at Split Rock Lighthouse by Keith Christiansen.
Two Harbors, by Christian Dalbec.
Morning Reflections by Ron Benson.
Exceptionally rugged by Christian Dalbec.
Simply spectacular by Paul Scinocca.
Leftover ice by Jay DeCoux.
Sunrise over an ice-covered shoreline by Ken Harmon.
The view by Christian Dalbec.
Kissed by the sun by Jay DeCoux.
A night of star trails and northern lights by David Johnson.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Ok, we’ll admit it! We really like putting out these issues every week. It’s interesting, it provides a service to the community and, in my case, I like finding things that are unusual or beautiful, or totally out of the box. But we need your support to continue to do this. Please consider donating today, whatever is comfortable for you. You can click on the icon below and donate online or send a check to NorthShore ArtScene, PO Box 1232, Grand Marais, MN 55604.
P.S. Jeremy Lopez, Yvonne Mills, and Kari Carter are the three volunteers who help make this all possible every week. A donation is a Thank You to them, too.
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I appreciate you all and look forward to the blog every week. Thank you!