A Busy Weekend! Plein Air and Unplugged

by Joan Farnam on September 14, 2017

Yesterday along the Sawbill Trail by Thomas Spence.

Fall is on the way. Thomas Spence calls this “Yesterday along the Sawbill Trail ”

This weekend is chock full of great things to do. The Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Plein Air 2017 continues with the Quick Paint competition on Thursday and a gala art opening at the Johnson Heritage Post on Friday, and North House Folk School holds Unplugged XVI all weekend with lots of music, storytelling, demonstrations, a speaker series and classes on tap.

Let’s start with Plein Air 2017 and the Quick Paint on Artist’s Point on Thursday at 4 p.m.. It’s a great competition.

The Grand Marais Art Colony‘s Plein Air 2017 concludes this weekend with a Quick Paint Competition on Thursday and an exhibit opening at the Johnson Heritage Post from 5-7 p.m. Friday. The exhibit and sale continues through Oct. 29.

Artists are given an hour and a half to complete a painting somewhere along the harbor on Artist’s Point. It’s a shotgun start, and the public is definitely invited to come watch. Be there at 4 p.m. on Thursday for the start, and then wander Artist’s Point and watch paintings unfold. It’s an amazing process, really, seeing blank canvases transformed into beauteous landscapes in less than two hours. At 5:30 p.m., the artists bring their work to a staging area in the parking lot at Artist’s Point and prop their paintings against the rocks. It’s a celebration moment, for sure, and the public is invited to participate.

These works and more will be showcased at the exhibit opening at the Johnson Heritage Post on Friday, Sept. 15, from 5-7 p.m. This year, 60 artists have been painting the landscapes in Cook County for a week, and the result will be showcased in the show.

Carl Bretzke is one of the finalists in the Red Suspender Invitational. This painting and one by Dan Mondloch made the final round. The winner will be announced at the opening reception on Friday.

There are other events during Plein Air 2017 included as well. On Friday, the Plein Air juror, Kami Mendlik, will give a lecture at the Grand Marais Art Colony at 11 a.m entitled The Lineage of Color. The public is invited. And on Saturday at 11:30 a.m., Hazel Belvo will give at lecture at the Johnson Heritage Post entitled “The Art of Seeing: Developing a Visual Literacy.” The exhibit and sale at the Heritage Post continues through Oct. 29.

Meanwhile, at North House Folk School, plan on attending Unplugged XVI, the annual fall celebration and fundraiser for North House. This event features a weekend of music, storytelling, mini-courses, a speaker series, a community sing-along, jam sessions, the Folk Artisan Marketplace, the Point North Auction and more.

Nationally acclaimed storyteller Kevin Kling will perform on Saturday night. A few tickets are still available.

On Friday night is the Flannel Formal Gala, which has sold out. On Saturday night, storyteller Kevin Kling will perform under the Big Tent. He will be joined on stage by Prudence Johnson, Dan Chouinard, Claudia Schmidt, Dane Stauffer, Simone Perrin, and special guests Jon Vezner and Don Henry. There are still a few tickets available for the show. For tickets, click here.

The Folk Artisan Marketplace will be held from 1-4 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday featuring artisans and their work.

The Artisan Marketplace will be open on Friday and Saturday at North House.

Artisans include Marybeth Garamoe, broom making & wooden utensils; Liz Bucheit, jewelry: Beth Homa, birchbark weaving: Niklas Karlsson, spoon carving: Elise Kyllo, felting; Candace LaCoss, leatherwork; Angela Robins, bowl turning; Michael Seiler, jewelry and April Stone, basketweaving. Karlsson is an instructor from Sweden and will be teaching a few mini-courses.

The Speaker Series is great this year and includes everything from local winemakers to spoon carvers. For the complete schedule, click here.

There are also lots of music opportunities, including workshops, jam sessions and, of course, the concert on Saturday night. In short, lots to see and do at North House this weekend.

Also on Saturday, don’t forget the Cook County Market, which features work by local artists and artisans from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Senior Center.

Also, Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen will hold a Bronze Pour at 4 p.m. at the gallery. All invited.

Exhibits

The Tweed Museum of Art continues its exhibit of outstanding photographs, “A Thousand Words.”

(Detail), Paul Strand, “Wall Street 1915.” dust grain photogravure.

And the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in Thunder Bay, continues the exhibit “The Perspective From Here” through Sept. 24.

“The Perspective From Here” continues at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery through Sept. 24. The exhibit features a wide variety of work by regional artists. This is a view of the exhibit in Gallery 3.

Upcoming

Pat Donohue & the Prairie All Stars will be in concert at the Arrowhead for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 23. GRAMMY Award-winning fingerpicker Donohue performed on MPR’s the Prairie Home Companion as well as a number of other venues. The concert is hosted by te North Shore Music Association. For tickets, click here.

Dave and Amy Freeman will launch their book, “A Year in the Wilderness” at North House Folk School with a presentation at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23.

The Art Along the Lake: Fall Studio Tour will be held Sept. 29 through Oct. 8 at 14 studios and galleries in Cook County.

Fused glass by Sharon Frykman. She will be exhibiting her work during the Fall Studio Tour at Frykman Studio.

The studio tour includes works by 40 artists and will be held from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. daily. Stay tuned for details.

Also on the weekend of Sept. 23, another studio tour is scheduled entitled “Cooter Tonder and Friends Art Weekend.” The tour, Sept. 29-Oct. 1, features 15 regional artists at two studios in rural Two Harbors. Hosts Dick and Debbie Cooter and Jody Freiz-Tonder and Mike Tonder open their studios for the tour. Stay tuned for details.

Window Shopping

Handmade boots by Itasca are at Great Gifts of Lutsen. They are set on handcrafted cutting boards made in Duluth.

Jo Wood has new bead paintings at Last Chance Gallery.

“Raven Berries” by Kari Vick. She is exhibiting her prints and cards at the North Shore Winery.

upstate mn feather on handmade paper barloga studios

This feather printed on handmade paper from Barloga Studios is at Upstate MN.

In Other Art News

Bryan Hansel‘s “Found Bike Project 2018 Calendar” is included in Lulu’s 2017 Christmas Gift Guide. Lulu is the publisher of the calendar, and they could have picked from 100s of others. Kudos to Hansel.

Bryan Hansel has a cool calendar for 2018!

To see the other photos in the calendar, and, perhaps, order one, click here.

Hansel will be co-teaching “Fall Photo Workshop on Lake Superior” with Travis Novitsky starting Sept. 27. To find out more, click here.

The Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery is currently accepting applications to exhibit for the 2018 year and beyond. The gallery would love to feature some local artists throughout each calendar year. If you are interested in applying please click the link below and download the application form. Your application may be emailed, mailed, or dropped off at Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery.
Johnson Heritage Post is looking forward to seeing community members talented artworks. Don’t miss the chance to exhibit – apply now! Applications for the 2018 Exhibition year are due by Oct. 1. Click here to learn more.

And finally, a little fun! People find their doppelgängers in museums!

Here is a photo of one of the people who found her doppelgänger in a museum portrait.

Click here to see more of these amazing coincidences.

And here’s the music for the weekend:

Thursday, Sept. 14:

Mark Joseph and American Soul, Gun Flint Tavern, 7:30 p..

Friday, Sept. 14:

Gene Lafond and Amy Grillo, Voyageur Brewing Co, 4 p.m.
Plucked Up String Band, Grandma Ray’s. 8 p.m.
Eric Frost, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 16:

Matt Trost and Laurel Clark, Voyageur Brewing Co., 7 p.m.
Unplugged, North House Folk School, 7 p.m.
Frozen Britches, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7 p.m.
Gordon Thorne, Lutsen Resort, 7 p.m.
County Bug, Grandma Ray’s, 8:30 p.m.
Joe Paulik, Gun Flint Tavern, 9 p.m.
Timmy Haus, Papa Charlie’s, 9:30 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 17:

Boyd Blomberg, Gun Flint Tavern, 7:30 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 1:

Pieta Brown, Monday Night Songwriter Series, Papa Charlie’s, 8:30 p.m.

Here are some of the photos we found this week.

First up, a photo of northern lights posted on Spaceweather.com this week. We just had to share it.

There were spectacular northern lights around the world last week. This one, taken by Jani Yiinampa-at Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland, was posted on spaceweather.com.

Here’s what we saw locally.