St Paul Art Crawl…ed

Hey everyone!

I’ve been totally caught up in the activity involved in selling art at the St Paul Art Crawl. It’s been exciting, but also frustrating. Early reports say that sales were down in most buildings, probably due to heavy road construction in the Lowertown area and unseasonable, gorgeous weather. I love warmth, high, puffy, cumulus clouds and fall tree colors against deep blue skies, so I’m not going to complain. I would have been oot and aboot myself, given the option.

Those who did spend time inside buildings instead of tripping through leaves were rewarded with a bounty of new art. It must have been a terrific summer for creating, because I saw many artists expand their oeuvres in exciting new directions. Even I tried something new, as you’ll see a little later on.

This is an image from Beth Stoneberg’s work with birch wood and tinted polyurethane. Her pieces are LARGE. As always, the image is off since I’m just using a photograph of her business card to give you a taste of what you will see when you click on her name. She creates dramatic, timeless art that is effective in homes, lofts or corporate offices. Her website shows a few pieces installed, highlighting the abstract patterns of the wood while retaining its natural beauty.

The second thing you should know about Ms Stoneberg is that not only does she create amazing art, she also invests quite a bit of time in co-organizing the Rossmor Building’s participation in the Art Crawl. Many hours that could go into new work gets devoted to filling the building with fine artists. Thank you Beth!

Patrick Clancy is the other organizer of the Rossmor’s offerings for the St Paul Art Crawl. I know he was shooting a wedding on Sunday in addition to everything else going on with his studio and sales this weekend. I don’t know how he found time, but I’m sure glad he did. Can you see from this image that the middle photograph is a tinted black and white? If I was a bride-to-be I’d seriously be considering this man to take the pictures. Check out his website to see more poignant and stunning images of his past work.

Linda Bonine doesn’t have a website, yet. What she does have is unique, striking jewelry that appeals to women of many ages. I know this because I sat across from her delectable display for three days and watched young girls and the more mature get lost in her vintage broaches, necklaces and bracelets. She has leather cuffs with sparkle (you’d have to ask her how that’s accomplished) and bangles heavy with repurposed pieces from your grandmother’s top drawers. She’ll be at the 18th Annual MN Women’s Art Festival at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis on Saturday, December 11th. (So will I!)

Roxanne Richards was in the process of selling three pieces to two buyers when I last spoke to her. That’s no mean feat in this economy. But I shouldn’t be surprised because she is so adamant about the quality of her work including the archival paper and UV glass. Ms Richards works in pastel, but mixes it with Isopropyl rubbing alcohol to create a medium that doesn’t flake inside the frame. She’s not only a vibrant artist, she’s a careful craftsperson, paying attention to all aspects of the process. Her work is now selling at Your Art’s Desire Gallery in Minnetonka.

Lauren Strom is the mastermind of a very impressive clothing and arts empire. Okay, I might be exaggerating a tad, but her output is incredible and her business just keeps growing. If you click on her name you’ll be brought to her Etsy shop. Scroll down to see classic images of her birds (most have knees), bicycles and bubbles. (You can buy an original bird watercolour for $20! Or a t-shirt…) You can also go to her Dancing Fork blog which shows her artwork as well as her divine studio in the Casket Arts Building. Twinkly lights, canvases against a brick wall, a fan with a face; it looks like heaven to me.

Here are my latest creations! The churches have thin slices of a cane I created to look like stained glass. If you put a light behind them, you can see the glow, which is pretty entertaining to me. (I don’t get out much.) The houses are recreations of my little home series. You’re looking at No. 19, 20, 29, 38 and 23. I’ll be selling them at Anne and Friend’s holiday ornament store, in Wayzata and at the 18th Annual MN Women’s Art Festival at the Midtown YWCA in Minneapolis on Saturday, December 11th.

So, while the St Paul Art Crawl lived up to the slow part of its name for me, it was still a success for many and well worth seeing. If I get organized, in an upcoming blog I’ll introduce you to some other artists I met. Maybe you’ll be in a position to patronize them? A happy thought.

Until next time…—Chris

 

 

Art of Mentoring

Welcome back!

Being mentored is a weird and wonderful experience. The wonderful part is having someone focus completely on you and your work. That’s also the weird part. I’ve gotten pretty good at distracting people who try and get too close to me. It’s almost second nature now to maneuver them to talk about themselves, so to allow someone to probe a bit and to gather more information, well, it’s an unsettling, uncomfortable experience.

I recommend it though. It’s been 20 months. Who guessed a person could change and grow so much in such a short period of time, especially an adult?

Obviously The Women’s Art Registry of MN (WARM) knew the power of this arrangement and has been promoting it every two years with a new cycle of mentor/protegee teams. And now they are celebrating not only the end of this particular cycle, but also the program itself in its upcoming exhibit: The Art of Mentoring.  The show opens September 3rd and runs through October 8th at the Bloomington Theatre & Art Center on West Old Shakopee Road.

"Essentials," by Judy Fawcett

“Essentials” is the work Judy Fawcett is entering into the upcoming exhibit. I met Ms Fawcett at one of the first WARM events I attended, a retrospective of Mimi Holmes’ work. Ms Fawcett is gentle, not aggressive, and cheerful, not moody, yet her works belie her quiet demeanor and are rife with symbolism while her skill with light is positively scary. Check out her MN Artists.org website to see “Near My Window” for mystic imagery, “Spring Fling” for suffused light and “Under Construction” for a bold combination of both. (For those of you who appreciate the difficulties of painting glass, check out “Harvest Hues 2.” That Ball canning jar is simply wonderful.)

"trauma of duality," by Roxanne Richards

Ms Richards works primarily in dry pastel, creating a unique, painterly style through her use of Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. In this piece, the title refers to her experiences of growth during the mentor/protegee program and how it sometimes pushed her into two conflicting viewpoints.

Of Ms Richards’ pieces on the MN Artists.org website, “into life” is my favorite. It has all the rich color and depth I’ve come to expect from her works, which to my mind make them highly collectible. I see it as a creation piece: the center of a pumping heart or the beginning of the universe.  I further imagine that the swirls on the right speak to the creativity of human endeavors.  (As the viewer, I will always bring my expectations and experience to every artwork I encounter.)

I was surprised to see no caps in either of the above titles.  It’s a little thing (like an e.e. cummings’ poem is a “little” thing), but it does make me view the works more closely and look for a link of commonality. Lowercase removes specificity. Ms Richards told me “that one of the most important things I learned in the mentor program was from Loretta [Bebeau, another mentor]. She had made the comment that ‘the more personal a piece is, the more universal a piece is.’ “  By sharing this discovery with me, Ms Richards exemplified two dynamic aspects of the mentor program: she accepted learning opportunities from other WARM members and she forwarded to others what she found valuable.

Like Ms Fawcett and Ms Richards, I’m at the end of my mentor/protegee program and like them, I’m unsure what lies ahead.  What I do know is that I have a wealth of resources at my fingertips that I didn’t have before I joined WARM and more connections in the art world than I could possibly have hoped.  It’s a good beginning.

See you at the exhibit!  —Chris

Art in The Twin Cities 1

Welcome back!

I love living in Minneapolis and St Paul. It’s amazing. I moved up here originally because of the multitude of cultural opportunities. I quickly fell in love with the large swathes of trees and parks in the urban areas; it was so incredibly green. It was beautiful here and entertaining, but only after I made lifelong friends did I suspect I’d stay.

I was exposed to the music and theatre stages fairly early as most of my friends were either drama majors or musicians. (What can I say? I was very lucky.) I adored the Guthrie Theatre and Theatre in the Round, of course, but also reveled in In The Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre, The Southern Theatre and the statewide volunteer-run organization: the MN Assoc of Community Theatres. From MACT I learned about the annual Fringe Festival, which is 11 days of some of the most adventurous independent theatre available in the US; look for it again in August.

As for music, my partner was quick to find lesser-known bands at local hotspots like the FineLine, the 401 Bar, First Avenue and the smaller venues, including The Coffee Grounds, The Ginkgo Coffeehouse and the long-running, diversified programming of The Cedar Cultural Center. I first learned about groups before they hit the national airwaves by listening to the ever-inventive KFAI Radio. The programs I like best are “Pam Without Boundaries” on Tuesday mornings and “Womenfolk,” on Sundays. Give yourself a treat and tune in! (Little known fact: my favorite band title, to date, is Front Porch Swinging Liquor Pigs. Does it get any better than that?)

Recently though, I realized there were even more reasons to live up here. I was introduced a few years ago, belatedly, to the visual arts’ scene.

It was so exciting. There were art galleries in downtown Minneapolis that I could wander through, one after another, eat snacks and drink wine! I was surprised. What did it mean? Who were these artists? Why were they letting me in their small studios, along with long lines of other wanderers?

Over time I learned that the artists often lived elsewhere and rented these spaces to create their art. I still remember the huge equine sculpture made out of found objects that towered above me. And so many glorious paintings worth thousands of dollars. It was thrilling to have gallery owners approach me as a potential buyer.

From there I was introduced to the St Paul Art Crawl. It has a spring and fall event in a variety of locales. Over the years I found myself exploring several of the Lowertown St Paul buildings, the Rossmor Building (on 10th and Robert Streets) and the Dow Building (on University Ave).

For example, this year at the Rossmor I saw trendy necklaces and hair clips (semi-precious stones and peacock feathers) at Olive Jewels. There were photographs that captured the dark beauty of trees as well as the integrity of those who work outside at Steffen Ryan Photography. On another floor, large richly colorful pastels created by artist Roxanne Richards drew in buyers. And breathtaking, elemental images of water, ice and rock photographed here in Minnesota were being sold by Tierza Loskota Photography.

Like the plays and the bands, the visual arts here are vibrant. I’ve been exceptionally fortunate in my choice of home. Beauty pervades.

Coming soon: the art and artists of NE Minneapolis’ Art-A-Whirl. Thanks for checking back! –Chris