A Great Concert, 2nd Week of Art Tours & A Raku Event

Look forward to a fun weekend, including, perhaps, the first snowfall of the season. As of tonight, Oct. 3, various weather channels are predicting measurable snowfall in Ely and, perhaps, the Gunflint Trail and Grand Marais on Thursday. But rest assured, it won’t stay around long, and there will still be plenty of beautiful fall colors to enjoy.

 Click here for a link on ideas for great fall hikes and tours, as well as the latest color reports from our state parks.

Two open studio art tours are on-going this week, concluding on Sunday, Oct. 7 — the Crossing Borders Studio Tour & Sale and the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Art Tour. Crossing Borders features artists up and down Highway 61 from just outside Duluth to Grand Portage. The 20/20 tour features 20 artists in studios within 20 miles of Two Harbors. There’s lots of wonderful new work to see, check out the maps on the links and visit the artists. Cook County artists on the Crossing Borders tour include Betsy Bowen, Kristi Downing, Dan & Lee Ross and Marcie McIntire.

Painter Sandi Pillsbury Gredzens and ceramic artist , Rose Kadera Vastilla, who are participating in the 20/20 tour, are also exhibiting at the Johnson Heritage Post Gallery with pastel artist Rosemary Hultman. The show, “Witnessing Nature:  Three Personal Journeys” concludes this weekend.

On Friday, Grand Marais singer/songwriter Bump Blomberg and Duluth singer/songwriter Mary Bue will be on WTIP’s The Roadhouse to talk about their music and play a few tunes. They will perform at the Gunflint Tavern on Friday night starting at 9 p.m. The Roadhouse airs from 5-7 p.m. on Fridays and interviews with musicians usually start between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m. Here’s a link to Mary Bue’s music.

A lot of fun events are packed into Saturday. Weather permitting, the Cook County Farm & Craft Market opens at 9 a.m. in the Senior Center parking lot, with lots of arts & crafts and harvest vegetables of the season.

Then at 10 a.m., Sivertson Gallery hosts a raku event with Richard Gruchalla and Carrin Rosetti in the lot behind the gallery, Gruchalla and Rosetti will set up a portable raku kiln and a tent with tables loaded with raku glazes, and participants can purchase a small tea bowl, glaze it and watch it being fired in the kiln. The finished pots can be picked up the same day.

Then, at 5 p.m., poet Roseann Lloyd will read from her book latest book, “The Boy Who Slept Under the Stars: A Sister’s Story,”  at Drury Lane Books at 5 p.m. The public is invited.

At 7 p.m., the piece de resistance of the weekend: Keith Secola, the Stonebridge Singers, Briand Morrison, Roxann Berglund and Pete Kavanaugh perform at a benefit to restore “Dawn & Sea,” a painting by the late George Morrison. George donated the painting to ISD 166 in the 1950s. When it is restored, it “Dawn & Sea” will be included in national tour organized by the Minnesota Museum of American Art. The museum’s director, Kristin Makholm, will speak about the importance of the tour.

The concert should be fantastic. Both Secola and Briand Morrison are award-winning musicians — Secola for his Native Americana songs and Morrison for his jazz performances. Bluesman Kavanaugh is well-known in the county, too. Berglund is a jazz singer and will perform with Morrison. The Stonebridge Singers & Drummers are from Grand Portage, where Morrison grew up.

Tickets are $15 adults, $5 students.

Unfortunately, this is one of those Saturdays where there are difficult choices to make.  Ole Oleson’s Ole Time Orkestra is in town, playing at the Hovland Town Hall at 5 p.m. for a polka dance. Dance lessons will be held from 5-6 p.m.,  the dance begins at 7 p.m. Freewill donations accepted. All invited. It should be a fun night, too.

Then on Sunday, Barb Lundell, watercolor painter, will be the artist in residence at Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen. She will talk about her art and demonstrate techniques of watercolor painting from 1-4 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.

Also on Sunday, the Grand Marais Art Colony is hosting the second week of Make-A-Bowl events for the public to make bowls for the Empty Bowl Fundraiser for the Food Shelf Nov. 8. There are two this week: Sunday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m. Call the Art Colony at 387-2737 to register.

The Make-A-Bowl events are on Sundays and Mondays through Oct. 21.

In other Art Colony news, the fall Life Drawing Sessions at the Grand Marais Art Colony begin Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m. For more information about the sessions, call 2387-2737.

And here’s some interesting news.

WDSE’s The Playlist won a Regional Emmy for a video they produced about the Quick Paint competition during last year’s

Plein Air Competition hosted by the Art Colony. Producers Karen Sunderman and Steve Ash titled the show “The Plein Air Brush Off.” You can see a trailer of the show here, and the complete half-hour video here. Copies are also available at the Grand Marais Public Library.

In other news, for the last couple of weeks or so, our music calendars have not been completely accurate, for which we apologize. Seems like music schedules change without much notice in October. Below is what we found for this weekend, and we hope it is accurate.

Here’s the schedule:

Thursday, Oct. 4

• Bump Blomberg, Harbor Light Supper Club, 6 p.m.’

Friday, Oct. 5

Bump Blomberg & Mary Bue, Gunflint Tavern, 9 p.m.

Timmy Haus, Bluefin  Grille, Tofte, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 6

• Ole Olson Ole Time Orkestra, Hovland Town Hall, 5 p.m.
• Benefit Performance for George Morrison painting restoration, Arrowhead Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.
• Jim Miller, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7 p.m.
• Pushing Chain, Gunflint Tavern, 9 p.m.

Monday, Oct. 8

• Joe Paulik, Bluefin Grille, Tofte, 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 10

• Bingham and Thorne, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.

So  lots to see and do this weekend!

Some pretty spectacular photos came across our computer screen this week. Here are a few of them.

Paul Sundberg (www.paulsundbergphotography.com/) said he had never seen these colors on sumac leaves before.

Here’s a fascinating mushroom shot by Jessica Barr.

Delving deeper into the rituals of fall, here’s a shot of pink salmon taken by Mark Tessier.

Here’s an eye-boggler by Nace Hagemann (www.nacehagemannphotography.smugmug.com).

For a quick review of trees in the northwoods and how they grow, check out this great fall shot by Sundberg. How many species can you identify?

Here’s a water study by Don Davison.

Here’s a totally amazing sunrise by Tim Young.

Neil Sherman took this photo. It is one of my favorites. It  documents a chore that those of us who don’t have a washing machine know all about.

Mark Tessier’s “Border,” a meandering line that determines nationality.

Here’s a Bryan Hansel sunset. (www.bryanhansel.com)

And finally, fall on Lake Superior by Travis Novitsky (www.travisnovitsky.com)

Have a great weekend, everyone!