Crossing Borders Studio Tour starts

Fall is here! Ilena Berg got this gorgeous shot from Oberg Mountain recently.

The Crossing Borders Studio Tour and Sale comes at the perfect time of the year for a drive up the North Shore: the leaves are at their prime, the weather is beautiful and one can generally assume there will be wonderful art to look at and talk about with the makers.

Dan & Lee Ross create ceramic and stone sculptures as well as monoprints for the Crossing Borders Studio Tour. This photo was taken at their studio a few years ago. The kiln has been loaded and is ready to be fired.

This year should be no exception. As you can see from the above photo by Ilena Berg taken on Oberg Mountain recently, the maples are almost at peak with the poplars soon to follow, and the temps this weekend are predicted to be in the low 50s, mid-60s with zero precipitation.

And yes, it’s dry … apparently the driest September since the mid-1800s. We can wish for rain but enjoy the beautiful blue skies and shimmering Lake Superior for the next 10 days, since the rains will come on their own time.

Barn Owl, woodcut print by Betsy Bowen.

This is the 16th year of the Crossing Borders Tour, which got started in 1996. The tour not only focuses on new work and a chance to see the studios of these full-time artists, but it also offers a great opportunity to learn about the processes that go into creating the work as well as meet the artists themselves.

The tour runs from Friday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Oct. 7. Studios are open from 10 a.m .to 6 p.m. each day.

This year, as in past years, the host artists sometimes feature guest artists in their studios. All but the Michael Tonder and Jody Freiz-Tonder’s studios are located on or close to Highway 61. The Tonder studios are a short drive into the woods from Two Harbors.

Hosts include potter Dave Yungner and metalwork artist Dale Burton (St. Louis County); kiln-formed glass artists Michael Tonder and Jody Freij-Tonder; potter Dick Cooter and weaver Debbie Cooter (Lake County); and printmaker Betsy Bowen, raku potter Kristi Downing and Ojibwe beadworker Marcie McIntire (Cook County.)

Work featured this year includes stone sculpture, Ojibwe art work, pottery, weaving, glass sculpture and jewelry, print making, wood turning and carving, furniture, metal works and jewelry, leather, and flint-knapping.

Check out this link for lots for info about the artists and their guests, as well as maps to their studios and great photos of their work.

Two other open studio events are also scheduled this weekend. Five potters (Ann Sterbenz-Duus, Sharon Moen, Dave Lynas, Jan Andler and Don Streufert) will hold a Studio Pottery Sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Nodding Trillium Pottery, 215 McDonnell Road, just off the expressway between Duluth and Two Harbors. Look for the signs. Lynas will also have instruments for sale.

Painter Dave Gilsvik is one of the hosts on the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio tour. Pictured above is one of this paintings entitled “Summer Returns.”

A new studio tour will be launched this year during the same time period as Crossing Borders, too. Called Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Art Tour, it features 20 artists in open studios within 20 miles of Two Harbors. Here’s a link with all the info and a map to the studios. The tour features professional artists as well as emerging artists and should be a lot of fun.

Refreshments will be served at all venues on the tour,s and some will even feature live music.

To learn more about where to find the best colors right now, click here for the North Shore Visitor’s fall colors report.

So what else is up for this week and weekend?

Lisa Stauffer won the People’s Choice Award in the Art Colony’s Plein Air Competition with this pastel: “September– BWCA.” This is at least the third year in a row that Stauffer has won the People’s Choice Award at this event.

The Grand Marais Art Colony has a pretty incredible exhibit of the work created in its Plein Air Painting Competition. More than 185 paintings are on display including oils, acrylics, watercolors and pastels. All are for sale. The Art Colony is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibit continues through Sunday, Sept. 30.

Also, the “Witnessing Nature” exhibit at the Johnson Heritage Post continues with paintings by Sandi Pillsbury Gredzens, pastels by Rosemary Hultman and ceramics by Rose Kadera Vastilla. The Heritage Post is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Free.

On Friday, Sept. 28, Drury Lane Books will celebrate the full moon with music by the lake at 8 p.m., and Michael Monroe will hold a Log Cabin Concert beginning at 7 p.m. Call 387-2919 for reservations.

And on Saturday, the Violence Prevention Center will hold Lunafest, short films by, for and about women at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts at 7 p.m. The event is a benefit for the Violence Prevention Center. All invited.

Also on Saturday, the Cook County Farm & Craft Market is held in the Senior Center Parking lot from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The harvest is in and the market features lots of produce as well as pickles, homemade soaps as well as a wide variety of arts and crafts.

On Sunday, Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen will continue its Sundays in September Artist Demos with jeweler Grace Hogan in the studio. It is held from 1-4 p.m. All invited.

And the first Make-A-Bowl for Empty Bowls event will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. The public is invited to the Grand Marais Art Colony ceramic studio to throw a bowl and hand-build a bowl for the Empty Bowl fundraiser for the Cook County Food Shelf, which is held Nov. 8 at the First Congregational Church. Registration is required (to make sure there are enough wheels for everyone), as well as a small $5 materials fee. Make-A-Bowl events will be held on Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m. and Mondays at 7 p.m. through Oct. 21. Call the Grand Marais Art Colony at 387-2737 to register.

So, lots to do this weekend!

Here’s the music schedule:

Thursday, Sept. 27