Monroe Crossing, Lots of Art

Last week was a pretty incredible week . Music jams in venues across the county,  two nights of Mountain Stage Radio at North House Folk School and then the classic Unplugged concert, Trampled by Turtles groupies, the Grand

 Marais Art Colony’s Plein Air Competition and Exhibition — art and music lovers were kept very busy last week, no doubt about it.

Where to start? Well, everyone was talking about the Trampled by Turtles groupies. They came to the Thursday Mountain Stage concert at North House Folk School and had a great time. They cheered and whooped at every performer, and then went wild when Trampled by Turtles hit the stage. They danced in the aisles and insisted on an encore, something that doesn’t happen very often at Mountain Stage shows.

It was fun, and those enthusiastic fans embodied all the energy and high spirits that the hundreds of people brought to this great concert series  and event weekend at North House Folk School called Unplugged XI. Kudos to everyone who made this possible. Our very own Barbara Jean made her debut on Mountain Stage, too, which was great.

The Plein Air Competition was wonderful. More than 50 artists participated and they painted landscapes all over the county last week. One of the highlights was the Quick Paint, where the painters set up on Artist’s Point on Thursday  and had 90 minutes to complete a painting. It’s a wild time for painters in this situation, but people had heard about the event and wandered down to the Point to see what was happening and watch the action. Also fun, and the light was spectacular.

Then, on Friday night, the opening reception for the Plein Air exhibit was held at the Art Colony. The Founder’s Hall was packed as Juror Jan Sivertson announced the winners. In all, 185 paintings are now on view at the Art Colony through the rest of the month, including those created during the Quick Paint and a great series of night paintings. The show fills two exhibit spaces  at the Art Colony, which is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Everyone is invited to come see this great exhibit, and maybe even buy a painting or two. We’ll have photos of some of the artwork in next week’s NorthShore ArtScene.

A new show opened at the Johnson Heritage Post this week , too, and a reception will be held this Friday, Sept. 21 from 5-7 p.m. Entitled “Witnessing Nature: Three Personal Journeys,” the exhibit includes paintings by Sandi Pillsbury Gredzens, pastels by Rosemary Hultman and ceramics by Rose Kadera Vastilla. There’s a lot of variety in this exhibit. The show will continue through Oct. 7. The Heritage Post is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Free.

Also on Friday, the Cook County Courthouse will celebrate its 100th anniversary with all kinds of activities at the courthouse throughout the day.

Tours of the courthouse will be at 9:30 & 11:30 a.m.and at 1 &  3 p.m.. The sixth grade history class will present historic reenactments in the courtroom at 10:30 a.m and 2 p.m., and historic and county displays can be viewed at the courthouse all day. At 4 p.m., a time capsule will be buried on the courthouse lawn followed by a party on the courthouse lawn featuring food, treats, games for young and old, music and prizes. All are welcome.

If you are traveling to Thunder Bay, stop at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery where Canadian painter Rosemary Sloot will speak at an opening reception about her exhibit, ”Immigrant.”   She will speak at 7:30 p.m. EST.

On Saturday , the Cross River Heritage Center will hold a reception for artists David Degree, Jerry Riach and Joyce Yamamoto who are currently exhibiting work at the Center. The reception will be at 11 a.m.

Author Gayla Marty will be at Drury Lane Books at 5 p.m. Saturday for a Writer’s Salon. She will read from her book: “Memory of Trees: a Daughter’s Story of a Family Farm.” The public is invited.

Then on Saturday night, the Grand Marais Playhouse is sponsoring a concert by the Minnesota bluegrass dynamos, Monroe Crossing.

The group was here last year for a concert, too, and were very well received. This time, Bump & Barbara Jean will open for them. It should be a great night of music. The concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the door.

Also this weekend, the Waterfront Gallery in Two Harbors is opening a new exhibit. Entitled “Rock Art,” it features the work of jewelry artist Michelle Ronning, stone lamps by Gail Anderson, and forged metal pieces by Dale Burton. Author Joel Carter will be there as well with his new book, “Rockpeople — Beyond Chester Creek.” Dr. Carter has fascinating stories to tell about his work with the stone inukshuks that he first started creating in Duluth’s Chester Creek gorge. The reception and booksigning is from 3-5 p.m. Saturday.

Basketmaker Judie Johnson will be the guest artist at Last Chance Gallery in Lutsen on Sunday for the gallery’s Sunday’s in September series. She will be talking about and demonstrating her work from 1-4 p.m. All invited. Light refreshments will be served.

In other art news, Aaron Kloss has brought new paintings to Sivertson Gallery.

The Cook County Farm & Craft Market is open in the parking lot at the Senior Center from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday. The market features lots of arts and crafts, as well as Fika Coffee, fresh vegetables, flowers and handmade pickles and baked goods.

And next weekend, we can all look forward to the Crossing Borders Studio Tour & Sale. It starts Sept. 28 and runs through Oct. 7. Participating Cook County artists include Betsy Bowen, Kristi Downing, Dan & Lee Ross and Marcie McIntire.There are lots of other open studios in Lake and St. Louis counties to visit, too.  For more information about the tour, click here. And stay tuned for more details next week.

Here’s the music line-up for this weekend:

Thursday, Sept. 20

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

Friday, Sept. 21

• John Seguin and Dave Cliffs, Harbor Light, 7 p.m.
• Michael Monroe, Bluefin Grille, Tofte, 9 p.m.
• Gunflint Tavern, TBA, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 22

• Monroe Crossing & Bump & Barbara Jean, Arrowhead Center for the Arts, 7 p.m.
• John Seguin and Dave Cliffs, Harbor Light, 7 p.m.
• Eric Frost, Cascade Lodge Pub, 7:30 p.m.
• Timy Haus, Papa Charlie’s, Lutsen Mountains, 9 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 23

• Don Bauer, Harbor Light Supper Club

Monday, Sept. 24

• Pete Kavanaugh, Bluefin Bay, Tofte, 9 p.m.

Wednesday, Sept. 26, Bingham and Thorne, Bluefin Grille, 9 p.m.

We have found a real potpourri of photos for you this week.

First up is a spectacular, tack-sharp shot by Bryan Hansel.

And Paul Sundberg (www.paulsundbergphotography.com/) was up early to catch this shot.

Tim Young got this great shot of Stephan Hoglund, left, during a photo shoot with Peter Himmelman, who performed at Mountain Stage last week.

Layne Kennedy was recently shooting in Iceland. Read about it on his blog, here. Below is one of the photos he took.

Here’s another gorgeous shot by Travis Novitsky. (www.travisnovitsky.com)

Here’s one by Jessica Barr.

For a total change of pace, how about this shot of Bug,  Sylvie Deters’ dog. Sylvie lives in Duluth. She’s 13. We thought  this photo is a great portrait of the life of a dog, where adventures can happen at any second.

Vicki Geretschlaeger caught the intensity of the Quick Paint in this shot of Neil Sherman and the lovely textured rocks on Artist’s Point.

Paul Sundberg caught this healthy sow bear peering at him through the trees.

And last, but not least, this photo was obviously taken far from here.

The Soufriere Hills volcano eruption, Montserrat, an island in the Caribbean. Photo by Adam Stinton.

Here’s another force of nature, also not taken here.

 

 

Have a good weekend.

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