Happenings Today In North Country Art, Music and Literature

Tonight at the Prøve

Tonight is the gallery hop in Downtown Duluth. And for starters I recommend starting with Duluth artist AJ Atwater at Washington Gallery. Her exhibit, Manhattan Nightscapes, will be open from 6-9pm.

According to a media statement Atwater works in her Duluth studio and studies and paints at the Art Students League in New York City under abstract landscape artist, Ronnie Landfield. She says, “painting in the same studios and walking the same halls Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Rauschenberg did, is inspiring.”  No kidding.

I visited her website earlier this week and her work looks amazing. I can't wait to check it out in person.

There's also what looks to be a great show at the Prøve Collective called The Lost, the Discarded and the Beautiful featuring the work of Brent Erickson, Andy Mattern, David Bowen, and Kristina Estell. Visit their  Event Description for more details about this show. Looks exciting.

In the literary realm, the Featured eBook of the Day at N&L Publishing is The Breaking Point and Other Stories What this means is that you may download a free copy of my third volume of short stories Free till midnight. We're hoping that when you finish the book you'll write a review at Amazon.com and share this with your friends. Normally this book is $1.99... and worth every penny. (Emoticon here.)

With the exception of the light-hearted and wry "Liz Mills," the unifying theme in this collection is an exploration of the emotions, expectations, illusions and delusions of mundane characters. In the midst of their ordinary lives there is a decisive, extraordinary event. 

The title story in this collection won the Arrowhead Regional Arts Fiction Competition in 1991, an honor that put a few dollars in my wallet but more importantly served to reinforce my belief that my writing skills had been honed. It helps to know you're not just kidding yourself, whatever facet of the arts you labor in.

I say labor because though dabblers may enjoy therapeutic benefits from their art, truly great art requires discipline, sacrifice and work. No, I'm not suggesting this is great art or great literature, though it is what I aspire to, and what I encourage other writers and artists to aspire to. The world is a better place for it when to press on toward a higher call... toward higher standards for ourselves.

If music is your thing, there's a fabulous lineup at Clyde Iron Works tonight. The occasion is Snöbarn's Album Release Celebration. What a lineup! Mary Bue will be opening at 7:00. A pair of short films will follow and then the concert. Yester will take the nod before yielding to Snöbarn. And Charlie Parr will take it over the top.

Oh, and did I forget to say there's an art show simultaneously? Well... there are some tough decisions to make tonight. Make sure you download the book though. It's an easy read. And tell us what you think.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Have a great, great evening.