Update On the Prolific Tonja Sell and Her Fund-Raising Adventure

Friday night we had a chance to see a pair of Valentine-related art openings. I’ll be sharing some snippets of our sightseeing here soon. One of the artists represented at the PRØVE was Tonja Sell of Brule, Wisc. whose work has caught the attention of countless local art-watchers here in the Northland.

She has been invited to Tuscany, Italy in September with Karlyn Holman of Washburn, Wisc., an artist/gallery owner/teacher in the States and abroad. Holman has led up to sixteen international trips a year but is winding down a bit now as she is in her 70's.

According to Sell, “Karlyn has taken me under her wing a bit and is showing me how she operates her business and trips. She is going to Andalusia, Spain on May 16-24th with a group of professional artists-teachers staying at the La Finco del Niňo for seven days.

Due to a cancellation Holman has offered the Spain opening to Sell who is seeking to raise funds in the neighborhood of $2500 to enable her to make this trip. For Sell this is “an awesome opportunity to learn more about what she {Holman} does and how she does it as well as taking in the experience of the other artists who will be joining her.”

She already has a busy year lined up that includes murals for the Discovery Center in Chisholm, MN and an opening at the Two Harbors Library for an upcoming mural project happening there on Lake Superior’s North Shore. On top of everything else she’s felting up a storm and doing a clay-collaboration project with Jonathan Walberg from Washburn.

Her fund-raising plan is two-fold. First, she will auctioning off some of her work via her Facebook artist page. The auctions will be conducted in real time and each piece that reaches her reserve price will be sold to the highest bidder by midnight. This means you will want to follow her on her Tonja Sell--Artist Page where she'll be posting the piece of art that is on the auction block that day. To bid, send her a private message.

Her second means of raising funds is a 50% Off sale at her Etsy site. To get this special price you will need to type in the promo code GET2SPAIN in the coupon code checkout box when you place your order.

NOTE: THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE AS ACCURATE AS I UNDERSTAND THEM and will possibly be slightly clarified when Tonya reads this.

One reason I am promoting this today is that local art history has shown how valuable these kinds of experiences are for artists who have traveled abroad and returned to enrich us here. It's not for Tonja but for us. I believe we will see some new and remarkable work from her in the future because of this.

Thank you, Tonja, for your example of creative innovation, industriousness and discipline. The best to you you in this new adventure.