Two More Reasons to Visit Duluth Coffee: Roostertail Ink and Blind Spot Creatives

The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Duluth. Evidence abounds. In addition to the emergence of craft breweries, we've also seen the blossoming of our coffee businesses.

At one time, ARCO (The Andresen-Ryan Coffee Company) was the cat's meow, possibly the first to take advantage of our inland port to transport coffee beans from those Southern climbs where coffee grows best. Founded in 1916, the company was forced to relocate when Interstate Highway 35 carved a channel through downtown Duluth. Relocated to Superior, ARCO continues to import the beans, now owned by a third generation Andresen.

As for places to enjoy a brief space of time with your favorite grog, here's a nice list of flavorful Twin Ports java joints where you can catch a caffeine fix, or simply find a break from a hectic day.

Christopher Dunn. Roostertail Ink.

This blog post, however, is not about coffee today. It's about art currently on display at at Duluth Coffee Company at 105 East Superior Street. In the main part of the bistro you will see some new work by Christopher Dunn (not to be confused with Dunn Bros. on London Road.) I have seriously enjoyed watching him develop under the moniker Rooster Tail Ink.

Dunn's ink on paper brushwork has becoming increasingly layered. His style is reality-based impressionism with a flare that makes the common uncommonly vibrant. If I remember correctly his early work was more black and white. The pieces on display this month at Duluth Coffee Company feature shades of gray and other flourishes. If you're downtown you should drop in.

AND IF YOU DO, make sure you step out through the back and check out the photography of Duluthian Alyssa Johnson. Ms. Johnson returned to the Twin Ports in 2018 and shared her work in a number of venues since.

An ARAC Artist Access Grant has enabled her to curate an online portfolio of her work at www.BlindSpotCreatives.com.

Through the end of this month Duluth Coffee Company has over 50 of Alyssa's photos on display, both in framed and mounted metal formats. This is Johnson's biggest photography installation to date.  (You may have seen some of her work at Wussow's, Red Herring, Blacklist Brewing, or the Red Mug.) The Opening Reception took place on January 9th. Affordably priced, all photographs are framed/mounted and marked at $20+; making her art accessible for all budgets.

About Alyssa: As a Marketing & Finance UMD alumni, Alyssa has found her fit as the Outreach & Marketing Coordinator for the St. Louis River Alliance. In addition, she's been a Duluth Farmers Market Volunteer, yoga teacher at It Takes a Village Healing Collective, substitute teacher at Proctor Public Schools, guest teacher with ARE Youth Poets and is actively involved in the music and art scene of Duluth.

If you like what you see you can reach find Alyssa Johnson and Christopher Dunn through the following web links.

Alyssa Johnson
Official Website: www.blindspotcreatives.com 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/blindspotcreatives 
Instagram: www.instagram.com/blindspotcreatives

Christopher Dunn
https://www.facebook.com/RoosterTailink/
Blog story: All Dunn @ Red Mug

Local Art Seen: The Studio of Ingeborg Von Agassi & The Rooster Tail

On Monday I shared some of what I saw at Washington Studios Open House over the weekend.

One of the studio spaces I ducked into was that of Emma Rustan and Christopher Dunn (Rooster Tail Ink). I can still recall my first meeting with the couple five years ago, and their growth as artists has continued.

Emma Rustan as Ingeborg Von Agassiz has also developed as a musician, releasing her first solo CD -- O Giver Of Dreams -- earlier this year.

If you've never dropped in to see what the Washington Studios artists are doing, you owe it to yourself to include it in your next Downtown Arts Crawl.

This "find" in Emma' studio space only served to seal the deal
as regards my own personal fandom for what they're doing.

* * * * 

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.

Local Art Seen: All Dunn at the Red Mug

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web. --Picasso

I first encountered Christopher J. Dunn's drawings at the Washington Galleries in a joint show with Emma Rustan on the first day after the two were wed. It was Dunn's first public art show and an exciting weekend for the pair. This current exhibition at the Red Mug in Superior is a solo venture, with a range of new works framed for display throughout.

Like his first show, Dunn's pieces reveal a fascination with contrasts, between light and darkness, between sharply defined and loose, between hard edges and soft. An emerging artist, his draftsmanship is strong and the effects he creates appear intentional as he tackles a variety of subject matter. There are subtle features in many of the drawings which he produces with ink markers. The subject matter appears to be anything that fascinates him and will enable him to develop his skills of observation and representation.

Here are a few select pieces from this new show which will be on display till the end of the year.

EdNote: Kitty-corner in the park across the street, beginning Dec. 2 and 3, the 8th Annual Christmas Market in Superior will again set up shop. They'll keep a fire going to warm your cockles, but if you need to step out of the cold you can grab a bite to eat and swig java at the Red Mug before continuing on your way to do the rest of your shopping. While there check out Chris Dunn's latest work.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Get into it.