Upcoming Twin Ports Arts Events Not To Be MIssed

Hard to believe it's already April. Actually it's this weather that's hard to believe. 6500 homes were without power in our section of Duluth's outskirts, and more than a few were concerned about how long that outage was going to last. At least we didn't have the tornado that some people had near Saint Leon in Southwest Minnesota.

The weather forecast does not look promising for some of this week's happenings. Nevertheless, here are a few items to place on your calendar.

Kenneth Marunowski Art Opening: The Brewhouse Drawings 
Art Opening with Live Music, April 3, 6-9 p.m.
Beaners Central

Marunowski is becoming one of the premiere plein air painters of our region, and his newest collection of work, "The Brewhouse Drawings", will be displayed at Beaners for the month of April. Many of the pictures are abstract depictions of Low, Charlie Parr, and The Boomchucks during past performances at Fitgers Brewhouse. The kickoff event includes performances by The Boomchucks, and  Alan Sparhawk Gossamer Road (poetry/music duo of Tina Marie Higgins & Gaelynn Lea Music)


Ellen Sandbeck: "Rock, Paper, Scissors"
Artist Reception, April 4, 5-7 p.m.
The Red Mug Coffeehouse 

At one time, Ellen Sandbeck was making paper cutout stencils for Dover Books. Then she expanded her world. She has prolific amounts of creative energy which she pours into writing books, making art, worm composting and organic landscaping. You can more about Ellen's career here at the official event invitation.

Hero/Villain/Savior/Scoundrel: Portraits of Jim Carlson & Don Ness
Art Opening: April 10, 7-9 p.m.
Zeitgeist Atrium

In January Annie Dugan, Interim Director at the Duluth Art Institute, asked if I would be interested in doing a painting for a special art event featuring portraits of Mayor Don Ness and Jim Carlson, proprietor of the controversial head shop Last Place On Earth. Sounded fun to me and I was in. Next week is the big day for the opening. Contributing artists include a host of familiar names including, but not limited to, Adam Swanson, Bridget Riversmith, Joe Klander, Dann Matthews, Whitney Saurer, Tyler Scouton, Jack Bratrud and myself.

The opening for this show will be in the Zeitgeist Atrium, but if you can't be there, the exhibit will be on display from April 5-May 10. More information here.

the ørigin of birds 
Opening Reception Friday April 11th, 7-11 pm 
The PROVE Gallery

Kathy McTavish continues to produce astonishing work. What follows are some of her notes about the show to whet your imagination's appetite in preparation for this show.  There will also be live music from the Cosmic Pit Orchestra. See you there!

artist notes

The ”origin of birds” exhibit at the Prøve includes a multimedia installation and interactive web site created by a film generator that I call the “graffiti angel.” The origin of birds mixes image, sound, data, text and a live twitter stream to create a video collage / a multi-sensory torrent. The installation includes multiple projections, live performance, and QR code “portals” into an interactive web environment for viewers with mobile devices.

The Saturday workshop / discussion will take a look at creative transmedia / storytelling across boundaries. I will share examples of artists / writers working in this emerging form. We will talk about the confluence of technology and art - drilling into some of the tools used to create the exhibit including html5, css3, javascript and Adobe Creative Cloud editing software. The workshop will be accessible to everyone.

The background story - the origin of birds:

According to an ancient Greek story, the god Chaos was the first to emerge at the creation of the universe. Soon after her came Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (the Underworld) and Eros (Love). In many versions, Chaos then gave birth to the Birds. From the primordial depths of time, from Chaos herself came these winged first beings. This wild birthing created migrations and flight.

In more recent times, soon after Darwin published his book, On the Origin of the Species, scientists began a heated debate about the origin of birds. Most scientists today believe that birds are one of the few remaining descendants of the dinosaurs.

In our own brief Anthropocene era, we are witnessing a rapid increase in the rate of extinction. We are in a geologic epoch marked indelibly by a human-created, asteroid-scale period of rapid loss of life as we know it on the planet. This planetary devastation is entering a very fast-moving era, and soon birds quite possibly will be swallowed back into some primordial chaos.

The origin of birds project is funded by the Jerome Foundation. This activity is also funded by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council through the arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the Legacy Amendment vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008. Thank you Minnesota!

There's more happening in April than I have time to express, and right now it's time for me to hit the road.

Art goes on all around you. Engage it.

Artist Interviews: Best of 2013 (Part 1)

From the magical world of Wendy Rouse.

I had the privilege of meeting a lot of exceedingly creative and interesting people again this year. People are endlessly fascinating, and artists especially so. Here is a list of the artists I interviewed in 2013 from January to June, most from our region but some from abroad. All of them with something to say worth sharing.

When asked if I have a favorite contemporary artist, by answer will probably always be the same: whoever's work I have most recently looked at. There are so many talented, innovative people doing such remarkable work today. It's a privilege to be associated with them.

Plein aire painter and charcoal artist Ken Marunowski

Painter Michael Soltis of Vancouver

Fiber artist and Superior arts advocate Erika Mock 

Illustrator Emily Wendlund

Multi-media artist Jacob Swanson

Vivid colorist Alison Price

Photographer/arts advocate Andrew Perfetti

Innovator and roller dame Laura Gapske

The dedicated, creative Ryan LaMahieu

Steampunk story teller Eric Horn

Painter Sarah Brokke 

The inventive Bridgett Riversmith 

Heroic painter and more, Anne Labovitz 

Renaissance-inspired painter Wendy Rouse 

Florida pastel-artist Maria Podrero

AJ Atwater and Project 30/30

Thank you for sharing yourselves here at Ennyman's Territory.

Ken Marunowski Opening and Nancy Miller Unveiling

I was recently talking with a blog reader from Brooklyn who has been impressed by the caliber of art coming out of our Northland. Confidentially, not everything here is MOMA worthy or comparable to Dali/Picasso and their ilk, but it really is remarkable how much depth there is in our regional talent pool.

This past winter I had the pleasure of discovering the art of Ken Marunowski, a local artist whose experience is far more extensive than our little neck of the woods. This Thursday from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Ken will be having an art opening at the Lake Avenue Restaurant and Bar in the DeWittz-Seitz Marketplace featuring a selection of oil paintings made this summer. Ken does work in a variety of media and especially seems to enjoy plein air (open air) painting. The images here are from July's Sol Fest at the Oldenburg House in Carlton.

Ken Marunowski (left) and Lee Englund

If Monday the 16th is not already checked off on your calendar, and Virginia (on Minnesota's Iron Range) doesn't feel too far from home, you may want to drop in for the unveiling of the Bess Metsa Mosaic Rose. Artist Nancy Miller does absolutely marvelous sculpture and mosaic work. A couple years back I had the privilege of showing some of my Dylan paintings at the Ochre Ghost where her mosaic Bust of Dylan was displayed. Impressive. On the 16th there will be live music and special guests there in the rose garden next to the Natural  Harvest Co-op. The party begins at 5:30....

Enjoy!

A Visit with Visual Artist Ken Marunowski

Beaner’s Central in West Duluth has a reputation as one of the Twin Ports’ music hot spots. It’s possibly less well-known for the great venue it is for local artists on a monthly basis. January’s featured artist is Kenneth Marunowski of Esko. I've enjoyed his work, and find his insights in this interview both practical and instructive.

EN: You work in a variety of mediums. What are your favorites and why? 
KM: I work primarily in oil paint, painting landscapes mostly, but after a two-week “Drawing Marathon” at the New York Studio School in NYC this past summer, I’ve renewed my interest in charcoal drawing. I enjoy the rich, dark values one can achieve with charcoal, and especially enjoy wiping away what I have drawn with a chamois so that I can obliterate the white of the paper and begin again, always learning from the previous effort. Repetition is a key component to my working process, and charcoal, because it can be wiped away time after time, resulting in a deeper grey surface, is very amenable to my approach. The use of the eraser as a means of mark making is also very interesting to me in that what I take away becomes a positive rather than a negative mark (provided the surface is grey); in other words, I’m drawing in white as well as black. There is an immediacy to charcoal drawing particularly, and to drawing in general, that resonates with me. I’ve been drawing since I was a child, and love continuing the practice.

EN: Tell us about what you do at UMD. What are some of the classes you teach? 
KM: I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Writing Studies. I taught at UMD from 2006 – 2010, spent two years living and traveling in France, South Africa and Southeast Asia, and resumed teaching at UMD this past fall. I typically teach two classes: Writing for Social Sciences and Writing for Arts & Letters. My Ph.D., from Kent State University, is in the fields of literacy and rhetoric, so I infuse my writing classes with investigations into the art of persuasion, which is intended to assist students in writing more compelling and convincing arguments. We write various documents throughout the semester, some of which include resumes, cover letters, grants, personal statements, press releases, and short reports. One component we also focus on, likely due to my interest in art, is the visual aspect of a document, asking questions like, “How does a document’s visual appearance affect the intended audience?” or “How can one encourage an individual to read a text based on visual cues?”

EN: Besides being an art teacher, what are some of the other careers your art students might be able to pursue when they graduate? 
KM: I chose the teaching path, although not in an art-related field. One can always work for galleries or non-profits, or seek commissions, for example, in the form of murals (I recently painted one at the Redstar Lounge in the Fitgers Complex). What I feel is most important is to keep your art near no matter what path you choose. Surrounding yourself with like-minded, artistic people with whom you can discuss theory and practice is the key to artistic survival. It’s compelling to consider life as the Bohemian artist, throwing practicality to the wayside and simply living for one’s art, but I tried this for a short while and it was neither comfortable nor lucrative. Does this mean I will never be a “great” artist? I don’t know. Life is always about compromises, and how to integrate one’s art with one’s need to survive is the fundamental dilemma the artist must face.

EN: When did you first realize you wanted to pursue a career in the arts? Were there trigger experiences or did it evolve naturally?
KM: I have always been drawn to art and the life of an artist. I used to draw dinosaurs with my brother-in-law as a kid, and upon learning about the Impressionists and plein air painting in my high school French class, sought to paint the beauty of nature in situ as they did. During my junior year of college back in 1992, I studied at the Marchutz School of Painting and Drawing in Aix-en-Provence, France. This was a monumental experience as I not only learned an incredible amount about painting and drawing, but I also had the opportunity to both walk and paint in the footsteps of masters like Cezanne and van Gogh. I traveled all over Europe that year, visiting all the major museums I possibly could. More recently, I spent three consecutive summers in Castelnau de Montmiral, a quaint 13th Century village in south-central France where I studied at The Painting School of Montmiral, learning the theories and suggested practice of school director, Francis Pratt. A friend and fellow painter who I met at the school, Alan Ansell, and I twice camped and painted in the Mediterranean seaside village of Collioure where Henri Matisse and Andre Derain founded the Fauvist Movement. Inspirational experiences like these have certainly encouraged me to pursue the artistic path.

EN: Who have been your biggest influences as an artist? 
KM: In terms of painting, I’m very drawn to artists like Matisse and Bonnard due to their exceptional use of color, composition, and abstraction. Matisse is well known to have altered paintings time after time until he found satisfaction in them. I like this sense of searching. I need to do more of this! Upon viewing a Matisse painting, I often ask myself, “How did he ever come up with this?” and what I mean by this is the degree of abstraction he achieved. It’s uncanny.

As far as drawing is concerned, I’m very attracted to Rembrandt. Not only does he have this amazing sense of value, but his use of line is extraordinary. He can describe something so well in such a cursory fashion; with a few well-placed, essential lines a horse and carriage, for example, emerges. Rembrandt’s drawings also appear quite spontaneous, as if he did not have to think during the process of execution. This sense of spontaneity is something I aspire to in my own work and, I believe, achieve, after much repetition.

EdNote: Till the end of January you can see Ken's work in person at Beaner's Central. Check it out.