The Year In Review: Interviews of 2016, Part II

As the year rushes to a conclusion, there's a lot of looking back at the year that was, a year with weddings, births, political drama and significant losses. The weddings we attended were good, and though we mourn losses funerals can be "good" in a sense, too, as we remember a special person's virtues and contributions.

The list of celebrities who passed this year included many familiar names, including my father's favorite golfer Arnold Palmer and the first American to circumnavigate the earth in outer space, John Glenn. In the music realm David Bowie passed away early this year followed by Prince. Muhammed Ali will always be remembered being "the Greatest" during boxing's glory days. George Kennedy will always be remembered as the guy who stuffed eggs into Paul Newman's mouth in Cool Hand Luke. And Fidel Castro will always be remembered for... well, for being Fidel Castro. In November we lost The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and this week said good-bye to both Princess Leia and her mother.

As the year ends, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is flirting with new highs and many rich got richer. And although no one can predict what the year to come will bring, this year's crystal balls are more cloudy than ever with the new regime coming to Washington.

In the meantime, here are a few more interviews from the year winding down.

Another Visit with the Versatile Violinist Scarlet Rivera

Rolling Like Thunder with Gene LaFond 

A.J. Atwater, one foot planted here and the other there.

AJ Atwater Talks About Her Upcoming Event: 400 Paintings 

Esther Piszczek's Patterned Peace 

Martin DeWitt Revisited: Tribute to the Ayotzinapa 43 and His New Show at the Zeitgeist

Duluth Quantum Computing Project: Kathy McTavish's Latest Adventure

Artist Monica Ares Talks About Her Upcoming Show at the Washington Studios Gallery

Getting the Lowdown on Marc Gartman: An Interview

Sherry Karver: Art and Life in the City

Sherry Karver, capturing the spirit of the city. 

Triumph Over Terror: A Chaplain Shares Ground Zero Stories from the Aftermath of 9-11

Brian Barber was quite visible in 2016.

Ten Minutes with Duluth Illustrator-Animator-Designer Brian Barber

Catching Up with Artist Carla Hamilton

A Brief Visit with Sculptor David Asher Everett

A Quick Peek at What's New with Paris Painter AmyLee

Karen McTavish: Pushing the Boundaries of Quilting (Top artist interview of 2016)

A Visit with Ann Klefstad on Themes Related to the DAI's 4North

Boomchucks Drummer Brad Nelson Talks About Life, Music and Duluth Dylan Fest

A Rewarding Visit with Influential Writer/Entrepreneur Charles Chu, Including 4 Tips for Bloggers

A Visit with Tracy Maurer, Author of 100+ Books and Still Going Strong

Martin DeWitt injected his own form of energy into the local arts in 2016.

A Visit With Judge Mark Munger To Talk About The Writing Life

David Leaver Shares His Views On Dylan and the Nobel Prize from "Across the Pond"

Professor Craig Grau Shares Insights About Dylan, Duluth and Scarlet Town

Five Minutes with Jane Austen Fan and eBook Author Madeline Courtney

Thank you to all who have been following Ennyman's Territory, and especially for those who have shared it with their own friends or followers. The very best to you in 2017 as you follow your dreams, schemes and life themes. 

Five Minutes with Colin Wiita

Colin Wiita was born in Duluth in 1974. I first noticed his art at the second annual “Love Your Local Artist” event at the Superior Library. Specifically it was his conversation with Clyfford Still, titled “Still Conversation,” that caught my attention and caused me to pay greater attention to his other pieces. He is currently married and a father of three children, ages 4 to 9, and lives in rural Wisconsin.

EN: How did you first take an interest in art? Did you study art in school?

Colin Wiita: My first experience with art was through the pen and ink drawings that my father did when I was a child. Although I have not seen these drawings in over 30 years I still have vivid memories of what they contain. I personally didn’t get into art until junior high where I had an art teacher who engaged his students in a way that stuck with me. I’ve been making art since junior high school, but did not get serious about it until 2004 when I began to study art at the University of Wisconsin Superior. I received my Masters in Art with an emphasis on Studio Art in spring 2011.

E: Who have been your biggest influences as an artist?

CW: My family has been the biggest influence on me. My father is a musician and my mother instilled in me a love of art by taking me to many art museums during my youth. My wife and children constantly support and influence my art work. There’s a long list of artists who inspire me, and as I explore the art world more come into play all the time. A few that grabbed my attention in my studies at UWS were Robert Rauschenberg, Basquiat, and Picasso.

E: What has been the inspiration behind your current work?

CW: My current work is inspired by my children. The freedom that they show in the drawings and paintings they create helps me lighten my control over the images that I create. This allows the works to develop on their own rather than being stuck in the idea that inspired them. I have found that when the idea comes out of the images it is more coherent than when I am force the idea upon the image.

E: Why is making art important to you?

CW: Making art is what makes life important to me. The constant challenge, success and failures that come with making art keep me engaged in every aspect of my life. To say my well-being depends on making art is an understatement.

E: What is your studio or work space like? Can you describe it?

CW: My studio is currently in my basement which I enjoy because it gives me access to my work at all times. The lighting is artificial, and the space is unfinished, but I have filled it with artwork and objects I plan to use for works. I always work standing up as I feel that I have a better range of motion. I work off two large tables and an easel. I have learned to work on a number of pieces at a time, some big some small. I find that having my current work out gives me time to digest the images and think about how to solve the next problem I feel lies within the work. This process overall makes the works I am creating a part of my everyday life.

E: What kind of music do you listen to when you’re painting?

CW: Music is a large factor to the artwork I create. I come from a highly musical family and the inspiration I get from music is immense. To describe the music I listen to is hard. I feel that alternative is too broad of a term, but the music I listen too is usually a tributary from the main stream. To give a reference point I have got a lot out of groups like Arcade Fire, Silversun Pickups, Muse, Band of Horses, and Wolfmother in the past few years.

E: You work full time in landscaping. How do you find time to paint?

CW: I have been in the landscape industry for the past 15 years and one of the main reasons I got into this line of work was because of its seasonal quality. I do paint more in the fall, and winter, but I have currently been in a good working habit year around. During the working season it is the afternoon espresso that keeps me up to paint.

E: When you make a painting or do an art project, do you think about how spectators will view the piece? Why or why not?

CW: Sometimes, yes. At times there is an idea I want to convey to others and if I do not think a little about the audience’s perception of the piece, I don’t feel that that the idea will be conveyed properly. My work is loose and primitive, and I paint what I feel and think foremost. If the audience finds something interesting about my work, or it makes them think, I feel like I have accomplished what I set out to do.


To see more paintings by Colin Wiita visit www.cjwiitartworks.com
This story originally appeared in Duluth's Reader weekly, April 5, 2012.
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE

Summing Up: 2011 Arts Interviews (Part 2)

It is a mathematical dictum that the shortest distance between two points is a line. It has also been observed that between any two points is an infinite number of points because each half segment can be cut in half again and again ad infinitum.

Now, what if time were viewed in the same manner. Half of 24 hours is twelve and half again would be six, but if you keep cutting time in half you end up with an infinite moments of time between now and then. As I pondered this, I began to worry that infinity is such a long, long time that tomorrow might never come. Therefore, I am posting Part 2 of this year's list of interviews with artists and other involved in arts related activities. Just in case...

Ten Minutes with Richard Hansen, Director of the 2nd Annual Duluth International Film Festival

Five Minutes with Artist/Designer Marian Lansky

Ten Minutes with Painter David Sandum

Five Minutes with Artist GA Gardner

Five Minutes with Artist Amylee of Paris

Ten Minutes with Artist Sandi Harrold from Down Under

Seven Minutes with Fairy and Goddess Artist Liza Lambertini

Ten Minutes with Artist Tonja Sell (Part I)

Ten Minutes with Artist Tonja Sell (Part II)

Five More Minutes with Multi-Media Artist Tonja Sell

Ten Minutes with Singer/Songwriter Caitlin Robertson

Five Minutes with Richard Brandt, Author of One Click

Ten Minutes with Photographer John Heino

Ten Minutes with Steampunk Artist Eric Horn

A Dialogue on Writing with David Beard

And once again, drive safe if you're out on the roads... and have a very meaningful 2012.

Summing Up: 2011 Arts Interviews

I really enjoy interviewing people. Being a writer gives you the often rare opportunity to gently probe beneath the surface to see what makes a person tick. I've been interviewing for more than 25 years so it's no surprise to find that my blog is occasionally peppered with interviews of artists and other creative people.

My initial aim with the artist interviews had been to help other artists discover the varieties of ways their creativity could be expressed. As I reviewed this past year I found that I produced and shared more than thirty interviews and thought it would be useful to assemble them here in one place.
To each of you who participated and contributed, a very earnest thank you.

Five Minutes with Bluewater Illustrator Todd Tennant

Ten Minutes with Artist Nancy Eckles

Five Minutes with Painter Marcia Baldwin

Five Minutes with Duluth Painter Dale Lucas

Ten Minutes with Artist Nancy Miller

Five Minutes with Eris Vafias and Art Kamakaze III

Karin Kraemer Talks About Pottery

Local Artists Talk About Painting Live

Ten Minutes with Artist Laurie Frick

Six Minutes with Artist Elizabeth Papenfuss

Five Minutes with Award Winning Narrator Grover Gardner

Twelve Minutes with Painter Olivia Villanueva

Five Minutes with Artist Paul Klee

Ten Minutes with Painter Juan Farias

Ten Minutes with the Young Creative Rob Kaiser-Schatzlein

Come back tomorrow for sixteen more.... and drive safely tonight if you're out on the roads. Happy New Year!

My seed thought for you in 2012: Life is a gift. Don't force it. Embrace it fully and let it happen.


Photo: Jeredt Runions, live painting at the Clyde. By Andrew Perfetti.

Noteworthy 2010 Artist Interviews, January - June

The 2010 was groundbreaking in a variety of ways, not the least of which was the growth of Facebook to more than half a billion people. Whereas not all these "members" are avid users of the hottest non-commodity on the planet, there are increasing numbers in every walk of life using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others to expand their circles, create new combinations of relationship, promote their goods and services, stay current with the things they are passionate about in the news and in life. This continued growth of social media even ended up in a much buzzed about Hollywood film called The Social Network.

Even though many artists are decidedly low-tech or even anti-tech, others have been embracing the Net strongly aware of its power to bring their work in front of a wider sphere of eyeballs. Here and there online artist communities have sprung up and even virtual galleries. Whether its for the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow, or simply to have someone send an email commenting how much they liked one's work, the Internet is being explored, staked out, defined and re-defined by those who have moved a portion of their lives their.

This past year I conducted about two dozen interviews with artists which were posted here at Ennyman's Territory. One thing I like is showing readers how many various paths the creative heart can explore. I also like learning new things from people who have "been there" and many of these are people who have had long careers in the arts. Some are emerging artists, and all are interesting. Several of these are people I have known and met. Others entered my life through Twitter, the ArtWalk Ning or some other online vessel.

Here are ten of the noteworthy 2010 artist interviews which I posted in the first six months of 2010.

Ten Minutes with Painter Adam Swanson

Ten minutes with Brazil’s Silvio Alvarez

Ten Minutes with Visual Poet Melissa Johnston

Ten Minutes with Motivity Photographer Rolf Hagberg

Five Minutes with World Renowned Watercolorist Cheng Khee Chee

Five Minutes with Portrait Artist Jeremy Lee

Five Minutes with Oil Painter Pam Holnback

Five Minutes with Watercolorist Davilla Harding

Eight Minutes with Artist Steve Derrickson

Ten Minutes with Melody Lea Lamb who introduced me to the concept of ACEOs.

There's nothing quite like hearing people talk about their work in their own words. Enjoy!

Pictured at top: Sybil in Wonderland, by Ennyman