Almost Wordless Wednesday: Carolyn Sue Olson @ Duluth Pottery

This past Saturday afternoon Karin Kraemer's Duluth Pottery held an Open House and reception for the paintings of Carolyn Olson. Good food and a lot of familiar faces, great weather and fine art... and to top it off, there will be a one year anniversary celebration here this coming Friday, which should be a very special evening of art in conjunction with the Downtown Duluth Art Walk. 

The painting served as cover art for the current Reader.

Congratulations, Karin, 

for your One Year Anniversary!

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ATTN: Local Artists Seeking Studio Space

(1)

The DAI has 170 square feet of studio space available for rent 

at the Duluth Art Institute's Lincoln Park Building for $280/month or $10/day. 

 Contact Amy Varsek 218-723-1310

(2)

The Armory Annex has an open studio space that is very rreasonable 

with an absolutely beautiful window view of the lake. 

Price is 50 cents a sq foot for 120 sq. ft.. which is $60 a month. 

Contact Mark Poirier @ the AAMC

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Plus... 

Tomorrow eve is 122 Conversations @ the Tweed

and Friday evening is the Art Walk.

And finally... next Monday

@ the Zeitgeist:

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.

Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season

Photo credit: Phil Fitzpatrick

First off, the name Hawk Ridge is itself evocative. Hawks, eagles and other raptors are to birds what T-Rex seems to be to the dinosaurs. (I'm talking from a kid's-eye view.) They're majestic, and inspirational.

In Duluth, Hawk Ridge is located at the top of another cool landmark, Seven Bridges Road. It's a beautiful drive up through the trees, criss-crossing Amity Creek seven times as it wends it way up to the skyline. When I first moved to Duluth I just assumed it was just a name. I did not know at that time how this Western rim of Lake Superior had become a historic highway for migrating birds of all kinds, bit especially birds of prey.

Another photo by Phil.

So it is only natural that naturalists would set up a lookout to monitor the traffic, so to speak. The migration South begins in late August and continues through November, but the peak season for bird watching is mid-to-late September during which time tens of thousands of hawks will fly by each day. This also happens to be close to the peak for the autumn colors as trees slip out of their greenery into multi-colored finery, in case you want to plan your next vacation.

I mention all these things by way of introduction to my friend Phil Fitzpatrick's Kickstarter campaign for a book project he has been working on called Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season. It's technically a hybrid art book/poetry book, featuring Phil's poems accompanied by illustration created by Penny Perry.

Phil has been spending a lot of time up on the ridge this fall. I remember Bob Dylan once saying that the power of a song or story comes from unmediated first hand observation. All too often our experiences of the world are not first hand, but rather mediated to us. There's a big difference between a TV show about lions and actually standing in the brush as a pride of lions feasts in front of you. So Phil has been up on the ridge, watching the hawks and eagles flow by. He's been spending his days absorbing the inspiration transmitted by the natural wonder of the view from Hawk Ridge, overlooking our Great Lake.

Penny Perry with one of her delicate illustrations.
Photo by Mikayla Haynes

I still remember the first time I was up on Hawk Ridge with my family when our kids were young. I learned that day about air currents and updrafts. Many of these great birds would spread their wings and glide for miles, and at certain points they would catch an updraft to drift upward as if climbing a spiral staircase. It's quite sensational to see a bald eagle catching the wind, effortlessly making its lazy leisurely way to higher heights.

I once knew a fellow from Duluth here, nicknamed Condor Man, who learned about updrafts and had taken up the hobby of hang-gliding. By means of updrafts he flew, on at least one occasion if not more, to Western North Dakota, a modern-day Icarus.

Phil Fitzpatrick. Photo by Margie Menzies.

A few more words about Phil. He doesn't wear it on his sleeve but he's a Harvard grad. And a fine poet. And a good man. And a long time Dylan fan who had been a big help on the Duluth Dylan Fest team here. When JFK was assassinated, Phil says it was The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan's 2nd album with "Hard Rain" and "Blowin' in the Wind" that got him through that first weekend. And not many folks can say they remember seeing Bob in concert when he wasn't the headliner. Phil was there when the young kid from the Northland opened for Del Shannon in Cambridge, 1963.

Phil's got a Kickstarter Campaign going. The project he's working on will be a blessing to many I am certain. CLICK HERE to learn more about the project, but also to see a really good example of how to do a Kickstarter campaign: Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season.

I can't wait to see the finished project. Special thanks to Mike Savage and all the others who have helped Phil make this happen, including you I hope.

Local Art Seen: Current Action @ the Tweed

Anne Labovitz -- 122 Conversations

With Anne Labovitz's opening reception coming up this Thursday it seemed like a good weekend to slip over to the Tweed and see what else has been on display. Here is a little of what you will find.

Anne Labovitz
122 Conversations: Person to Person, Art Beyond Borders
I've heard a lot of conversation about this show, the result of six years of labor, created by Anne Labovitz with citizens of Thunder Bay, Canada; Rania, Iraqi Kurdistan; Växjö, Sweden; Petrozavodsk, Russia; and Ohara Isumi-City, Japan. O122 Conversations was conceived as an outreach with the people of Duluth's Sister Cities. There will be handouts and plenty of details at the reception Thursday, October 25.

Andrea Carlson (Grand Portage Ojibwe)

Intersections
The main gallery is filled with an exhibition comprised of Native art by Minnesota-based artists., some of it quite impressive.

Alden Lebsack's Utterance can be found on the far end of the balcony where the last faculty show had been displayed.

Quiet Simplicity -- Classics from the Tweed Collection and Treasures from Home -- An Anthology of Gifts from Collectors can be found in the upstairs interior gallery space, strong examples from the 11,000 works in the Tweed collection.

In Solidarity -- Revolutionary Women of Print was a featured show this summer, a portion of which can still be seen on the balcony level.

Kathy McTavish's Chance is still on display if you have not experienced it.

Jonathan Thunder's massive animation on the second floor is a "must see" if you are anywhere need the Tweed this season. There are three segments, each a simple story. (1) Supernaut Becomes the Tiger Lily. (2) The Mishu Bizhiw Awakens. (3) Goldfinch Counts Leaves. Yes, it's fun...  Jonathan Thunder's previous exhibition at the DAI featured small-scale animations, tipping his hand to show his new area of interest after establishing self as a respectable painter. The animation work weds the symbolism and whimsicality that has been developing in his previous work. It's fun.

* * * *

FRIDAY EVENING IS THE
DOWNTOWN DULUTH ART WALK

and next Monday an art and poetry event at the Zeitgeist.

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

Those Pesky Dead Flies in the Perfume (When Success and Shame Go Hand-In-Hand)

“Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain.” — Bob Dylan

The Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes has so many thought-provoking verses. One of my favorites is Ecclesiastes 10:1 which goes like this:

“As a dead fly gives perfume a bad smell,
 So a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.”

The longer one lives, the more opportunities one gets to experience this seemingly universal conundrum. Why is it that so many of our heroic or gratifying experiences get marred by a dead fly in the ointment? Here is a stroy from my life, by way of illustration.

A Hero, Sort Of

When I was a kid, playing baseball was something I lived for. It seems like we played every day while I was growing up, whiffle ball, baseball, Little League, Pony League and sandlot, stickball in the streets. I went out for baseball in high school playing on the Freshman team, Jr. Varsity and eventually got a Varsity letter in my Junior year.

Mr. Dennison, our JV coach, seemed to like my hustle and my sophomore year I started the first game at shortstop, but struck out twice against a kid with a mean curve ball. There were other infielders and Mr. Dennison left me on the bench the second game. He was looking us over, getting a feel for how we'd perform in game situations.

In the third game I also started on the bench, which is not where you really want to be. The opposing pitcher was a hefty fireballer but he was also a bit wild, and in the late innings, after a strong base hit and an error he walked the bases loaded. Coach D. came over and said, “Think you can hit this kid?”

I said, “No problem,” and I believed it.

I loosened up and planted myself in the batter’s box waiting for the pitch. He fired it chest high down the middle and I smashed it over three hundred feet down the left field line, foul. Strike one.

There was a big sign out in left field that had the numeral 300 in black letters on white background. As the ball flew past that I knew exactly what it meant. Now I knew I could get around on him. I used a 33" bat and loved the sound it made when you connected, and that one connected. After checking the bases he started his motion and once again fired the ball in like a cannon.

I once read an article about Henry Aaron that noted how quick his wrists were, so I did special exercises that one of our coaches showed us in order to strengthen our wrists and improve their quickness. And when I swung the bat, once again it struck the ball with force and sent it flying out over the left fielders head past the 300 foot marker, again just foul.

Roger Maris, who broke Babe Ruth’s record of 60 home runs in a season, was a left-handed hitter who played in the original Yankee Stadium where the right field fence curled in to 297 feet. Many of his homers were no further than I was hitting them that day. So now it’s bases loaded, the count two strikes. I told myself to hold back just a tad, determined to keep it in play. We were down by two runs and it seemed important to come through so I could earn my spot as a starter.

The pitch was, of course, another speedball, since that was the pitch he relied on. I remember it being a little high, but I was on it. Crack! You could tell by the sound it was a goner, this time flying out to right center field between and beyond the outfielders. The first run already scored before I reached first. As I rounded second I could see an outfielder had retrieved the ball. I was tearing toward third and the kid coaching raised his hands signaling me… to what? Was that a signal to slide or to stop?

I executed a beautiful slide, but was a foot short of third. Somehow I thought the ball was already on its way so I tried to stretch my foot, but I was still short. In point of fact, I had enough time to stand up, knock the dirt off my uniform and take a step onto the bag, but thinking the ball was incoming I just kept stretching.

Finally the ball arrived, the third baseman tagged me out, and when I got up to go get my glove — it was the third out — the whole team was laughing. To everyone watching it was hilarious. Or rather, hilariously stupid, depending on your point of view.

I did earn my spot as a starter, and by the end of the season had the fewest strikeouts on the team, second best batting average and a lot of good memories. That ridiculous moment trying to stretch my leg a foot was like a dead fly in the ointment though. It’s impossible to think of that game-winning drive without recalling the silly way it ended. There’s something humiliating about such public stupidity.

Which brings to mind the time I jumped out of a moving car thinking I would impress a lass I had a crush on. Alas.

Serendipity, the Duluth Armory and a Dylan Fan from Germany

Tuesday afternoon I got a call from Visit Duluth asking if I might be available to give a tour of local Dylan sites to a journalist from Germany who had just arrived fir the day. I just happened to be downtown when the call came and we arranged to meet at Amazing Grace, a coffeehouse in Canal Park's DeWitt-Seitz Building. I was waiting at a table when our faithful Visit Duluth liaison Maarja Hewitt arrived with our Deutschland guest Christoph Moeskes in tow.

Moeskes is editor for a German travel publication called America. He's also an avid Dylan fan, and having the opportunity to tour a bit of our Minnesota North Country was an opportunity he didn't want to miss. The meeting place was selected somewhat randomly inasmuch as our purpose was simply to find a connecting point and then tour a few sites beginning with Bob Dylan Way.

Fate intervened, however, with a few quick, simple twists. First, Tuesday was an open mic afternoon for the Music Resource Center (MRC), under the auspices of the Armory Arts and Resources Center (AARC). The AARC is tied to the Duluth Armory where young Robert Zimmerman saw Buddy Holly perform in one of his last concerts. The first duo to perform on stage included Tristan Espamer and Manny Eisele, Manny riffing a white electric guitar with Tristan on bass. The usic has a Santanaesque quality, only missing the eccectic percussion accompaniment. Manny was the son of local artist Carla Hamilton, who grew up in nearby Wrenshall, left home at 18 and ultimately lived in Stuttgart for 18 years. Returning to the States in 2012 she has been an active force in the local art scene.

As soon as I mentioned this to Christoph and Maarja, Carla herself came in and sat down at the next table, whereupon I called her over and introduced her to our guest from Germany. I thought it would be a nice touch for Christoph and Carla to exchange a few words in German. For laughs I shared three sentences I know from junior high German class.

Then, another twist of fate occurred. Mark Poirier, head of the AARC, arrived for the MRC open mic event. We introduced Christoph and he invited us to take a quick tour of the interior of the Armory, a rare and unexpected opportunity for sure. The planned ride along Bob Dylan Way would be moved to the last part of the two hour tour.

The Duluth Armory was built in 1915 and has a storied history. In 1918 a great fire consumed as many as 35 communities on the south and west outskirts of Duluth. The Armory served as a shelter and meeting place for families that were separated. And for the decades afterward it became a cultural hub for entertainers and public speakers including Bob Hope, Harry Truman, Liberace, The Supremes, and most significantly for Dylan fans, Buddy Holly.

A site recognized on the National Register of Historic Places, there has been a hardworking board comprised of volunteers striving to save the structure and fulfill a vision to make it a significant resource again for the community.

Check out this 1935 audience that came here to hear the symphony.

Mark Poirier (left) discusses Armory status with Christoph Moeskes.

(L to R) Ed Newman, Christoph Moeskes, Maarja Hewitt

And so with an open door Mark Poirier ushered Christoph, Maarja and I were into the Drill Hall, where troops once practiced digging fox holes, where masses gathered for entertainment, where rural refugees found consolation after that tragic fire. Standing there before the stage one is immediately struck by all the history that has been made here. It seemed you can still feel the presence of those echoes from time past.

We then slipped up to the Green Room, that staging area where performers prepare for going on stage. The dilapidated walls hardly diminish the feeling one gets from knowing that Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, Johnny Cash and so many others each waited here, tuning their guitars, assembling their "game face" and pulling themselves into a presence that would take the stage. And what a big stage it was, large enough to contain an orchestra, which it did at one time.

Mark and Christoph enjoyed an engaging conversation throughout. 

Bob and his family lived upstairs.

OUR NEXT STOP was the duplex where Abe and Beatty Zimmerman lived upstairs when they brought young Bobby home from the hospital. St. Mary's hospital is only a few blocks from the Zimmerman home which is on 3rd Avenue East a half block above 5th Street. Christoph took photos and looked for the plaque, which he enjoyed.

While driving on Fourth Street Christoph and I both agreed that Duluth should rename it Positively Fourth Street. I went so far as to suggest we rename Highway 61 as well... Highway 61 Revisited.

We worked our way to the Duluth Depot where Bob Dylan Way commences. We stopped at the first intersection to give our guest an opportunity to take a photo of the Dylan-themed manhole cover there, then we tucked our vehicle between the buildings to crawl along the passageway which ultimately leads from the Depot to the Armory.

I broke off at this point, appreciative of the opportunity share a few moments with our European visitor. His next stop was to be Hibbing, where the Zimmermans moved with six-year-old Bob and brother David 1. Christoph started the adventure in Minneapolis, taking in a number of sites there including the impressive six-story-high Dylan mural adjacent to Hennepin Avenue. The editor planned to head over to Bemidji from Hibbing before returning to the Twin Cities to make his departure.

Christoph... Thank you for making time to visit with us here. We look forward to the stories you share about America, in America.

Related Links
The Historic Duluth Armory
Items of Note Regarding the Historic Duluth Armory
Christoph Moeskes' magazine, America

REMINDER: The Potter & Potter Houdiniana auction begins at 10:00 a.m. You can follow along in real time and also bid if registered. Details here.

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

A Visit with Amazon Bestselling Author Jill Klunk

I first became aware of Brian Tracy about thirty years ago or so when I was taken up with books and tapes from the "motivational" section of our library. W. Clement Stone, Napoleon Hill, Zig Ziglar, and others of their ilk were part of the motivational diet I was slurping in big gulps at the time. I most vividly recall Brian Tracy's Psychology of Selling as being dense with useful insights, later purchasing the two CD set to listen to while commuting.

In June I began contributing as a writer on Medium, the blogging platform developed by Ev Williams (who previously co-founded Blogger and Twitter.) If you're a writer, there's much to like about what Williams and his team have created. Facebook is a social community of one sort, and platforms like Pinterest and Instagram seem to be visually oriented communities. Medium, on the other hand, is a virtual community for writers and readers. Imagine going to a party where everyone you meet happens to be a writer. And it isn't just Americans here, but writers from every corner of the world.

Jill Klunk, like myself, is relatively new to Medium, but not to writing. She had the privilege of being selected as a contributor to a new book by Brian Tracy titled Ignite Your Life, which became an instant bestseller on Amazon.

EN: You were selected to contribute to Brian Tracy’s 2016 bestseller Ignite Your Life. How did you come to be chosen for this opportunity?

Jill Klunk: I responded to a FaceBook post. DNA was looking for candidates to submit their story on how they got to be where they were. So, I shared this opportunity with my Mentor and we felt it was a great opportunity. On October 23, 2015 I received a letter from Celebrity Press, LLC congratulating me for being selected to participate in Ignite Your Life. On December 17, 2015 I received a letter from Celebrity Press congratulating me that I had been selected by the Editor as one of their recipients of the "Editor's Choice Award" in recognition of the best chapters in the book Ignite Your Life. A couple of weeks later I was interviewed by Lindsay Dicks and Nick Nanton, Esq. On November 4, 2016 the book Ignite Your Life was officially released for publication and my story was one of the 40 stories featured in this book.

EN: The chapter you wrote was about Attraction Marketing. What is “Attraction Marketing”? And how does this differ from Inbound Marketing?

JK: Attraction Marketing is providing your audience with information to build trust and relationships to attract them to my products. It is one of the most powerful ways to provide value and grow my business. I attract people to my business through Facebook, postings, word of mouth, as a minimum.

Like Attraction Marketing, Inbound Marketing is a technique for drawing customers to products and services via content marketing, social media marketing and search engine optimization.

EN: You had a successful career in real estate.

JK: Yes, I did have a successful career in real estate for 13 years. In real estate I not only sold and listed properties I was responsible doing my own marketing, ads in newspapers, postings on Facebook and preparing my own newsletters to my firms and Clients. This was in essence my "jump off" into writing.

EN: How long have you also been writing? 

JK: I started writing stories in college (2002) and wrote them very sporadically until I got into the real estate business. When I would be showing homes to my Clients I would share information with them about neighborhoods, cities and my experiences. This ultimately was what prompted me to pursue writing more seriously.

EN: What lessons from your real estate experience would you apply to people who want to be successful as writers or entrepreneurs in other fields?

JK: Number 1 rule in my book is to just be your self. Your Clients can sense when you are being sincere and when you are not. My favorite story I share with my Clients is: A young man, a college student, lived across the street from me. He approached me one day and said "Miss Jill, my grandparents are coming to my graduation next week and would like to look at homes. Are you available?" My immediate response was absolutely.

As it turned out his grandparents had recently lost everything they had in Hurricane Sandy and were considering Conway SC as one of the areas to move to. After looking at homes, they decided to purchase a home in the neighborhood their grandson was living in.

EN: What was your biggest take-away from working with Brian Tracy?

JK: All of my dealings with Brian Tracy were through Celebrity Press, LLC and Dicks and Nanton Agency. I never spoke with him directly. The folks from Celebrity Press were very professional and I would highly recommend then.

* * * *
Here are some links where you can follow Jill Klunk or find the Brian Tracy book which she contributed to:

Blog: https://www.facebook.com/OwnYourOwnBeach/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillklunk
eBook: IgniteYour Life

* * * *

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

Throwback Thursday: Car Quotes

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." ~Jason Love

Yesterday I wrote about the cars of the Alcatraz East Crime Museum. It seemed like for Throwback Thursday it wouldn't be too far out of line to share a few more quotes about cars.

* * * *

In 2009 the Street Rodder Road Tour was in town, passing through on the third leg of its eight scheduled week-long road tours for that year. More than 300 local folks brought their classic cars as well to make it the second such annual event at the AMSOIL Center in Superior, Wisconsin.

In honor of the occasion I thought a few car quotes would be in order. Funny thing is that when you look up "Hemingway Quotes" in Google, you get quotes by Hemingway, and when you look up "Quotes about Suffering" you get proverbial wisdom about suffering. But when you type in "Car Quotes" you get pages of sites dedicated to pricing your ride, or someone else's vehicle. It takes a little more work to pull up quotes about cars.

Nevertheless, I achieved my aim and thought a few of these worth sharing.

"The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it." ~Dudley Moore

"Never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly." ~Author Unknown

"Car sickness is the feeling you get when the monthly payment is due." ~Author Unknown

"The shortest distance between two points is under construction." ~Noelie Altito

"I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered." ~George Best

"When buying a used car, punch the buttons on the radio. If all the stations are rock and roll, there's a good chance the transmission is shot." ~Larry Lujack

"In less enlightened times, the best way to impress women was to own a hot car. But women wised up and realized it was better to buy their own hot cars so they wouldn't have to ride around with jerks." ~Scott Adams

"The best way to keep children at home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant, and let the air out of the tires." ~Dorothy Parker

Enjoy your day, and and your ride.



Related Links
F. Scott Fitzgerald's Love Affair with Cars
Cars of The Great Gatsby

Meantime life goes on all around you. Get into it.