THE GIRL WITH THE CAT TATTOO

Weekends at my studio can be quiet. Blue Mounds is far enough from Madison that not many people consider it to be a destination. When I moved my studio into the upstairs of the opera house in 2001, Blue Mounds was even quieter. Two bars were the only other businesses on Main Street. The town had seen a better time. The paint on the opera house was falling off in sheets. It too had seen better days. Since I moved in here, the former hardware store turned apartment building across the street was renovated and converted into a Dharma center. The grocery store, across Main Street and at the far end of the block is now a Buddhist center. The empty bank which had been used for storage, has also been renovated and turned into a pilates center. I will tell you more about it another time. The addition of curb and gutter have also taken it from the look of bib overalls to khaki slacks. Even though the town has become "respectable", it can still be a pretty quiet place on the weekends.

So, when I received an email from Angela, requesting to visit my studio on Saturday, it was something unusual, but not unheard of. Angela had contacted me a couple of months previous to her visit to request permission to use one of my etchings. While people do occassionally request to use one of my works, this request was one that I had never encountered before. Angela wanted to have one of my cat etchings tattooed onto one of her legs. After digesting her request (I have never been asked this before), I wrote back to her and told her that I would be honored. Her visit on Saturday was centered around showing me the tattoo. I was not sure what to expect when she arrived. Would it be one of many tattoos on her? Would my reserved upbringing cause me an uncomfortable feeling gazing at this woman's leg?

Angela arrived with her friend, Beth. The tattoo was done beautifully, and she told me that it was her first tattoo. For some reason I thought of the book "The girl with the dragon tattoo", which I had read during the summer. I could envision Angela as being the books heroine, Lisbeth Salander. I doubt that there is any parallel there at all, but needless to say, I was flattered that she chose one of my works for her tattoo.

A day in Decorah, Iowa

I traveled to Decorah, Iowa yesterday. I had several things that I wanted to accomplish. The drive takes two and one half hours and takes me through rural southern Wisconsin crossing the Mississippi River at Prairie Du Chien. I called Vesterheim, the Norwegian American Museum to try to set up an appointment to show them my etchings. Since both of my parents were Norwegians, it seemed like a good idea to make their curatorial staff aware of my work. I left a phone message. Upon arriving in Decorah, I went to Agora Arts, which is a gallery on Water Street in Decorah. I have to say that it was not an encouraging visit. Many of the works that I had consigned there were returned to me. It is my hope when consigning my work, that the pieces will sell. When they are returned unsold, the question becomes,"Now what?" It is inventory that I had planned not on having. I have had a good relationship with the gallery so there were no hard feelings involved. At Gail's suggestion (Gail is the owner of Agora), I stopped at The Perfect Edge, which is a frame shop in Decorah. I introduced myself to Anja, the owner. She had framed a number of my works over the years. It is possible that I will have a show there sometime next year.

I went to Phelps Park. If you read one of my earlier blog entries, you saw that I have been working on an etching at this location. It is important to me to work from my source material so time spent on the plate is reserved for when I am able to stop, sit down and work while looking at the subject. The vantage point is precarious, but I worked it out. I decided to proceed using sugar lift, which is india ink mixed with sugar and applied with a brush. It went well, but my time was limited and it required my complete concentration. It ended when it began to rain. The rain can disolve the water soluble india ink so I had to scramble for the safety of my van.

My cell phone rang. The curator at Vestserheim is interested in looking at my work, but would have to make arrangements for another day. I dropped off my business card for her.

Leaving Decorah, I drove to Bluff Country Artists Gallery in Spring Grove, Minnesota. I delivered several of my etchings to them. Leaving Spring Grove, I proceeded on secondary roads back into Iowa and the town of Lansing. Lansing is located on the Mississippi. I have mentioned before that it is largely undiscovered by tourism. I met Fred Easker an oil painter from Cedar Rapids who has a place in Lansing. We had dinner together and talked about art and our lives. The drive back to home in Wisconsin was in the dark. It was nearly midnight when I got home.

The reluctant blogger

Let me tell you about my last, most recent trip. I was on the road for over a week traveling to Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. Priscilla Steele of Campbell Steele Gallery in Marion, Iowa had arranged for me to do an etching demonstration in the gallery on Thursday, November 5th. Priscilla has an MFA in printmaking from the University of Iowa and hosted the event. She did much of the speaking...very eloquently, and I printed etchings using her etching press. About 20 people were there to watch the evening event. When it was over, I had initially planned on going on line, making a hotel reservation in Des Moines and continuing my trip. At their urging, I decided to sleep on the sofa in their upstairs apartment. The evening was wonderful. The demo followed by dinner with Craig and Priscilla and then upstairs to sleep. They have converted the second floor of the gallery into their own living quarters and Priscilla's studio. On the way to Campbell Steele Gallery, I had paid a late afternoon visit to Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City to deliver artwork to them.

In the morning, Priscilla greeted me with coffee and banana bread to see me on my way. I drove to Des Moines, checked into my hotel early and went to 2AU to deliver etchings. I had previously arranged to participate in the Two Rivers Art Expo in Des Moines at the Hy Vee Center downtown. It is an indoor art fair. Trips such as this are expensive for me. Galleries take my work on consignment. I am paid by them only after the artwork sells. Prior to this trip, I needed to frame my work and get it ready for presentation. It is not inexpensive. On the trip, there are also the costs of meals, hotels and vehicle expenses. The art expo is a way of hopefully generating income while on the trip to cover some of the expenses up front. The show was a success for me. The audience responded favorably and many purchased my work. Because of that, it was a relief. The show closed Sunday afternoon. After packing things up, I drove my van to Omaha and another hotel. I arrived late. There was a bar nearby where I could grab a burger. Large TV screens decorated every wall. I was tired and hungry.

On Monday morning, after Starbucks, I drove to Lincoln, Nebraska. There was a feeling of sadness because the gallery that had represented me there had closed. So Oh Fine Art was a successful venture for Renee Johnson, but it was time for her to move on to other horizons. She took care of her artists and helped me find a new gallery in Lincoln. Stephanie and Jo Ann of the Lux Center for the Arts met me in the morning at the gallery. I am excited about the new relationship. I think I will like being a part of the Lux Center, and I am optimistic that they will have success with my work. After that, I met Renee Johnson for lunch at LaPaz, a mexican restaurant. I picked up my work that was remaining in her inventory. Even though the gallery had closed, she continued to sell my work to her clients. She was returning what remained.

I hit the road that afternoon, arriving in Manhattan, KS and Strecker Nelson Gallery at 5PM. My work will be featured as part of a show there in January and February of 2010. I delivered 14 framed etchings for that exhibit. After having dinner and conversation with Jay and Barbara at Harry's, I headed for Kansas City, driving two hours through heavy rains.

The rain had stopped when I arrived at my hotel in Westport in Kansas City. I have mentioned before that I enjoy visiting Kansas City. It is a city that has a unique flavor that has appealed to me for quite a few years. On Tuesday morning, I visited the Kemper Museum. They were hosting an exhibit of Wyeth family works. That was followed by a trip to American Legacy Gallery. Jack Olsen and Marlin (an accomplished watercolorist and the gallery framer) met me. I showed them my newest work and left it on consignment with them. The visit to this gallery was the centerpiece of my visit to Kansas City. My trips to KC do not seem quite complete without a visit to Gates Barbeque on Main Street (closer to downtown). After a plate of short ends, I returned to my hotel room and retired for the night.

On Wednesday, I left a phone message for the curator at the Kemper, attempting to meet with her and show her my etchings. Previously (before leaving on this trip), I had set up a meeting with Beth Lurey at the Stowers Institute. Beth is the curator of the Stowers art collection, but she is also the acting printmaking curator at the Nelson Atkins Museum. I liked her immediately. She was down to earth and there was nothing curatorial about her. She looked at the first three etchings in my folder and said "I think I'm going to like these." How could anyone say anything nicer to me. I feel that I have been around the block a few times with my career. Invincibility is a good idea, but I am still vulnerable to how people react to me and my work. My skin is thick but to a point. I am optimistic that my work will be added to the collection. Time will tell. After my meeting with her, I drove to the Nelson Atkins Museum and spent the next three hours going through the collection. My business trip became a vacation if only for that day. I scooted out of KC just as rush hour was beginning. I headed north on I-29 for Sioux City. I had an appointment with curator, Todd Behrens at the Sioux City Art Center at 10AM the following morning. I will oftentimes drive in the evening. I have never been fond of sitting in hotel rooms while there is still time left in the day. I arrived at Sioux City...once again late. The desk clerk recommended Chilis and another nearby chain. I was tired and hungry. I ignored his recommendations and began driving on an elevated street that seemed to be going nowhere. I had never been to Sioux City before and everything was new. There ahead was an island of light. There was a drive in restaurant still open...something about Taystee in and out. The sign said they had been in business since the mid 50s. I parked and went to the walk up window (my van was too tall for their clearance). A taystee, the woman on the other side of the window told me, is what I had grown up knowing as a sloppy joe, or, in other parts of Iowa, they are called maid rites. It was just the ticket. She threw in an order of their famous home made onion chips for me. It was night time, and kind of dark and lonely feeling. She called me darling and honey. How could there be anything wrong in the world?!

Returning to my hotel, I drove up and down Nebraska street. I spotted a coffee shop. In the morning, after checking out of my hotel, I went there and tried to get a feel for the area and where I was going. Todd Behrens greeted me at the art center. He looked at my work. We had a cordial visit. I had another appointment that afternoon in Mason City, Iowa so I did not stay longer than to visit with him. I would have enjoyed spending more time there.

I drove through rural Iowa on route 20. To me, this is beautiful. Everything was brown and fall like, but the daylight and the rural landscape, a part of Iowa that I had not seen before, appealed to me. My appointment in Mason City was at the MacNider Museum. I was greeted there by Mara Linskey, their curator. I showed her my etchings. She offered me a show in their smaller gallery contingent on the approval of their board. If the show happens, it will be a good venue for my work. After meeting with her, I went through their collection that was on view. It is an impressive collection of works by artists that I like.

It was dusk as I departed for Cedar Falls, Iowa a little over an hour away. I called Henry W. Myrtle Gallery. I would arrive after they closed. I called Hugh Pettersen, the former owner of the gallery. We arranged to have dinner together, and he would deliver my artwork to the gallery the following day. I drove to his house and we took his car to CU, a restaurant in Waterloo, Iowa. Hugh has become a good friend over the years. I value my conversations with him. He bought me dinner. I will take him out the next time in the area. We talked about life and music. There is a Russian pianist who has taught at UNI. Hugh is familiar with him and his work. Hugh has worked hard to keep him on the faculty. I will try to return in February for his performance with the Waterloo Symphony of A Rhapsody in Blue.

I drove home to Wisconsin. I arrived at midnight. The house was quiet. The trip was over. It had been planned extensively. The actual travel is not that hard and is enjoyable. It was a good trip, but I was quite tired. A glass of wine later, and it was time for sleep.

Back in the studio

On my return trip from Ohio, I had planned on taking a side trip up into Michigan and visiting the Petter Gallery in Douglas/Saugatuck, along the shore of Lake Michigan. It is a tourist area. I decided, however, to continue traveling on the Indiana Turnpike. While I like to visit most of my galleries at least once a year, I decided that I needed to get back to Wisconsin and could ship my work to the Petter Gallery instead. I was home before midnight.

The trip to Ohio was successful. Denis Conley took great care of me in Akron. I arrived Thursday evening and delivered three new etchings to him. We went to Rousseau's a restaurant on the outskirts of Akron. On Thursday morning, I drove to Youngstown and picked up the work from my exhibit. I spent a few hours going through the museum. It was relaxed and wonderful. The day was beautiful too. I look at the beauty created by other's hands, but I also look for information for myself. Etchings that I have in progress (there are about 25 of them) sometimes feel at an impass. Looking at other works, not always having any subject similarity whatsoever, can make the answers seem obvious. I left the museum feeling enriched and eager to dive back into things in Blue Mounds.

I transported the framed work to Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. They will have a show of my work at the Crandall Gallery in November and December. I will return to Ohio in December for a closing reception and to deliver a gallery talk on December 10th. I returned to Akron, having my afternoon coffee and taking notes on what had transpired that day. In my journal, I recreated (with words) the galleries in the Butler. They will be referred to and the works will be remembered and the inspirations will return. Denis closed his gallery, we hit the wine bar across the street, and finished the day eating Larry burgers at Larry's, an eatery next to the gallery.

Friday was the Cain Park Arts Festival. I arrived at the festival in the morning, setting up my booth. The show began at 3pm and the crowds came. The people of Cleveland were intelligent and receptive to my work. Sales, however, were sparse, an obvious result of our lackluster economy.

Saturday brought heavy rains until early afternoon. The public simply did not show up on Saturday. Sunday was gorgeous. The crowds came, but still the sales were infrequent. I was fortunate. At the awards brunch before the show began, I was awarded first prize. A check for $750 accompanied the ribbon. I am grateful to the judges and for the award. With few sales, there were quite a few long faces among the artists.

I met people at the show. Mystery writer, Richard Montanari, purchased an etching on Friday and introduced himself to me. Being a fan of film noir, I have read Hammett, Chandler, and among contemporary authors, Lehane and Ellroy. Soon I will have read Montanari's "Badlands". Can't wait. I will visit Booked for Murder, a mystery bookstore in Madison tomorrow. Past collectors came as well as Kate Martinson who teaches art at my alma matter, Luther College. Kate was accompanied by her daughter, Robin, who lives in Cleveland. Margo Miller, from Mount Union College stopped by with her mom. Linnea Nereim came by and told me that I had to visit Squaw Rock and the South Chagrin Reservation. She plays bass clarinet for the Cleveland Symphony. We talked about music and performing it. I am fascinated by the concept of creating art that takes place in time. If I am working on an etching, I can stop any time and resume later. I try to imagine what it would be like to play in something as large and potentially powerful as a symphony. It is difficult to grasp, but I could feel my pulse quicken as I listened to her tell me about things like playing the solo in the last movement of Shostokovich's seventh, and creating her performance based on her own conception as well as that of the conductor. Packing up my booth at the end of the day, I returned to Akron and a wonderful dinner prepared by Denis at his home.

I departed on Monday morning, visiting the Conley Gallery one additional time and leaving a few more works with Denis. I went to Squaw Rock. Linnea was right. It was beautiful. It was like walking around in a Bierstadt painting. I did not have more than a couple of hours, but I made four sketches. Sketches are better than photos. They plant a time and a place in your mind. Try it. I will remember that visit forever. I needed to be in Toledo later that afternoon. The American Gallery is in Sylvania. I delivered my new work. Toni, the owner, came to see what I was delivering. We had a good visit and I left my newest and best work. It was late afternoon when I departed from Toledo. It was at least another 300 miles back to my home. I took a different route through Chicago at dusk. I am curious about things and enjoy having a tourist's point of view.

This is long. Please let me know if it is too much so. Talk to you later!

Ohio trip

I will be traveling to Ohio tomorrow, picking up my artwork on Thursday at the Butler Institute in Youngstown. I will be delivering the work from that exhibit to Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio where there will be an exhibit of my etchings in November and December. Returning to Alliance in December, there will be a closing reception and lecture on December 10th.

This weekend, I will be participating in the Cain Park Arts Festival in Cleveland. It is a unique outdoor show and one of the few that I am still pariticpating in. Denis Conley of Akron will provide me, once again, with a place to lay my head at night. There will also be other gallery visits during this trip, which will last about one week. Today, I will complete the framing and presentation of work, load my van, and tomorrow, I depart with the first stop being Graphic Chemical and Ink in Chicago. They provide me with many of the printmaking supplies and tools that I use. I have been their customer since the 1970s. They know me and I them. A few of my etchings are on the walls of their main room. The day's travels will end in Akron, Ohio tomorrow evening.

I ride my bicycle to my studio almost every day. There is a bicycle trail between Mount Horeb where I live and Blue Mounds. It is about six miles each way and is a wonderful way to start the day. I am greeted by robins and gold finches that dodge and weave ahead of me in the tunnel of the trail. Cardinals and Thrushes have no time for that nonsense and choose to make hasty exits to the surrounding forest. Rabbits and ground squirrels dart in front of me (I have never hit one) and an occasional deer appears in front of me as well(I have not hit one of them either).

The trail is an old train road bed. As I ride, I can envision the locomotive and freight cars making their way through this same tunnel in the past. I have seen the rails from this perspective on a couple of occasions. I remember being a teenager traveling through North Dakota and the rusty old van breaking down. Having nowhere to stay and no vehicle and heading west, I ended up staying (voluntarily) in a jail cell in Jamestown. The next day found me, after several hours of very bad luck attempting to hitch hike making my way to the freight yard. I remembered someone telling me that it was possible to catch a ride in box cars. The yard was huge. Avoiding the yard bulls (police), I inquired as to which track would take me to Seattle (a stepping stone to Alaska where I was headed). I found an empty box car with the door open and hopped on. The view was glorious. The trip was magical. It is not the recommended way for young men from Hibbing, Minnesota (or from anywhwere) to travel, but it worked, and my youthful spirit of adventure lead me to travel in this way.

Riding my bicycle to the studio, on this trail, reminds me frequently of this small, but exciting chapter in my youth.