STUDIO JM

855 Stanley Rd., Two Harbors, MN

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Jennifer Murphy, Host Artist

My artwork aims to impart the same tranquility I enjoy while exploring the north woods and the shores of Lake Superior, as well as the quietude I feel while sculpting. The malleable, soothing, and tactile nature of the clay are what attracted me to ceramics. I use both wheel thrown and hand building techniques to create organic forms, which are inspired by the biodiversity of the forest floor.

I graduated in 2016 from the University of Wisconsin-Superior receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Ceramics Concentration. I currently reside in Two Harbors where I work out of a little studio in my garage and fire my work in my kiln, “Loretta.”

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Elliot Crompton, Guest Artist

My artwork enables me to appreciate where I live. Working from my own reference photography allows me to look closer at these places and see them in a way I otherwise wouldn’t. Beyond connecting me with place, my work combines seeing through drawing, the tactile joy of carving with the simplicity of black ink on white paper. These transitions through mediums let me distill what I see down to its core.

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Sam Zimmerman, Guest Artist

Sam Zimmerman, a Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe direct descendant artist received his Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Art from the Rochester Institute of Technology. His painting became a part-time activity after he went on to complete graduate and post graduate degrees With his relocation from the East Coast returning to Minnesota, he rededicated himself to his painting with a ferocity that had been absent since his earlier studio days, completing an entirely new body of work over the past three years.

With his return to Minnesota, specifically Grand Portage reservation, his work explores his Ojibwe heritage, his learnings and experiences in nature while preserving shared oral histories, reimagining the symbolism of the clan animals while incorporating the natural landscape of Lake Superior’s North Shore. Sam focuses on continuing the Anishinaabe tradition of storytelling embedding the themes of environmental stewardship and conservation of the North Shore through his studio and public art commissions.  He has completed public art works for the  Chikwauk Museum and Nature Center, and  the Duluth and Grand Marais communities as a means to celebrate and preserve Ojibwemowin. His recent piece, Makwabimide/Beargrease was selected as the John Beargrease Dog Marathon event poster, bringing a re-awareness of John Beargrease’s life and contributions to this event. He has recently completed the illustration of six bilingual Ojibwemowin/English children’s books for the  Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa schools. He has been the recipient of grant awards from the Minnesota State Arts Board, Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, and Duluth Superior Community Foundation.  He has recently completed his first Ojibwemowin/English bilingual book,  a collection of paintings and stories from his first year of creating along the northern shore of Lake Superior, titled: Following My Spirit Home, publication date of  April 2022.