Category: 2019 Artist Highlight

2019 Artist Highlight

Welcoming Pop-Up Artist Denise Hooper!

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During the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour, hosts open their studios to guest artists. But as a bonus opportunity for our visitors to see more art, they also invite pop-up artists who make small batch work or are just starting out. We are thrilled to welcome a very talented Wisconsin based fiber artist, Denise Hooper to the tour this year! She will be featuring a special small batch display of her whimsical, perfectly crafted felted figures that you have to see in person! Their charm will absolutely delight! Read her interview below.

What do you like the most about visiting the North Shore?

The beauty of the landscape and the power of Lake Superior are two of the things I like the most about living here. This area also seems to attract creative people of all types so it is stimulating and nurturing to be among them.

  • “Birch Fairy” Felted figure by Denise Hooper
  • “Sprout” Felted figure by Denise Hooper

As a new artist in the tour, what are you looking forward to?

I am excited to spend time with the visual artists that will be participating in the tour and to share my needle felting with the public.

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

One of the things that I enjoy when I am needle felting, is handling the wool.  As a tactile person who loves working with natural materials, I find it to be an amazing fiber to use. It’s really satisfying to sculpt and form a lofty mass of wool into a solid figure with needles.  As well, because this kind of felting involves a lot of repeated motions, it helps it to become a meditative process.

Denise is a pop-up artist at Corine Buechner’s studio. Click the button below for more infomation about studio CB!

Studio cb
2019 Artist Highlight

Michael Kapsos, Guest Artist

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Michael Kapsos is a jewelry artist living and working in Brimson, MN. He once again joins the the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour as a guest artist at studio GR/PZ. His metal work is known for the dynamic and elegant movements of line and shape. When he is not creating his jewelry he also works as a certified massage therapist!

What do you like the most about living and working near the North Shore?

Living up here gives me creative space for my mind and spirit. It keeps my creative juices flowing being surrounded by nature. I’m also a Tai Chi addict and the ability to walk out my door and exercise being surrounded by nature is a life long adventure and a creative inspiration. 

As an artist in the tour, what are you most excited about?

I love sharing my designs with people and it’s great to see their reactions and get feedback. It’s also so different from working in the studio alone trying to create something from nothing. People like to know what goes into creating the designs and it’s fun to share that, it also gives me more ideas for future designs. You know what they say about teachers learning more from their students than the students learn from them. I think it’s the same with artists, we learn a lot from the people who see our work.

Jewelry by Michael Kapsos

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

I started my art life as a printmaker/painter, but when I started making jewelry and realized the endless possibilities of design I was hooked. I also enjoy the complexity of building each design and the never ending challenge. Jewelry is such a personal expression. So when I see people wearing my pieces I feel honored and to know they wear them often is even better.

For more information about guest artist Michael Kapsos and Studio GR/PZ, click the button below:

STUDIO GR/PZ
2019 Artist Highlight

Introducing new Guest Artist Burdock Ceramics

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We are thrilled to introduce our visitors to another newcomer in the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour. This year Duluth artists Rita Morris and Barry Sands, talented duo behind Burdock Ceramics, will be joining us with their gorgeous ceramic work. The work is elegant and functional, featuring delicate nature drawings of plants and animals. We asked them to share a little bit about their work and connections to the North Shore.

 What do you like the most about the North Shore?

We love so many things about the North Shore.  All the beautiful places to go hiking around here are a constant inspiration.  The amazing rocky shores of Lake Superior are the perfect place to sit and reflect. All the amazing artists that live here form such a vibrant community and we love getting to be a part of it. 
 

As an artist in the tour, what are you looking forward to?

We’re excited to connect with people who love the North Shore and all the plants and animals that call it home as much as we do. We’re looking forward to being part of such a fun studio and art tour!

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

The possibilities are endless with clay. We are constantly challenged, humbled and in awe of the many things that clay has to teach us.  Also, It’s the perfect canvas for our paintings.  It’s so rewarding to attempt to transform a functional everyday object into a thing of wonder and beauty. 

Plate by Burdock Ceramics

Burdock Ceramics can be found at studio stop EK with host artist E.J. Klepinger. For more information click the button below:

STUDIO EK
2019 Artist Highlight

An interview with Guest Artist Maria Brown

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Maria Brown will be joining the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour again this year as a guest artist at Gail Rosenquist and Paul Zoldahn’s studio. Maria is involved in the community as a teaching artist and art vocational specialist for adults living with disabilities in Duluth, MN. She recently moved from Duluth to Two Harbors where she is working on setting up a new home studio. She was excited to share what it is like to live and work as an artist on the north shore!

What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?

I love the constant inspiration that comes from living near the sight and sounds of Lake Superior. It does wonders for creativity to have such a constant source of awe in view. I also have a soft spot for old pines and the many lovely creatures of the northwoods, so it helps me feel invigorated to have it all so near.

As an artist in the tour, what are you most excited about?

I have really enjoyed meeting such a wide variety of people in one place. It’s fun to share a love of art with so many different people, and to find out what moves them to want to bring a piece of art into their lives, or just what they love about it. So many stories!

Maria Brown and pit fired pig

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

Although I do love other mediums, there is something very special about clay. It feels very raw and primal to work with mud! I’ve enjoyed playing in it since I was very little, so why stop now? I like how it can simultaneously teach patience and spontaneity. Such a treat to always feel like your medium has a life of it’s own, and I feel most successful when I try to keep that expressive nature alive in my forms.

Maria will be a guest at studio GR/PZ. For more information click the button below:

STUDIO GR/PZ
2019 Artist Highlight

Introducing new host artist, Sarah Brokke

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We are very pleased to welcome another new host to this year’s tour. Known for her intense and vibrant portrait work, Sarah is bringing an exciting opportunity to learn more about her dynamic work in the place that inspires her. Sarah is an art instructor at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth and has been showing her work in the area for many years. She is also involved with her community through the Mural Initiative Project, including a recent mural painted with students at CSS and the kids at our local North Shore Community School, where it can be found! Sarah shared what it is like to live and work as an artist on the North Shore.

 What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?

The beauty of the lake, the ever-shifting colors of the landscape, and the people who live here are continual sources of inspiration. I spend time in the woods everyday, and I never cease to be amazed by the sensory experience of just being among the trees in the fresh air. 

What are you looking forward to during the tour?

I’m a veteran 20/20 attendee— I’m always amazed at the incredible breadth of work made on the North Shore. This year I’m honored to be a part of a group of artists who call such a beautiful place ‘home’.  I’m also thrilled to host such amazing artists at my studio.

“She is Mid Winter” by Sarah Brokke

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

I have a deep love for painting due to the richness of the color and the physicality of the paint.  Painting for me is both meditation and escape and helps me to understand and digest elements of the world around me. It is an absolute gift to be able to make the kind of work I do.

The finished mural at the North Shore Community School

To learn more about Sarah’s studio stop, click the button below:

STUDIO SB
2019 Artist Highlight

Meet Corine Buechner, Host Artist

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Corine is a returning host artist for this year’s Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour. She will be opening her studio to visitors, welcoming them to the gorgeous textures and ethereal colors in her delicately composed mixed media paintings. Not only a painter but a talented fiber artist as well, Corine shared what it is like to live and work on the North Shore, and gave some exciting details about what to expect at her studio stop!

What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?

I love to walk in the woods and with my dog Bijo and look for wild flowers and fungi. 

As an artist in the tour, what are you most excited about?

I’m excited to see all of the lovely people who visit our show. We’ll have music all day Saturday again this year so I’m looking forward to that as well. 

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

I enjoy creating art through combinations of texture and color. 

Beautiful textured artwork by Corine Buechner

For more information about Corine’s studio stop, click the button below:

STUDIO CB
2019 Artist Highlight

Meet Lisa Kosmo, Host Artist on the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour

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We are thrilled that Lisa Kosmo is once again a host artist for the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour. She instills her love of nature in every aspect of her work, from plein air painting to book illustration. Her work is vibrant and full of life! We asked her to share what it is like living as an artist on the North Shore.

What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?

I like that I can be in a quiet space right outside my backdoor.

Lisa Kosmo’s “March, Amber Flow”

As an artist in the tour, what are you most excited about?

Visiting with people that appreciate your art and art in general. Many of the people that take these tours are such giving people, they are looking for gifts for someone else and want to support local artisans. 

“Walleye”, a sneak peek at upcoming illustrations by Lisa Kosmo in “Love of a River” by Darby Nelson

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

I worked in acrylics for many years, but the last couple of years I’ve returned to oils. I love the richness, the smell and texture. 

Lisa Kosmo’s “New Moon Rising”

A great selection of Lisa Kosmo’s work can be found at her studio stop on the tour. It’s a stop you won’t want to miss! For more information on Studio LK, click the button below:

Studio LK
2019 Artist Highlight

Meet Guest Artist Sandi Pillsbury!

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Sandi Pillsbury is a longtime participant to the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour, and after a brief break is returning again this year as a guest at Christian Dalbec’s studio. Sandi is invested in her community, and can be found participating in workshops up and down the North Shore, as well as investing her time among numerous arts organizations. We asked her to share what it is like being a painter on the North Shore!

What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?

I have always been drawn to nature and the peace and solitude that the North Shore has to offer. I have been coming up to the North Shore of Lake Superior ever since I was a baby, so it has been an integral part of my life for almost 70 years! I cannot think of anyplace else I would rather live.  I feel incredibly blessed to have a home ON the big lake, which has been a dream of mine for a long time. My husband and I bought our home 24 years ago, and we share it with our two Samoyed fur babies: Magic and River. 

Sandi painting plein air on Agate Bay in Two Harbors, Minnesota

What are you most excited about for this year’s tour?

I am most excited about the new direction that the tour is taking this year! We have a GREAT team of new curators with great skill sets that provide the tour with more of a 21st Century look and connection via social media and web presence! I am excited about being back in the tour after taking a year off. It’s going to be a great event with new artists on the tour, new studios and a new logo design!

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

I work primarily in oil paint. I like to be able to come back to a painting after letting it “sit” over night and being able to still add/subtract to/from the image. I sometimes will use alkyd paint which is a synthetic oil that dries faster than regular oils. This way, I can layer and glaze my paintings to give them further depth and meaning. 

Summer Day Lester River, Oil Painting by Sandi Pillsbury

For more information about Sandi’s work and her host studio location, click the button below:

STUDIO CD
2019 Artist Highlight

Meet Helen Hartley, Host Artist

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Helen Hartley is a longtime participant of the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour. She hosts the group of artists at the stop along the Scenic Highway at the Larsmont Schoolhouse. Helen is an active member of the Two Harbors art scene. Her work carries a distinct charm and expressiveness, no matter which medium she pursues.

Helen Hartley and just a small sampling of her art

“I’ve always loved doing art—it was my voice when I was young.  My subject matter still “draws” from my soul. I helped others create art as a therapy in my medical profession for 30 years.  Personally, I have continually learned new techniques by taking classes and workshops. I have seen variety in my style; my favorite might be the more whimsical, but I am challenged with portraits as well.  So here I am with pieces of my work; pieces of me—putting watercolor to paper, alkyd to canvas, and releasing expression from a hunk of clay. All of this makes me smile.”

~Helen Griffin Hartley

For more information about Helen Hartley’s stop on the tour, click the button below!

STUDIO LS
2019 Artist Highlight

Introducing Guest Artist Aaron Kloss

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We are very pleased to welcome Aaron Kloss to the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour this year! He is joining us as a new guest artist on the tour but is already well known throughout the region for his lively and expressive paintings featuring scenes of northern Minnesota. We asked him to share what it is like to live and work on the North Shore.

 What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?

After growing up in the twin cities area, I appreciate the fact that I can walk out my front door in Duluth and be on the shoreline of lake Superior in a few minutes. The wilderness and wildlife, along with the changing seasons, always provides more than enough inspiration to keep my paintbrush going. 

“The King of the Blues” painting by Aaron Kloss

As a new artist in the tour, what are you looking forward to?

Since this is my first time on this tour, I look forward to visiting people and artists on the tour, learning about other artists and hearing of the adventures of folks traveling up the shore.

  • “Springtime” painting by Aaron Kloss
  • “Fall Fiesta” by Aaron Kloss

What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?

I enjoy painting in an expressive style, and feel like this style is my voice to share my many adventures in and around Duluth, MN. I also love color and contrast, and the process of watching a new work reveal itself on the canvas.

“Starry Spring Lake”, painting by Aaron Kloss

For more information about Aaron’s work and where to find him at his host studio for the tour, Studio JM, click the button below:

STUDIO JM