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:
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:
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:
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:
Helen Hartleyis 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!
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:
Sue Stavig is a returning artist to the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour. Her luxurious knits are something to see, feel, admire, and wear for many years to come. The brilliant colors seamlessly blend with the beauty of the North Shore landscape she calls home. We asked her to share what it is like living and working with such beauty and inspiration!
What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?
It’s been over 30 years since we fell in love with the Lake Superior area. We purchased a forlorn log cabin on 40 acres, near Finland, MN, and dreamed of how this tiny space could be a seasonal retreat for our growing family. We loved the simple life it afforded us, nestled in a beautiful place in the country. Beauty came with challenges. A towering but too-close tree fell on our roof. The shifting logs offered invitation to woodland guests. We tolerated flies, ants, snakes and mice. And then bats. (Our toddler alerted us to a “Mousie on the ceiling”). The final goodbye to the “old cabin” came when Mama Squirrel birthed a litter in a kitchen drawer. Enough. In 2008, we built a new cabin. Still tiny, but tight. No unexpected visitors. My favorite place is the porch, where I sit in a rocking chair that looks a bit like a snowshoe. I’m surrounded by luxurious yarn and buckets of stones I’ve collected. I never tire of the routine: coffee, clicking needles, creativity. All savored with a view of Sawmill Dome. We love it here!
Sue Stavig’s home in the woods, where beautiful knits are created.
As an artist in the tour, what are you most excited about?
Most of the year, knitting is a solitary adventure. While I enjoy the quiet company of yarn and needles, I look forward to meeting other artists and visitors. I knit what brings joy to me as an artist, with the wish that its recipient will find their own warm connection in color and fiber.
Knit by Sue Stavig
Knit by Sue Stavig
Knit by Sue Stavig
What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?
After 30 years of commercial design work, I said goodbye to computers, clients, and deadlines. I now listen to the whispers of tall trees, shoreline stones, and deep water. I take photos of nature’s designs to remind me of their distinct colors and textures. These photos become inspiration that link the just-right yarn from my collection to interpret the scene. Yarn is my palette – I design and knit what I love.
Sue Stavig’s work can be found at host artist Dave Gilsvik’s studio on the tour. For more information click the link below!
We are pleased to introduce you to an artist who is hosting a beautiful new studio stop on the tour. Although he is new to us this year, E.J. Klepinger is already known in the community for his artwork and for teaching the popular weekly “Brushes, Beans, & Brews” art classes at the Mocha Moose along the Scenic Drive. We asked him to describe what it is like to live and work next to Lake Superior!
What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?
Nature is the greatest influence to my art, both through a shamanic spiritual connection and through the beauty of nature. Having lived most of my life in Colorado, I have always appreciated the natural world and its life forms from the time I was a small child, and have celebrated my love of nature through my art and poetry. I have learned that all life, both wild and domesticated, has an energy and being able to connect to that energy and portray it is one of the greatest joys I can imagine. It is also important to me to support the community and other artists, and I have loved being a part of this area and its people. This is the very first time in my 54 years of life that I felt like I was truly home. I have been very blessed to have many avenues to be an artist, from teaching, illustrating books, commission works and creating art to be enjoyed by collectors.
Acrylic Painting by EJ Klepinger
“Dolly” By EJ Klepinger
Book Illustrations by EJ Klepinger
As a new artist in the tour, what are you looking forward to?
Honestly, I love seeing people look at art, really absorb it and be intrigued by it. When this occurs with your own art, where they really take time to look at it and enjoy it, that is the greatest gift I can imagine related to my art. If they purchase my art, that is beyond amazing and I feel so blessed to have moved them enough to want include it in their space and their lives. I focus so much on the energy of the subject, and for viewers to feel that energy, to often comment on it, and to even be moved to tears by it, is an incredible experience to witness. I live in a very magical place and to be able to share that with folks on the tour is wonderful. To feel the energy of the artists that will be on the property and to share that energy with visitors is truly a blessing.
EJ Klepinger at work in the studio.
What is it that you enjoy about working in your mediums?
I was taught, and I think many artists are taught, you have to focus on one medium. I fully disagree with this ‘rule’. I so appreciate artists that do, however for me, each medium has challenges and opportunities that might better serve the subject. To limit myself to just one medium is to limit my subject’s ability to express itself through my art. Being able to work in acrylics, oils, watercolor, soft pastel, pencil and pen and ink gives me many tools to honor my subject, and many forms of expressions to stimulate the viewer. I see the medium itself as a technique or artistic choice, what I enjoy the most is how the medium honors the subject, and I enjoy using the medium to do so. My enjoyment is less about the medium and more about the subject. There are times when I started with a medium and I completely abandon it and start over in a different medium. I is all about the subject for me and celebrating its energy.
Scratch art by EJ Klepinger
Notes about the studio…
I amvery much into the environment and nature, and am continually doing things to support my respect and love. I have a very difficult time killing anything, including the ‘dreaded’ tick and mosquito. My humble cabin home is rustic, and though I am slowly updating areas, I also love the ancient history it contains. This year I have also been playing with not mowing the yard fully or as much, and have thoroughly enjoyed seeing what forms of flowers, grasses and other plants grow, and what types of animals and insects it attracts. I have never seen so many monarchs as I have this year, so I have also begun planting butterfly and bee friendly plants in the organized beds, and am going to be planting a Swamp Milkweed patch in part of the yard. This has been a fun learning process of how to successfully germinate milkweed from seed. Hopefully by the time the show is here, others will see the fruits of my attempts.
Wolf by EJ Klepinger
For more information about E.J. Klepinger’s studio stop on the tour, please click the button below!
Paul Zoldahn is one of our hosts for the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio & Art Tour. Paul has many years of ceramic experience, and loves to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with artists and art admirers alike. We asked him to describe his work and what it is like to work from his studio tucked in the woods of the North Shore.
What do you like the most about living and working on the North Shore?
Working in clay, I realized the need to keep creative by slowing the pace- foot powered wheel for forming work- eliminate breakage in glazing and once firing dry clay work. The North Shore lends itself to a slower pace, living far enough from Lake Superior seems to temper the high and low lake effected temperatures at our studio. Most days studio work begins with a trail walk in the Red Pine woods at our pottery.
As an artist in the tour, what are you most excited about?
What excites me the most about sharing a host site on the 20/20 Studio & Art Tour is the returning and new customers that will visit our site. Also the addition of new artists and new energy added to the well established tour.
Paul Zoldahn at work.
What is it that you enjoy about working in your medium?
I mix the clay used in my functional work. Clay really has a life of its own. At first the claybody seems a bit short and needs some finesse to ease that living pot out of the lump of clay. After 2 to 3 weeks of aging the clay becomes more workable and easier to move and create forms. Many clay work sessions are a series of forms sometimes very similar yet never identical, dictated by the consistency of the clay lump. An idea can be brought to life in clay through that series of work; usually it starts as a sketch on paper.
My pottery is carried by two galleries in Duluth Mn. -The Duluth Pottery in the west end arts district and Lizzards Gallery downtown and in Grand Marais Mn. at The Big Lake shop.
For more information about Paul’s studio stop on the tour, click the button below:
Gail Rosenquist is one of the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio Tour’s Hosts, located at studio GR/PZ. Gail’s ceramics are known for their swirling organic forms.She works in a country studio tucked away on the outskirts of Two Harbors, MN. She described what it is like to live and work in such a unique and beautiful place.
What do you like most about living and working on the north shore?
I love the quiet distance from city street noise where I can listen to nature’s calming chatter. I can work in silence and look out the studio window, or take a break and watch the pond and garden life. In winter I can look out at the gorgeous forms that fallen snow makes on spent summer forms. The quiet nature of snow is an amazing meditation. I am able to lose myself in art work at our home in the woods.
Ceramics by Gail Rosenquist
What are you most excited about for participating in the tour?
I of course love when visitors enjoy my artwork, and maybe take it home with them, but for me the best part is visiting with new and old friends at our studio and showing them around the place.
What is it that you enjoy most about working in your medium?
I love the earthy tactile nature of clay and the opportunity to create on the fly.
For more information about Host artist Gail Rosenquist and studio stop GR/PZ, click the button below:
Friday and Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 10am-5pm 