2017 Des Moines Quilt Show, Part One, Quilted Faces

Artists of all varieties are drawn to faces. The many fine artistic quilters that are around these days are no different. In this first installment of my impressions of the Des Moines AQS Quiltweek quilt show, I focus on quilts that highlighted faces. This quilt by Hiroko Miyama is entitled “Lily.”     Artists never…

Harvest Time, Part One

“From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed the exact times and places where they should live. God intended that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.…” Acts…

What To Expect When the Future Is Uncertain

Lutherans, and others who follow the teachings brought to light during the Reformation, will mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation on Tuesday, October 31, 2017. As they do so they face a future that is uncertain. And, strangely enough, they are just fine with that. Luther and his supporters faced death threats throughout their…

Losing for a Living

How do you make a living? I’m not talking about your job. Yes, we have to have jobs to support ourselves but isn’t living something more substantial than the way we make our money? According to Jesus in Matthew 16:25, Christians make their living by losing: “For whoever would save his life will lose it,…

Psalm 23

Even though Psalm 23 is still a very popular reading, it has been a long time since I have written anything about it so here goes. And I still prefer the old King James Version of this classic. The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green…

Artist Find

The revolving artwork displayed at our local Owatonna hospital continues to impress me. Here are a few works of one of the current featured artists, Brenda Ward. One of Ward’s specialties is making original copies of old masters and one of my favorite old masters is John Singer Sergent. Can you tell which painting is…

The Wonders of Wool

The current show at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault consists of works that all incorporate products from the legendary Faribault Woolen Mill. Here is a sample of what we saw. This work is entitled Rest by Dorothy DeJong. Details of Rest. Starry Night at the Mill by Barb Foss. Starry Night at the Mill…

The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Part Two

Beruit, Lebanon is a city that has seen a lot of unrest over the years. This work by Judy Rifka is entitled “Beruit Excavation.” Beruit Excavation Detail This massive piece entirely covers one of the walls in the musuem’s entryway. It is entitled “To Access the Places That Lie Beyond” and is by Firelei Baez.…