The artwork at this year’s Steele County Free Fair featured a number of faces. This work by Marie Larson won grand champion in the pro-am division. It’s entitled “Kinda Blue.” I like the over-the-shoulder perspective of this piece by Susan Powell entitled “Stella”. Stella also happens to be the name of the female mascot…
Wine and beer have been around for thousands of years, ever since farmers figured out how to combine the sugars in their fruit and grains with yeast to produce alcohol. Distilled liquor was developed much later in the 800’s in Persia but spread quickly throughout the world. The recently-closed exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of…
A world-class art institution like the Minneapolis Institute of Art is always adding to its extensive collection of art. Here are some of the pieces we found at the MIA on a recent visit. They are either new to the MIA or we just had never seen them before. Don’t we all feel like we’re…
If you place a challenge before a group of quilters you most certainly will not be disappointed with the results. There were two outstanding challenge exhibits at the 2019 Minnesota Quilters Show, the Global Inspiration Challenge and the Prince Cherrywood Challenge. First, let’s look at the quilts from the Global Inspiration Challenge. Several different techniques…
The 2019 Minnesota Quilters Show had one of the best collections of special exhibits I’ve ever seen at a quilt show. Here is the first of two posts about the special exhibits. Carol Hancuh’s “Bus Stop People – Waiting for the D Line” exhibit featured a group of eleven people standing at a bus stop.…
The 41st annual Minnesota Quilters Quilt Show and Conference was held at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester June 13-15, 2019. This event featured judged and non-judged quilts, a quilter of the year, special exhibits and many opportunities for quilters to learn and develop their craft. Part One of my report from the show is…
To say that modern, abstract art has come to dominate the art world would be an understatement. But a lot of people have yet to acquire a taste for works that do not immediately reveal to you what they are about. If you are a fan of traditional, representative art, then make your way to…
The Owatonna Arts Center is the beneficiary of a collection of works of bronze by James Idstrom. Here is a sampling of what was on display at the official dedication of this outstanding bequest. Idstrom served most of his career as a wildlife biologist for the Minnesota Department of Resources in the Owatonna area. According…
The spring/summer, 2019 edition of the Healing Arts program at the Owatonna Hospital is worth a visit even if you are not there as a patient or to visit someone. The ER area always features 3D works of art. This time around it is ceramic works by Jerry Deuschle. It took me a while for…
These are the works of art that caught my eye at the 67th annual Steele County Art Exhibition at the Owatonna Arts Center. Bonnie Broitzman’s “Painting As Prayer” evokes Georgia O’Keefe’s beautiful flower paintings. A couple of painted saw blades from Linda Christofferson; “Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal on the left and “Mail is…
Mirror Neurons 