"End of the Dock" by Neil Sherman is one of the paintings of Artist Point landscapes on exhibit at the Art Colony. The reception is from 5-7 p.m. Saturday.
“Wednesday Morning Paint Out: Art Work Inspired by Artist Point,” an exhibit of summer landscapes and seascapes in Grand Marais, opens at the Art Colony on Saturday night with a reception from 5-7 p.m.
The Wednesday Morning Paint Out is an informal group of painters, photographers and sketchers led by landscape painter Neil Sherman. The group went to Artist Point every Wednesday from June through October (rain or shine) and painted, photographed and sketched what the day had to offer. The artists include Holly Beaster, Kristin Blomberg, Mary Cowen,David Hahn, Mark Tessier, Andrew Thompson, Jack Viren and Friends. Their work has been collected into an interesting exhibit which will run through December.
Bowls by Ann Ward, foreground, Lee Ross (left) and Dave Yungner are among those on display at the Empty Bowls Silent Auction.
Also on Saturday at the Art Colony, the Empty Bowls Silent Auction begins with a display of special bowls donated by regional artists and local potters. Word is that Sherman will have an oil painting of a bowl to celebrate this fundraiser for the Food Shelf. The Empty Bowls Dinner is at the First Congregational Church from 5-7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, where the final bidding on the Silent Auction bowls will take place.
Hovland artist Lou Pignolet donated this wood-turned bowl to the silent auction.
There will be other unique bowls in the silent auction as well, including a beautiful wood-turned bowl by Lou Pignolet, a slumped glass bowl by Nancy Kemp, a felted bowl by Nina Simonowicz and a collection of bowls created in the first pottery studio at the Art Colony a generation ago.
And, the Sivertones will play!
To round out the Neil Sherman news, he was one of 50 juried artists participating in the 9th San Luis Obispo Plein Air event in San Luis Obispo, Calif. They painted along the California coast for five days followed by an exhibit at the San Luis Obispo Art Center. The event is a fund raiser for the art center. Sherman has paintings from the trip as well as other work on his web site: neilshermanart.com.
This weekend is also a good one for music. The Crazy Neighbors bluegrass band from Ely play at the GunFlint Tavern tonight and tomorrow night. Music begins at 8:30 p.m. On Sunday, the Sivertones play from 6:30-9 p.m.
Then this Monday, acoustic musicians and singers are invited to the Chicago Bay Marketplace in Hovland for a Singer/Songwriters Circle. The music starts at 6:30 p.m.
Performers, musicians and production crews interested in working on the Grand Marais Playhouse’s production of “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson, which will be staged in April, are invited to meet with director Sue Hennessy at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts.
Now in its 40th season, the Playhouse will also mount Cole Porter’s “You Never Know” based on the play “Candlelight” by Siegfried Geyer, Karl Farkas and Robert Katscher in July; “Play On! A Farce” by Rick Abbott in August; the Grand Marais Invitation Play Festival in October and re-mount “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” in December. For more information about Playhouse events, audition dates and more, see the Playhouse Web site.
In other art news, Nina Simonowicz is writing like crazy these days. She
Nina Simonowicz
signed up for National Novel Writing Month,(NaNoWriMo), a project that challenges writers to write a 50,000-word novel in the month of November. So far, she’s written 10,000 words. It’s exhilarating, she says.
“Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly,” she wrote in a recent e-mail.
Good luck! Nina! (As of Thursday evening, she said she had the characters worked out but the plot remained elusive.)
Speaking of books, Drury Lane Books has just received copies of Barbara Kingsolver’s latest novel, “The Lacuna.” They also have “Beaver, Bear, Snowshoe Hare: Northwoods Mammal Poems,” by Cheryl Dannenbring with illustrations by Lutsen’s Anna Hess. Birchbark Book & Gifts has “Christmas Cookie Club” by Ann Pearlman.
The Attic is carrying unframed prints by Cook County photographer Kathy Gray-Anderson.
Fiber artist Julie Kean will demonstrate how to make Christmas ornaments at the monthly Grand Marais Garden Club meeting at the Senior Center at 10 a.m. Monday.
The Arrowhead Regional Arts Council is seeking nominations of individual artists and arts advocates for the annual Arrowhead Arts Awards. Past recipients in Cook County include Grand Portage artist George Morrison. Grand Marais printmaker Betsy Bowen received the Arts Advocate Award two years ago. Jay Anderson (now news reporter for WTIP Community Radio) also received the Arts Advocate Award when he was director of the Grand Marais Art Colony. For more info, visit www.aracouncil.org
And speaking of WTIP, it’s the Homegrown Fall Membership Drive this weekend and there’s lots of food and prizes and good listening in store. Check it out.
