10/10 pieces ready for Tettegouche!

I accomplished my goal of making 10 new pieces for my solo show at Tettegouche State Park Visitors Center! I haven’t had an opportunity – or a good reason to make pieces “for me.” Pieces that aren’t commissions of pets, which I love doing, but the change in subject matter felt extremely refreshing.

Now that all the pieces are grouted, my partner Zach will help me frame them. There will be a reception at Tettegouche State Park Visitor’s Center on Friday, June 3 – the day I set up the show. Can’t wait to be up north – the real deal up north.

My show is titled “Are We There Yet.” I’m sort of obsessive about time and the moments in life that we dub as ‘waiting’ for the next thing to happen when in reality, now is what we have for certain so we should make it what we want it to be. Like, taking a trip up to my cabin. Driving in the car is something I’ve never been a huge fan of, but I’m trying to look at it as a moment in time that I should actively participate in. It might not always feel that way, but it’s something I strive for.

In the groove

My Tettegouche State Park Visitors Center art show has me churning out mosaics at an alarming rate! I’ve made 5 new pieces in the last couple of weeks – and I’m planning to have 5 more ready to add to the series before Memorial Day weekend. I’m waiting to grout all of my new pieces until I have all 10 complete – or at least that’s what I’m telling myself. I’m already itching to see how they look once they have that dark-grout pop!

Fitger’s Brewing watertower in Duluth

My theory for why I’m able to work so fast on these particular pieces is that they have a set focal point – something to easily obsess over while I’m working. The water tower above has clear-cut lines and shapes in order to make it look right.

Driving up north in the evening

Sometimes I’m able to hone in on the colors that are needed. It’s hard to work on a piece when you don’t have the right glass for it, so choosing subject matter that fits my glass inventory is typically my best option.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Cut Glass

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Make Art

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Repeat

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Cut Glass // Make Art // Repeat //

Artist’s Point

My first-ever solo art show at Tettegouche State Park Visitor’s Center will be up starting June 3, 2022, and will stay up the entire month!

Instagram account is back – and more good news!

I am SO relieved to announce that my Instagram account is officially back online! Thank you to everyone who reported the account while it was under the hacker’s control – especially my friends Maggie Thompson of Makwa Studio, and Kayla Castro, who was able to escalate the situation from inside Meta. WE DID IT!!

I’m also thrilled to announce that my Tettegouche State Park art show is back on and will be up in the visitor’s center all of June 2022!

One of the new pieces that will be on display at Tettegouche Visitors Center this June

I’ll have around 4 – 6 new pieces for this show – most of which I’m making over the next month and a half. Check out my progress on Instagram and TikTok!

Keep your own social media/online accounts safe by:

• Enabling two-step authentication

• Being skeptical/overly cautious when it comes to communicating via direct messaging functions

Beyond glass

I started working with glass in 2017. Before then, I was all about drawing and watercolor. Glass gave me the confidence to ‘differentiate’ my work and to feel like I was creating something unique to me. Painting was always something I mimicked or tried to copy based on someone else’s work. That was the case up until a couple of weeks ago. Enter, my new favorite creative outlet: gouache!

TikTok is the content inspiration that pushed me into this painting re-discovery. Kudos to whatever algorithm was targeting me with really talented artists – especially artists that talk through the process. There’s just something about how vibrant gouache shows up on paper. It might have something to do with how you start a piece – darkest colors first. This is the opposite of you work with watercolor.

I’ve been using photos of friends’ pets to get comfortable with the process, and I can confidently say I’m happy with the progress I’ve made in the last couple of weeks. Next up: landscapes. My goal is to take my practice outside this summer – something I’ve always wanted to do, but have never felt comfortable tackling.

My 3 favorite creative blogs

I’ve never had a blog, but I do have blogs that I admire. So, why not start my first post with inspiration from people that know what they’re doing.

STILL blog by Mary Jo Hoffman
I wish I knew how to capture this aesthetic in glass. I love the starkness and nakedness of the photos Mary Jo creates and curates. There’s a lot of thoughtfulness that goes into crafting this type of work. It’s almost meditative in it’s process. MJ takes a walk every day and picks out pieces of nature - no matter the season - and crafts a layout so striking you can’t help but feel guilty for having walked past a twig, leaf, what-have-you without a second look.

@brain____________________heart by Brian Hart
I worked with Brian on a few projects back in the day. He is an advocate for artists through and through – and he means it, genuinely. You can tell the creative juices never stop with this guy. He’s also stupid smart. I enjoy how his work seeps into my thoughts – like when I see a banana peel on the ground when I’m on a walk. It’s surprising how many of those are out there. It’s bananas.

Inspiration & Ideas by Ikea
Ikea stages their products in their inspiration & ideas blog that makes good interior design look possible. I like that they actually show spaces with things, like, human things in them – not something minimalists would appreciate. I’m not saying minimalists aren’t great and all, I’m just not able to achieve that look successfully.