Copper/Brass Wall Piece by Jon Michael Route
The Crossing Borders exhibit at Johnson Heritage Post in Grand Marais opened with a reception Friday, September 11, 2009. Visitors to the opening reception had a chance to talk with artists about their work while enjoying appetizers and wine along with a wide-ranging variety of art.
Crossing Borders is an annual North Shore art tour started in 1996 by a consortium of full-time artists wanting to give buyers the opportunity to see artists at work in their own studios. Thisyear’s tour will feature 21 artists at nine studios.
The artists find inspiration in numerous ways. Dick Cooter of Cooter Pottery in Two Harbors fires his pots in a wood-burning kiln inspired by traditional Korean kilns. “The kiln must be stoked with wood every 10 minutes for 36 hours until 2400 degrees F. is reached,” he writes. “Pots emerge from this river of fire with a richness of surface that can’t be duplicated by more modern means.”
Dan and Lee Ross of Hovland met in 1972 at UW-River Falls. A description of their work says, “Moving to Hovland, Minnesota on the shore of Lake Superior in 1991 had a dramatic impact on their work. New forms and shapes evolved after they observed tumultuous storms and shifting ice sheets rearrange their boulder-strewn shoreline.” The Crossing Borders tour runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from September 25 through October 4. Information on the studios as well as a map can be found at www.crossingbordersstudiotour.com. The exhibit at Johnson Heritage Post will run through October 11.
Blue Jays and Maples by Betsy Bowen
Wall Hanging by Dale Burton of Burton Forge
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