Bruce has been a part of our Festival for many years and always exhibits with beautiful pottery. Bruce lives in Grand Rapids and also teaches a pottery class at the MacRostie Art Center if you would like to try throwing some clay on your own.
You can contact Bruce through the link below.
Rebecca “Becky” Flansburg is an author, freelance writer, and project manager for the non-profit online children’s literacy initiative Multicultural Children’s Book Day. Her published works include FREElance FREEdom: Creating the Work-From-Home Life You Crave, Mom Bossing, and Sissy Goes Tiny; a children’s picture book co-written with fellow Minnesotan, B.A. Norrgard. Her author aspirations for 2020 include a co-written children's literacy ebook called The ABCs of Book Jumping (May 2020) and Scuttlers; an urban fiction thriller (late 2020).
Mark Swenson
Mark Swenson, an accomplished Northern Minnesota artist, believes it is important for a wildlife artist to live in close proximity to his subject matter. Mark's paintings and woodworking reflect his profound connection and appreciation of nature and wildlife.
Mark studied commercial and fine art at Bemidji State University. He won the Minnesota Lake Trout Stamp in 1994. His lifelong passion for the outdoors and incredible eye for detail enables him to uniquely capture his subject matter, a mood, or an experience on canvas.
Mark's paintings and woodwork hang in private collections across the country.
"I've been influenced by the Impressionists and their use of brush stroke to create warmth and movement. I like C.M. Russell for his rawness and colors of his landscapes, as well as Robert Bateman for the way he presents the whole picture of a bird or mammal in its natural habitat."
“It enables me to see and experience the subtle nuances of nature. Watching a storm move across a lake can be a real stimulus. I particularly enjoy hunting for waterfowl, upland birds and fishing the north shore of Lake Superior."
Check out Mark’s incredible art at the link below.
David Barthel has been photographing the natural world for over fifteen years. His early interest in photography began about a decade before that when he bought his first camera (for $10) at the age of eight years with money he had received as a gift. As a young adult, a developing passion for the rugged landscape surrounding Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior converged with David's increasing interest in nature and landscape photography, igniting a creative spark that still drives his pursuits today.
After a brief stint as an electrical engineer, which abruptly ended in 2008 (thanks to the Great Recession), David turned to landscape photography full-time and hasn't looked back! He considers himself equally a scientist/engineer and an artist, striving for both technical excellence and artistic merit in his work. David's mastery of cutting-edge technique, both in the field and in processing, is evident in his bold landscape imagery of the Lake Superior region and the American West.
David's work has received several awards and has been featured in a variety of national and regional magazines and publications, ranging from Minnesota Monthly to Outdoor Photographer. Since 2011, David has exhibited his photography at juried fine art festivals throughout the Upper Midwest, where his work is purchased for display in homes and businesses around the world.
View David’s work on his website from the link below.
You can view the 25th Annual Art & Book Festival in the comfort of your home. Grab a beverage, play some music, and enjoy the fabulous lineup of Artists and Authors that we had scheduled for 2020 with links to their websites, Facebook, or email. These artists and authors will be in the lineup on August 14, 2021.
Artists Page and our Authors Page
David Barthel has been photographing the natural world for over fifteen years. His early interest in photography began about a decade before that when he bought his first camera (for $10) at the age of eight years with money he had received as a gift. As a young adult, a developing passion for the rugged landscape surrounding Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior converged with David's increasing interest in nature and landscape photography, igniting a creative spark that still drives his pursuits today.
After a brief stint as an electrical engineer, which abruptly ended in 2008 (thanks to the Great Recession), David turned to landscape photography full-time and hasn't looked back! He considers himself equally a scientist/engineer and an artist, striving for both technical excellence and artistic merit in his work. David's mastery of cutting-edge technique, both in the field and in processing, is evident in his bold landscape imagery of the Lake Superior region and the American West.
David's work has received several awards and has been featured in a variety of national and regional magazines and publications, ranging from Minnesota Monthly to Outdoor Photographer. Since 2011, David has exhibited his photography at juried fine art festivals throughout the Upper Midwest, where his work is purchased for display in homes and businesses around the world.
View David’s work on his website from the link below.
You can view the 25th Annual Art & Book Festival in the comfort of your home. Grab a beverage, play some music, and enjoy the fabulous lineup of Artists and Authors that we had scheduled for 2020 with links to their websites, Facebook, or email. These artists and authors will be in the lineup on August 14, 2021.
Artists Page and our Authors Page
It is with sad hearts that we must announce the cancellation of our 2020 Music Festival, which was to be held July 24-25th in Hackensack. We are so grateful for the ongoing support and excitement shown by our community for Josh Duffee and his Big Band, who have brought us quality, big-city entertainment at small-town prices since 2015.
Our decision was based on the uncertainty of when society will be allowed to return to normal in our area, and out of concern for the safety of our audience, volunteers and entertainers. However: We look forward to having Josh return to us in 2021, and will share further news with you as soon as we can.
We will be featuring Artists and Authors on our website in a virtual Art & Book Festival coming soon.
All of us from the Northwoods Arts Council want to thank everyone of you who crossed our entrance into a festive day! We are so excited to tell you that we had record breaking attendance with a day that summer was named after…Perfect! We had some very talented artists and renowned authors that attended our event on Saturday. Although we do not judge the authors at this event, we do have awards for our artists. Here are judges Sharon Peterson and Chelsey Wellsted’s winners:
Best of Show
1st Place - Pat Lintner
2nd Place - Emily Annabelle
Most Creative
1st Place - Tin Cat Studio - Lisa and Randy Lee
2nd Place - Creative Nutworks - Albert Tanko
Spirit of the North
1st Place - Bird Brain Birdhouse - Barry Nelson
2nd Place - Karen Spotts - Pyrography (woodburning by hand) Nature Themes (not pictured)
Right to left: Barry Nelson, Pat Lintner, Lisa and Randy Lee, Emily Annabelle not pictured Karen Spotts
We were able to catch Karen Spotts after the first round of pictures and had her pose with Pat Lintner for another winning picture! Thank you to you all-Such a fun day!
We are so excited! Tomorrow come out and listen to Wayne and the Boys before he plays at the MN State Fair! How lucky can we be?
Wayne and the Boys is a one-man-band from Minneapolis, Minn. With a playlist of more than 600 songs, Wayne Wagner performs an incredibly wide variety of music and genres everyone can enjoy.
9 Yum Yum
Hackensack Faith Community
Finer Meats & Eats
Up North Kettle Corn
Tin Cat Studio is comprised of husband and wife team Randy & Lisa, who live amongst the corn and hayfields outside of Luck, WI, along with 7 cats and 4 dogs. May-Oct they can be found at their summer home which consists of a white tent at juried Fine Art Shows throughout the region.
Randy‘s photographic interests include old barns, trees, rusty cars, abandoned farms and windmills, which are found throughout his body of work. Lisa captures nature’s beauty through macro photography: finding the tiny, little details in the world around us fascinating and a source of joy—great beauty found within a tiny little space.
Their style can be described as impressionistic photography. Handmade custom frames encase most of their current body of work. Reclaimed barn wood, metal and found objects make up these pieces, creating individual and unique pieces of art. You can find oodles of more information on their website at TinCatStudio.com
The Stennes Sisters, Erica and Shanna have created the company S.S. Baits. They have lived in the MN North woods their entire lives. Growing up in a rural area, on a lake, ensured plenty of time on the water. As children many of our summer days were spent preening and modifying their tackle to better catch the elusive monsters of the lake. As adults we developed and expanded our skills to create one-of-a-kind lures that the fish cannot resist.
Rosemary Vaughn’s recently released novel Penny for Your Thoughts is set mainly on the Canadian prairies. This historical romance covering several decades follows the life of Penny Ryan, beginning with her father’s life during the Depression and WWII. Growing up and living in the fictional town of Crocus Plains, Penny’s life interacts with Sheryl, Libby and Corbin, characters from Vaughn’s award-winning debut novel Love on the Misty Isles, making the novel a prequel as well as a sequel. Penny encounters opportunities for love, but it never lasts. Will Penny’s life story reconnect her with early friendships and find true love? Will her story return the reader to the Misty Isles? Readers who have urged Vaughn for this second book will discover the answers by reading it. Both books will be available at the Festival. The author is looking forward to the event as it will be the third festival in which she has participated and enjoyed.
Born and raised on the Canadian prairies, Rosemary and her family immigrated to North Dakota in the mid 1970s. The settings of the novels remain in Canada, indicating that you can take the girl out of Canada, but you can’t take Canada out of the girl. A former high school English teacher and professor of Teacher Education at UND, she has drawn on her experience in education, living on the remote islands of Haida Gwaii (the Misty Isles), and growing up on the Canadian prairies to bring authenticity to her novels. Retired, she and her husband spend summers in Minnesota lake country and winters in Florida, thus she has adopted the title “Pine to Palm Writer.” Readers can visit Vaughn on her website at www.rosemaryvaughn.com or Facebook author page at www.facebook.com/authorrosemaryvaughn.
“We want to help people enjoy, respect and protect the beauty of the woods, water and wildlife all around us,” says Becky and Bob Seemann of Artwoods. "This inspires us to create our nature-oriented silver jewelry and rustic furniture and accessories to share with other lake folks. There are endless ideas for creativity in the forests and lakes — leaves, trees, unique stones and animals. Our name Artwoods simply means that we make art in the woods of northern Minnesota. We give 10 percent of net profits to support environmental organizations and want to help people understand that it’s up to all of us to preserve it for future generations."
“We want to help people enjoy, respect and protect the beauty of the woods, water and wildlife all around us,” says Becky and Bob Seemann of Artwoods. "This inspires us to create our nature-oriented silver jewelry and rustic furniture and accessories to share with other lake folks. There are endless ideas for creativity in the forests and lakes — leaves, trees, unique stones and animals. Our name Artwoods simply means that we make art in the woods of northern Minnesota. We give 10 percent of net profits to support environmental organizations and want to help people understand that it’s up to all of us to preserve it for future generations."
Jill grew up in Strandquist, population 69, and Karlstad, population 760, two small towns in Minnesota. When her father returned from a 50th class reunion for the first class he taught in Strandquist, he commented that “all the tiny towns would be gone in a few years.” Could it be true that our childhood towns would disappear forever? Jill and her husband Deane began a journey across Minnesota to document and photograph our state’s smallest incorporated cities with a population around 100.
From St. Vincent, population 64, in the farthest northwest corner of the state to Whalan, population 63, in southeastern Minnesota, Little Minnesota: 100 Towns Around 100 chronicles the history of white settlement in each town, and highlights points of interest for the curious traveler. Following the arrival of James Hill’s Great Northern Railroad, settlers arrived in remote Little Minnesota and developed beautiful farms, churches and thriving business districts. Annual festivals, music, dancing and baseball were a major part of their lives. Many citizens went on to achieve national recognition in politics and government.
Astonished at the number of men who died in war from Little Minnesota, the author included a list of 335 men who died from all the small towns. A second book, Little Minnesota in World War II, tells the stories of 140 men.
In 2001, Jill opened an independent bookstore, Beagle Books, in downtown Park Rapids. She is a 1974 graduate of the University of North Dakota and has worked as a physical therapist until 2015.
Jill lives with her husband Deane, photographer for Little Minnesota, live in Park Rapids on the road to Itasca State Park.
Books in print:
Little Minnesota: 100 Towns Around 100. By Jill Johnson, Adventure Publications ISBN: 978-1-59193-319-9.
Best of Itasca State Park by Deane Johnson. Adventure Publications, May 2014.
Little Minnesota in World War II: The Stories Behind 140 Fallen Heroes from Minnesota’s Littlest Towns by Jill Johnson and Deane Johnson, Adventure Publications September 2017.
“My name is Colin, I am a father, husband, published author, contractor, custom furniture builder and entrepreneur. My passion for building can be tracked all the way back to my early teen years where I would remodel my bedroom every six or so months, to my parents’ dismay and I’ve been on the construction path ever since, one way or another.
Outside of business I’m committed to my family. Our main goal in the next few years is to have a self-sustaining home and lifestyle fueled by our in success in authored books and exclusive resorts in the back waters of beautiful mid-Minnesota.
