Bluff Country Studio Art Tour

Even though the Bluff Country Studio Art Tour is months away, I've been working on putting together some of the details for the Spring event. Since the place I'd previously set up for the tour is no longer available and our farm/studio doesn't have really good driveway access, I needed to find a new spot to set up for the tour. A few hundred feet from the end of our driveway is a wonderfully refurbished stone schoolhouse which is used as a seasonal rental for tourists and hunters. The owner has graciously agreed to allow its use for the art tour next April.

Now I just need to get some inventory ready so I'll have enough pottery to fill this beautiful space.

Art Tour Follow Up

Last weekend I participated in the Bluff County Studio Art Tour in Southeastern Minnesota. The tour is an annual event where area artists open their studios for visitor, providing demonstrations and sales of their works. Since the driveway to our place is pretty nasty in the unpredictable spring weather, I was fortunate the fun loving folks at Clover Gallery, Sharyl, Carol and Ralph, agreed to host my pottery display in their space. I was joined there by glass artist Suzanne Merkel of LaCrescent. The weekend weather was very cool and rainy, but I think that provided more traffic for the event since people couldn’t do things outside. If you can’t play in the sunny garden, what better way to make the most of a rainy weekend than traveling around visiting the areas artists?

This was my first time participating as an artist in the tour, so it was fun to be on the other side of the event. I was very impressed with the students from Austin Middle School’s Art Club who made the journey to visit many of the studios. The kids were very well behaved, seemed very interested in what the artists were demonstrating and had great questions. I commend their school district for allowing their students the day to attend. What a great learning experience! Here’s a picture of them as Suzanne discussed her glass works with them.

All in all, it was a very successful and fun weekend I look forward to doing again next year. I may even consider having it at our place since we are planning to have the driveway improvements done this summer. We’ll see.
Thanks for visiting – stop by again.

9th Annual Bluff Country Studio Art Tour - Revised images

Who’s tired of hearing about the economy?

I know I am and I’m betting you are too. So… no talk about the economy here. Actually, I’m suggesting an escape that will guarantee you don’t think about the economy or any of the negative, doom and gloom press that goes with it.

The 9th Annual Bluff Country Studio Arts Tour is the weekend of April 24 – 26, 2009 in the beautiful bluff country of southeastern Minnesota. The tour is a rare opportunity when artists open their studios to the public in an areas where the views are consider works of art. Below are images of the inside and outside of the tours brochures.

I’m artist #23, but can be found at Clover Gallery in Harmony, which is participant #22. In the spring, the driveway into our studio is usually pretty muddy so Clover Gallery has agreed to be my host. There will be demonstrations throughout the weekend at many of the locations. I’ll be working on the wheel outdoors if the weather cooperates, or demonstrating texturing techniques inside if it doesn’t.

Please come out to visit me and the many other talented artists participating in the tour while you take a pleasant drive in this historic area.