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| | Email this article • Print this article | Buying local includes many talented artists
by Sheryl Williams
The locavore movement has been defined as a collaborative effort to build a more locally-based, self-reliant economy. It began with people who wanted to know where their food came from, but has expanded to an effort to "buy local" goods and services whenever possible. The Cannon Falls area is home to many talented artists. This story features a sprinkling of the diversity of talented hands working their magic in our community.
Lisa Dolezel
credits her nimble hands and love of whimsy to her father, a magician and entertainer. After leading a nomadic lifestyle during her youth, Lisa and her family, for the past 10 years, have settled into life on what was known as the Robinson farm in Stanton Township. Originally a painter, Lisa took a few years off from the art world to raise her family. After taking a pottery class, Lisa discovered a passion for "playing in the mud." Her Frog Creek Pottery studio is a fanciful world filled to the brim with whimsical characters, brilliant colors, and one mischievous cat named Zelda.
A prolific potter, Lisa goes through five tons of clay per year. Lisa helped organize the Cannon Falls Art Festival for five years and is currently working with several local businesses on a tourism campaign called "Destination: Cannon Falls."
For the past six years, Lisa has hosted the Frog Creek Art Harvest Festival each fall. Lisa also teaches pottery making and believes that with practice, "Anyone can learn to throw a pot." Some of the proceeds from her pottery aid the Casa Hogar orphanage in Oaxaca City, Mexico.
Becky Jokela
has also been involved with art for most of her life. As a child she loved to draw. Later she combined her loves of art and children into a career as an art teacher for the Zumbrota-Mazeppa school district, where she has taught at the elementary and high school levels for the past 24 years.
Up until a few years ago she considered herself a "jack of all trades, but master of none." In 2002 she finally "picked a medium," and began creating landscapes using pastels, which resemble chalk, and doing plein air paintings. Plein air painting refers to a painting done outside rather than in a studio. She loves how pastels capture nature in rich color.
She derives much of her inspiration from her Sogn Valley farm. Some of her paintings are impressionistic, others quite realistic. School breaks have afforded her the opportunity to paint, travel, and attend art fairs and shows. Each painting requires 10 to 40 hours to complete.
Becky will be one of two featured artists at the Northfield Arts Guild from Jan. 6 through Feb. 6, 2010.
Harvey Carlson
considers himself "the ultimate recycler."
Harvey retired from the printing business about ten years ago and turned his hobby into a business, Get Bent Willow Designs. Harvey recycles barn wood, slab wood, and "junk wood" such as buckthorn. His creations include wine racks, trellises, arbors, plant stands, rustic benches, kindling baskets, and other unique pieces.
Harvey harvests willow from his land to make beautiful chairs and loveseats. He does several shows per year, one each spring held at his farm in Welch Township as well as shows held in each spring and fall in Wabasha and River Falls.
Harvey's furniture and other items are also on display at the Family Farms Market in Eleva, WI.
Luvy Rapp
doesn't consider himself a "real artist." However, his unique style of barn art tells a different story. Combining his loves of farm life, bird watching, and history, Luvy transforms reclaimed barn boards into interesting and useful objects, especially frames and bird feeders.
What started as a hobby, working in his shop in rural Cannon Falls, has grown into Luvy's Barn Art, which he displays at the Cannon Valley Winery and Althoff Hardware, where he has worked for 30 years. Luvy also sells his art at the farmer's market and attends several art shows per year, striving to keep his prices reasonable.
A history buff, Luvy has always loved "old things." He is the current president of the Cannon Falls Museum. He is proud of saving old barn wood from being "gone for good." He recycles other farm items as decorations for his bird houses, such as old fence insulators and weathervanes.
Chuck Goranowski
has been honing his craft for the past 30 years. A lifelong Minnesota resident, Chuck studied the art of glassblowing at several Minnesota colleges and universities, as well as internationally.
Chuck completed his studio, Goranowski Glassworks, at his home in Welch, MN, in 2005. He has concentrated on his glassblowing career after retiring from a 20-year career at the Prairie Island Nuclear plant. He has since returned to working as an operation procedure writer at the plant, while still continuing his glassblowing craft.
Chuck designed much of the equipment he uses. He may go through 1,000 gallons of propane in one month, heating the raw materials to a temperature of 2,500 degrees.
According to Chuck, "The elements of color and form are combined with inspiration, skill, and intuition to create one-of-a-kind glass pieces of pure beauty."
Chuck demos his art on the weekends at his Welch studio, where he is often assisted by his daughter, Sara.
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Some common threads ran through my conversations with these artists. In addition to their extremely talented hands, they all have supportive families, many of whom provide assistance. Each of them describes a vivid imagination and a sense that there is "never enough time to create," as one of them put it, "the zillions of ideas bubbling up in my head."
This holiday season and beyond, consider sharing some unique local art as a gift experiences with your friends and family.
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