Jill Van Sickle - Photo by Brooks Peterson

From fire dancers to voter registration, the happenings outside of the Northern Warehouse on Prince Street demonstrated the exceptional range of activities that were in order for this fall's St. Paul Art Crawl.   My first stops were to see what some of my favorites were up to. I tracked down painter and jewelry designer Jill Van Sickle after hiking up to the sixth floor of the Tilsner Artists Cooperative. The paintings in her Dutch garden series are so peaceful. I like her use of negative space. When I look at these paintings, I become fixated on the build-up of the objects from the background emphasizing each individual flower. 

 

“Mr. Bahl's Studio of Wonders” was buzzing with art crawlers. Michael Bahl's Northern Warehouse space is inhabited by creatures from his Paleo-Osteological Restoration project. No animals hurt in the making of these sculptures, and the materials he uses are contemporary bones from cattle ranches and his friend who happens to be a professional bone-cleaner. By the time my photographer Brooks Peterson and I arrived, Bahl was in the middle of his packed studio space interviewing with Three Minute Egg. 

 

Minnesotascapes are all over the Lowertown Common Atrium, which is a nice place to drift through and decide to add to the home-art collection. Kelly Rohloff creates layered and tactile works. Heavier subject matter and subdued colors lead your eye to the detail of texture. There is also Sara J. Leadholm who paints en plein air. I found her winter scenes to be particularly interesting. In addition, Claudia Stack-Kremer's  Americana style is reminiscent and fun. “Hamline Hardware”  and “Snelling Avenue Fine Wines” give a shout-out to the Midway neighborhood.

 

In the Northern Warehouse, I discovered milliner Angie Hall Sandifer of Angie's Hats. Sandifer crafts detailed and ornate ladies' dress hats that are a reasonably-priced alternative to the local haberdashery and would be perfect for any female jazz singer. I later met Sharyn Hultman. Living with Parkinson's disease and refusing medication because it slows her down, she produced 70 works in the past three months spent at her cabin in Northern Wisconsin. She feels that the energy of the water and the trees flow through her. Her words are profound and timely, albeit difficultly spoken. She explained “do your best and don't get too scared about the money.” The fact that Beethoven's “Moonlight Sonata” was playing in the background, perhaps, added to the intensity of the meeting. With sparkles on her person and in her watercolors, she noted that “we all have to take the good with the bad, the dark and the light.” 

 

Sharyn Hultman - Photo by Brooks Peterson

Jesse Haug was showing his metal sculptures at the Pivot Arts non-profit artists' cooperative in the Northwestern Building. He repurposes objects that are salvaged. As host for this basement exhibit, he encouraged attendees to twirl the interlocked pieces for his sculpture called “Aspired."

He is conscious of “trying to draw people in rather than just looking at a piece by enticing them not only feel the textures but also by interacting with the piece. It draws them in to an experience that is more than just looking.”

 

Clouds in Water Zen Center in the Northern Warehouse offers a peaceful respite from the chaos and visual stimulation showing a modest collection of pottery for tea ritual. Their quarterly newsletter gives a common sense approach to meditation, “to live into the aliveness of every moment,” and vow to “do good, don't harm, and save all beings.” Simple pamphlets were available with meditation tips for breathing and body positioning. This literature also offers advice on how to be “present to your life and live with awareness, joy and ease” while working on your Zen techniques for drinking tea, eating meals, working, and driving.

 

If Zen Buddhism not your thing, then maybe dragonflies are. The Minnesota Odonata Survey Project at the Northern Warehouse is an exhibit raising awareness of Minnesota's dragonfly and damselfly populations while showing macro-photography of these welcome critters. According to the Project, Minnesota's dragonfly and damselfly population is “one of the most under-surveyed and most interesting.” I learned that the difference between dragonflies and damselflies is the way the wings and eyes are situated; dragonfly wings are at a 90 degree angle from the body while the insect is at rest while damselfly eyes are separated. Minnesota has 73 different species of Odonates and the number of nymphs (dragonfly larvae) is an indicator of water quality. If you are interested in learning more, check them out here. You could conduct a survey by submitting records and specimens or go on a dragonfly gathering!

 

Jeffrey Hansen of the Tilsner Artist Cooperative finds much inspiration from Minnesota's North Shore. Hansen realized that nature photography is his true calling during a Canadian fishing trip about ten years ago. I have an affinity for his photographs entitled “Mississippi Headwaters,”  “Buffalo in Morning Fog”  and “River Foam, Baptism River.”

 

My last stop brought me across the Mississippi over to Water Street. I was looking to find my friend Robert Lee Munoz, but I learned that he has sought sunnier skies somewhere in the Southwest. I did, however, meet a prolific artist couple in CeCeile Hartleib and Terry Kayser. They had their portraits, still lifes and landscapes mixed together throughout their 4^th floor studio in the A.C.V.R. Warehouse. 

 

Self-described representaional realists, these painters adhere to the strictures of Classical Realism with an emphasis on craftsmanship and impressionistic light. Influenced by the visible world, Terry Kayser's “Overlook Rushford, Minnesota” provided, for me, a nostalgic glimpse at rolling hills of southeastern Minnesota. Kayser explained that the view is of the same creek that recently over-flowed and flooded the town. Additionally, Hartleib's painting of the Cathedral of St. Paul reflects not only the beautiful details of the building itself, but is also a perfectly believable bright sunny day so common for a St. Paul Sunday.