Happy March!!! From my years of overseeing gardens for the City of Saint Paul, I know that the average daytime high at the beginning of March is 32 degrees and the average night time low at the end of March is 32 degrees. March is definitely the month of change in Minnesota.
There is change in the air at Mark Granlund Studios. The studio is getting overloaded with activity and there is wood for stretchers everywhere! Here is what I have been up to.
Featured Painting
Lowland Clearing
Oil paint on canvas
30” x 24”
$1,650
This painting is of a lowland clearing in Northern Wisconsin. The trees are slowly encroaching on this piece of grassy land as it is drying out over the years. I really enjoy making compositions where the viewer looks through trees to see the subject. I also enjoy paintings with definitive foreground, mid-ground and background layers, which this one exemplifies very well. This painting will be available at my upcoming Open Studio.
You can always contact me directly if you are interested in any artwork you see in this newsletter or on my website.
Exhibits
Open Studios
I will, once again, be having Open Studios as part of the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Please, come by and see my work, and visit other artists in the South Como area.
SPRING
April 26 - 28
Friday, 6 pm - 9 pm
Saturday, 12 pm - 8 pm
Sunday, 12 pm - 5 pm
FALL
October 5 - 6
Saturday, 12 pm - 6 pm
Sunday, 12 pm - 6 pm
Galleries
You can always see a sampling of my art at:
- Everett and Charlie Gallery in Minneapolis, MN.
Studio Visits
If you are wanting to see my artwork in person, we can set up a Studio Visit. Contact me directly, if interested.
And, of course, you can always see new and old art at my website:
markgranlund.com or markgranlundstudio.com.
Dreams
I have been writing down my dreams on my Substack. If you click the Notes tab, you will find several of my recent dreams. I have always had dreams that were long detailed stories. I finally decided to write them down and share them. To me, they are so crazy that I don’t really worry about people’s interpretations of them. I don’t think they will reveal much about me that would be embarrassing or that I am not aware of. If they do, well, I will learn something new about myself. Have a gander, and a good laugh at some of them. Why John Denver?
Winter Plein Air Retreat Summary - Just Another No-Go
Well, I didn’t attend the Winter Plein Air Retreat at Camp Menogyn. Participants didn’t receive the details about the retreat until the day before it started. I did not find some of the conditions to be conducive to my way of traveling and I was waiting on some important information that week - there is no internet or phone service at the camp. I would have loved to have had these details when I registered for the retreat.
This is the second trip in a row that did not happen. The previous month I had to cancel a trip to Tucson, AZ because I became too sick to fly. Over the last few years I have had two trips cancelled because of the pandemic shutdowns and another was cancelled because of a flood. Recently, traveling has been a real shot in the dark. I have had many fun trips, but almost just as many that have not happened. I have learned to buy cancellation protection when available... and going by car is a safer bet that the trip will happen.
I am trying to re-book my Arizona trip for April. My fingers are crossed.
Commission
I am currently very busy making some very large stretchers for a commission with the City of Woodbury, MN. Six large-scale canvases will be painted, scanned, blown up three times their size, printed and installed on walls in the newly renovated Lookout Ridge play area. It is a fun project in scope, covering five walls with a St. Croix River valley scene. The largest wall is 33 feet by 26 feet. I have been working with great people at the City (in particular, Josh Kinney) and with Heather Novak-Peterson, who is designing interior graphics, mosaics and other artistic elements for the attached community center.
I will be working all through the summer to complete the large-scale canvases (the longest being twelve feet, the shortest is 9 feet) in my little studio house. I’m not sure about the logistics of that, but am excited to make it happen. I will announce the unveiling, which won’t happen until 2025 and, of course, share progress along the way.
What’s Cooking In the Studio
Big Stretchers!
As mentioned in the previous entry, I am making large-scale stretchers. Making and supporting them properly is quite the job in and of itself. The larger the stretcher, the more likely to warp. So, extra care has to be taken to cross-grain the main bar and the angled edge wood, provide proper support on back, and remove any imperfections before stretching canvas on them. It is very satisfying seeing long straight edges when done right. It will take me a good part of the next 4 - 6 weeks to complete making the canvases and have them ready to paint.
Completing Paintings
Last Recap, I reported that I was busy working on 16 paintings at once. I am happy to report that I have completed 6 of them. Only 10 more to go!! Some are pretty small, but I am always happy when I complete a task.
Harvesting Sustainably-harvested Lumber
I took another trip up north to my favorite sawmill, Cedar Woodcutter, run by Alan Presley and Jennifer Feist. They sustainably-harvest trees from several plots that they help manage in Northern Minnesota. Above, is the barn where they dry-out and cut up the wood. He had 618 linear feet of pine board waiting for me when I arrived. We talked about all kinds of things for about an hour and then I was on my way back home. Its always a fun adventure picking up the wood. Here is the story of my first visit to Alan and Jennifer’s sawmill.
History: Art Blog and Newsletters
I have been writing newsletters and an art blog for almost seventeen years. I find that hard to believe, but I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing about art. So it must be true. I recently re-posted my first ever blog post, Art Lesson: Improving Composition from November of 2007! Enjoy!!
Finishing Touches
Legacy Schmegacy
Just taking my time, as quickly as possible
I have been thinking lately about legacy. A coworker used the word when talking about my employment. He said my legacy was set. Meaning the program I created has been so positively received that I will forever be thought of well. I laughed. I don’t spend much time thinking about what other people think about me. I am a project or activity focused person. I spend my days figuring out what I want to do or make. Each day I want to…
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