Meg Erke Upcycles Books and Windows into Art for Your Walls and Musings

By Sharon Parker

LoLa artist Meg Erke repurposes a variety of materials to make journals and mixed media compositions. “I am a book artist and painter,” she says. 

“I use salvaged and repurposed materials as the foundation for both mediums, using old book covers from damaged or discarded books to rebind into journals."

I then use the insides of the old books as collage material in my paintings. I use old windows as my ‘canvas.’ collaging and layering paint on both sides of the glass. I studied book binding in the late ’90s and started painting only a few years before that; but only recently have I found a way to put both forms together.

What inspires/informs your art?

One of the things I love most about this neighborhood is our proximity to parks and trails. Hiking, biking, canoeing, and being outside inspire me.  

What do you like about LoLa? Why did you join?

I love our neighborhood!  When I explain to folks why they need to make time to do this art crawl (when there are so many things going on at the end of summer), I talk about the variety. Never have I been a part of an art crawl that has such a wide range of mediums, as well as personalities. 

My favorite thing about this crawl is that we have everyone from full-time professional artists to folks who build cool stuff in their basements in their free time, and everyone is included. 

Will you be doing anything special for LoLa?

Refreshments, coptic binding demos, and a drawing for a giclee print of one of my mixed media originals. 

Meg is returning for her fourth LoLa art crawl and will be showing at Flourish Pilates studio this year. 

Visit Meg’s Wordpress site, Upstairs Art, to see more pictures and learn about where to find (and buy) her artwork after LoLa.

Parkway Pottery by Alice Nelson-Lindall is Functional Pottery and More

By Sharon Parker

Alice Nelson-Lindall makes functional pottery under the business name Parkway Pottery, which began as a hobby but has recently grown into “a nice small business,” she says.

Now she has pieces for sale at Seward Co-op and will also be selling her pottery at the Fall into the Arts Festival in Edina on September 6 and 7. 

And she’s participating in LoLa for the first time this year, at her home at 2712 East Minnehaha Parkway in the Nokomis part of greater Longfellow, along with woodworking artist Kate Hepp (Whoville Creations). “With my southern location on the map, I hope you venture into new territory to visit my space,” she says.

What do you like about LoLa? Why did you join?

I live in the greater LoLa area, and want to support my community

What inspires/informs your artwork?

I take inspiration from color, texture and patterns. Utilizing a variety of firing techniques, glazes, shapes, and forms keeps my creative juices flowing.

I am blessed to be able to spend so much time doing something that I love. When I am decorating or carving on a pot, I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing.

I remember when I first started selling my work, there were pieces that I was so attached to that I could not part with them. As I created more work, new pieces took their place.  I still keep special pieces just for me, but now I get as much pleasure watching other people pick out a piece of my work that they love as well.

Primarily, I make functional pieces—bowls, mugs, plates; items we use in our everyday lives. However, I am always looking for that new item that will add a spark to my garden, or that will just look nice sitting on a shelf. For ideas about how to add art to your garden be sure to stop by my site!

I new line that I recently developed is called Up North, showing our beautiful Minnesota pine trees and just a hint of snow.  They look beautiful on a holiday table, or just at your cabin 'Up North.”

Visit the Parkway Pottery Facebook page and 'like' for a 10 percent discount on your purchases during LoLa, and for updated information on where to find Alice and her work.

You can also arrange to see and purchase pottery from Alice by contacting her at Parkwaypottery@gmail.com.

LoLa Artist Lisa Anderson Paints Abstractly on Canvas and Tile

By Sharon Parker

Painter Lisa Anderson works with acrylics on canvas to create large abstract compositions featuring blocky geometric forms in earth tones, sometimes adding other media for texture and contrast, giving the paintings a rustic patina.

She has also been dabbling in painting tiles, both as purely decorative objects and for use as coasters or trivets, and collagraphy, a form of printmaking that involves gluing various textured materials to a block and then printing it.

This is her first LoLa and she’ll be showing at home, site number 47 on the forthcoming map (4131 39th Ave. S.), on her back patio. And we’re going to have beautiful weather for LoLa weekend, so you’ll enjoy visiting her there to admire her paintings and enjoy a few refreshments.

What inspires/informs your art?

I'm obsessed with color, texture and layers.  I love the idea of creating something from nothing that inspires emotion in other people.

What do you like about LoLa/why did you join?

I love having a community of artists in the neighborhood.

I also think being part of the art crawl will be a lot of fun.

Are you planning to do anything special for the art crawl?

Refreshments most certainly. Cheese, wine, water, fruit, that sort of thing.

See more of Lisa’s artwork on her website, Lisa Anderson Paintings. 

LoLa art crawl maps will be available at the Longfellow Community Council's Corn Feed on August 14 at Longfellow Park, at the Midtown Farmers' Market on Saturday, August 16, and at Longfellow Market, 3815 E. Lake Street, also on August 16 (noon–2). After the 14th, maps will also be available at businesses all around Longfellow.

Northwest Graphic Supply of South Minneapolis, a LoLa Art Crawl Site, Fetes their Restored Classic Marquee Sign Tuesday Night

By Sharon Parker

LoLa host site Northwest Graphic Supply, on Lake Street at 42nd in South Minneapolis, wants to get your attention. So much so, in fact, that they had their classic blue-and-white sign restored and are making a big deal of lighting it up on National Night Out, this Tuesday, August 5, with a party from 8 to 9 p.m.

That should be just about when your block party is winding down, right? 

If you stroll on over, perhaps with a few of your neighbors, you’ll be invited to share your history in the neighborhood and hear a little bit about theirs before they “flip the switch” on their newly restored sign with its festive border of movie-marquee lights.

And there will be treats.

This purveyor of screen printing and art supplies wants everyone to know that they are part of the neighborhood, too, and more connected to you and your neighbors than you may realize.

"Stories" by Megan Moore, who will be at NW Graphic Supply during LoL

As they describe it, their customer base is the local community of “entrepreneurs, artists, sales reps, construction workers, wood workers, youth workers, musicians, luthiers, students, professors, mechanics, brewers, designers, athletes, and textile decorators.” 

“These individuals have one very specific thing in common: screen printing.”  And they’ve been turning to Northwest Graphic Supply for not only supplies but also assistance and expertise for 50 years.

           

And this year, the store is also hosting two Longfellow artists as part of the LoLa art crawl, August 23–24. So, naturally, LoLa had to ask them a few questions.

Please tell us about your business—do you carry art supplies, too?

We are a full service screen print supplier. Most of our business comes from the textile industry and T-shirt printers. We're also an art supplier. We deal mostly to the Longfellow community and schools throughout the midwest.

"Lazienki Park" by Megan Moore

Why did you sign up to be a LoLa site? What do you like about LoLa?

To support our customers. We pride ourselves on the quality of our services and get goosebumps when customers find success in their ventures with product from our store. LoLa is a good way to stay connected with the community of which we are a part.

Will you have anything special going on during the art crawl?

We are very excited to host two local artists, Kim Gordon and Megan Moore. They'll be on site repping their work and holding down nerdy conversations about their particular artistic processes. There'll also be live screen printing demos, so if you've ever wanted to learn the art ... it'd be a good time!

And, obviously we'll be open for business as usual with special LoLa discounts on our art supplies.

"Storm Breaks Over Mississippi River Gorge," by Kim Gordon, who will be at Northwest Graphic Supply for LoLa

(Note that business hours “as usual” for NW Graphic Supply are 8–5 Monday through Friday, but they will also be open on LoLa weekend, August 23–24. from 10 to 5.)

Pastel Artist Jymme Golden Practices Art and Mindfulness

By Sharon Parker

Jymme Golden uses pastels to draw and paint landscapes, nature-based still lifes, and birds and other animals, saying that these natural subjects “draw me in as I create and re-create what I see and experience.”

This will be her second LoLa art crawl, and she will be showing in the Minnehaha Professional Building, 3960 Minnehaha Avenue, where she has her massage therapy practice. After last year’s blistering heat during LoLa weekend, she is eager to point out that the building comes with “air-conditioned comfort and lovely bathrooms. Woo-hoo!”

She'll be sharing her space this year with polymer clay artist Laura Burlis and mixed-media book artist, me.

Minnehaha Falls

What inspires/informs your art?

I find inspiration, solace, renewal and unending fascination in the natural world. This can be in my own back yard, the city streets and parks or out in the “wilds” somewhere. I feel lucky to live in Minneapolis, a city that within its borders has amazing wildlife and copious numbers of lakes, rivers, creeks, wetlands, woods, etc. I’ve seen bald eagles, hawks, foxes, coyotes, deer, loons, and many other creatures within minutes of my home and occasionally in my own inner city yard. I walk, bike and snowshoe around the city and get to observe wonderful things.

Superior Sunrise

Then there are the drives out of town that bring me to favorite places like Lake Superior and the North Shore, Minnesota prairies and woodlands and the inspiration for my first pastels: Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. There the fall colors and waterfowl migration make me swoon.

Fair Fowl Firsts dyptych

My return to drawing and painting is very much tied to my spiritual practice including mindfulness meditation, which I have been practicing since 2004. Paying attention to things as they are and seeing that everything changes, always, everything is impermanent, strongly informs my life and my art. When I am working on a drawing or painting it is a practice of mindfulness.

Farmers Market Bounty

What do you like about LoLa? Why did you join?

Once I returned to painting, and I realized my office was located on a main artery for LoLa, how could I resist?  It seemed meant to be.  I also live within the LoLa boundaries but on the far west side near Sibley Park.

Superior Mergansers

Are you planning anything special for the art crawl?

May I repeat: air-conditioned comfort!, nice bathrooms!, drinking water, and possibly more.  Last year I did a give-away drawing each day, which I will repeat, giving away cards, T-shirts and giclee prints.  Last year I didn't have a demo per se but I put my sketch books out and people really seemed to like looking through them so I will repeat that.

You can see more of Jymme’s artwork on her website, and follow her works-in-progress on her Facebook page.