Brian Barber
Pelicans at Chambers Grove Park
We went out to see if the pelicans were still hanging out Friday afternoon on the St. Louis River. It was worth the trip. (more…)
Dopey tune on a junky guitar
I’ve become an old man who putters around in the garage. Or the basement — the garage is really cold right now. I built a guitar out of garage stuff.
Selective Focus: Photos on Film
Photography exhibit in the windows of 313 West Superior St.
There’s a temporary photo show hanging in the windows of the old Bagley Building downtown, 313 West Superior St. The photos are all shot on film – a variety of formats from an equal variety of cameras.
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Homegrown Photo Banners
In an Instagram and TikTok world, it’s hard to ask anyone to edit and crop their photos during the hubbub of Homegrown. But now that things are winding down, if you’ve got any great shots that would fit that weird horizontal space at the top of PDD, send ’em our way, we’ll add them to the collection for next year. (more…)
Selective Focus: Look at the Birdy
Recent photos of local birds via Instagram. (more…)
Selective Focus: March Aurora
This past weekend’s aurora did not disappoint. Gathered here are some of the best shots, culled from Instagram. (more…)
Selective Focus: Nature’s Winter Artistry
Select Instagram photos showing a few of nature’s icy art projects. (more…)
Selective Focus: The Old West End
Photographer Nik Nerburn (previously on PDD) has just published a book of photos and stories following the last few years of transformation in Duluth’s West End, more recently and commonly known as Lincoln Park. We get a sneek peek at a few of the images in the book.
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Selective Focus: Icy Blue Gitche Gu
Via Instagram, select images of Lake Superior in wintry blue. (more…)
Selective Focus: Full Wolf Moon
The January full moon is referred to as the Wolf Moon. Here are some local views of last night’s show. (more…)
Selective Focus: Put a Bernie on it
Bernie at Miller Hill Mall
Selective Focus: Moose
So funny looking but still majestic. This week, photos of friends from Frostbite Falls. (more…)
Selective Focus: Hoar Frost / Rime Ice
The ice crystals have us surrounded. Surrender to the frost.
Collected here are select Instagram photos celebrating the wonder of water vapor condensation freezing to cold surfaces (hoar frost) and/or cooled water in the fog turning to ice (rime ice). Probably more the latter than the former. (more…)
Selective Focus: A Very COVID Christmas
Select photos from Instagram of people from the Duluth area doing their best to keep spirits high and the COVID-19 infection rate low. (more…)
Selective Focus: Kitties
From household pets to wildcats, a look at Duluth-area kitty cats via Instagram. (more…)
Selective Focus: Kathy Johnson Anscomb
Artist Kathy Johnson Anscomb has used the new perspective she had during the pandemic — stuck inside, looking out the windows at the same view day after day — and turned that into inspiration for new work this year. This week in Selective Focus, we hear how this series came to be.
KJA: Lately I’ve been painting with acrylic or ink on canvas, I’ve also been having a flirtation with watercolor and have some new things on the back burner. I’ve worked with acrylics for more years than I will tell, but going way back to junior high when my ninth grade art teacher got me interested in art. It was all about abstract art when I was in the art department at UMD in the 60s, and I’ve loved the freedom and simplicity of working in that style since.
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Selective Focus: Jeff Brown
This week we hear from a behind-the-scenes artist, literally setting the stage for others, creating environments and moods where actors can practice their craft. Jeff Brown is a scenic designer, lighting director and technical director who has worked with the Duluth Playhouse and other theater groups, and expanded his work into designing for museums and other public spaces. Oh, and he loves grilling.
JB: As happens with so many big things in life, I was introduced to the world of theater almost by accident. After some years as an Army paratrooper, I had enrolled at a community college and had one big choice left in order to finish my associate’s degree… A Public Speaking course, or a Stagecraft course? I was not at all interested in Public Speaking, so Stagecraft won by default. I couldn’t have guessed that the course would feel so natural to me and that it would introduce me to people and a field that I had never even considered before.
After being involved backstage in a couple of productions there, I decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in technical theater, and I transferred to Minnesota State University Moorhead. MSUM had a very active theater department with a strong technical standard, and I benefited greatly from learning scenic design and lighting design along with construction and production techniques.
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PDD Gift Guide 2020
Here it is, the annual PDD Holiday Gift Guide. We’ve always been proud to highlight items with a local connection. This year it seems even more important to support local, take advantage of online ordering, and spread the word on what’s offered from our own community. Below are 15 items; feel free to add to the suggestions in the comments, or email us at info @ perfectduluthday.com with things we may have missed and we’ll continue to build this list. (more…)
Selective Focus: Pandemic Persistence
This week, a quick update on two artists we’ve featured earlier this year. Carolyn Olson and Annelisa Roseen both started projects at the beginning of the pandemic, and are still regularly producing pieces based on the theme and guidelines they set for themselves. Carolyn Olson paints and draws essential workers in their settings, and Annelisa Roseen takes a selfie each day in make-up and costume of an interesting person born on that day. (more…)
Selective Focus: November Snow Scenes
Select images of pre-winter via Instagram. (more…)
Selective Focus: Uncle Clutch’s Video Horror Shop
In the tradition of campy late night B-movie monster and horror hosts like Elvira, Svengoolie and my personal favorite from Omaha, Nebraska, Dr. Sanguinary’s Creature Feature, the Twin Ports now has a B-movie host to call its own. Joe Klander (previously on PDD) plays the part of Uncle Clutch, his pro wrestling, baby-eating alter ego. He now grumpily operates one of the last video rental stores in the world. (more…)
Selective Focus: Nan Onkka
Printmaker Nan Onkka makes images inspired by scenes on the North Shore. She starts with a wood block, and step by step, removes material from the block in order to add more color to the images she prints. It’s a time consuming process, and she says it’s a lot of backward planning, but a process where you can’t step backward to change something. That challenge and risk is what draws her to the process.
NO: I am a printmaking artist who specializes in reductive woodblock printmaking. This form of printmaking involves hand carving an image into a woodblock and then printing it onto paper one layer of color at a time. I add multiple colors to the image by carving away more of the woodblock and printing the next layer of color on top. (more…)
Selective Focus: Holley Morgenstern
Holley Morgenstern of Sparrow & Berry is carrying on a family tradition of making dolls. Her designs are modern and whimsical, giving a fun spin to heirloom dolls. The critters, faces and even the materials she uses vary wildly, and each doll has its own personality and is one of a kind.
HM: My name is Holley Morgenstern and I am the face behind Sparrow & Berry. I make handmade modern heirloom cloth dolls. There are several categories of doll makers, I fall into the soft sculpture category and would also fall under fiber art.
My work is made primarily of cotton, linen and wool. I do use some synthetic fibers for the shaggy/furry, more traditional stuffed animal type dolls. I frequently use bits of vintage trim, fabric, buttons and upcycled components as well. (more…)
Creating Apart: Adam Swanson
The pandemic gave Adam Swanson time to complete 14 paintings of endangered animals. But it also gave him time to think. In this short documentary by filmmaker Mike Scholtz, Adam wrestles with the importance of art, and art openings, in our lives. (more…)
Selective Focus: Hannah Palma
Hannah Palma is a potter who has blended her love of woodcut printmaking into her process of working with clay. This week she talks about that combination, and how our big lake inspires her designs.
HP: I work with earth; I work with clay. I feel like all my life ceramics was calling me to it in one way or another, but it wasn’t till my time at the university that I found it would be my deepest passion.
I was born and raised here in Grand Marais, where my love and curiosity for the wild and nature was fostered. I grew up in a little cabin on big land where when the leaves left for the winter you could get the slightest peek of the never ending view of Lady Lake Superior. (more…)