Everwood

I pulled into the drive for Everwood Farmstead on a warm afternoon, feeling the luxury of time at the start of a week-long artist’s retreat and the self-imposed pressure of wanting to use it well. In my  backpack was a partially finished manuscript. The first two hundred pages were pretty well crafted, the last hundred trailed off into notes and incomplete thoughts. The bones of … Continue reading Everwood

Kristen Sandstrom

Kristen Sandstrom is a self-professed word geek. She is an avid reader, writer and seller of books. I interviewed her in Bayfield, Wisconsin. We talked about her love for Lake Superior, her understanding of community and the ways she has moved toward healing after surviving trauma in her teens. “I don’t use the word victim, I always use the word survivor. That’s very important for … Continue reading Kristen Sandstrom

Jeff Rennicke

Jeff Rennicke is a writer, a photographer and a storyteller in Bayfield, Wisconsin. He is the Executive Director at Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. “Pay attention. Things get really interesting below the surface. Wherever you are, there’s more going on than a superficial glance will reveal to you.” “I was a freelance writer for 20 some years and traveled to six different continents, … Continue reading Jeff Rennicke

Seasons

Life has seasons, and so does this work. Fall was a busy season on the road, hauling the exhibits and leading programming at colleges and conferences across the country. It was an exciting and robust schedule, but the last run was 30 days and 5,000 miles long. By the time it was over, I was ready for a break. I returned home November 16 and … Continue reading Seasons

Young Voices

For the past four years I have worked with 5th graders at FAIR School in Crystal as artist in residence for their Perspectives Program. Each fall we install the exhibit, do a presentation for all 85 students and then over several days, I visit each classroom and work with students to explore their own thoughts about peace. They write their ideas in peace journals which … Continue reading Young Voices