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Everlasting Sky Art
John Kakaygeesick and Karen Kakaygeesick-Dethmers

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John Kakygeesick​

Artist’s Bio:

​John Kakaygeesick is an Ojibwe Indian Artist from Warroad, Minnesota, now residing in Moorhead, Minnesota. 

His work is of things he has worked and lived with. He works in Spiritual and Symbolic paintings, from which he was taught as a young boy from his Elders. This is why he has wildlife and its natural surroundings in his paintings. This tells you of his respect for the Mother Earth and her inhabitants. 

His style is of his own which took some time to create. He is a self-taught artist and has appeared in several newspapers and on television.

Karen Kakaygeesick-Dethmers​

Artist’s Bio:

​Born in Warroad. Graduated from Warroad High School and has been active in educating the Warroad community on Native American traditions. 

The last 20 years she has been interested in photography, mainly nature. Last year she put on an art show in Warroad at the Hampton Inn which was successful. 

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Spirit of the Turtle
Acrylics
Price: $740

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Medicine Duck
Acrlics
Price: $740

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A Jetty Storm
Photography
Price: $700

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Sunset Bay
Photography
Price: $650

 These and many others are available in our gallery. Please contact Spirit Room at: fargospiritroom@gmail.com or 701-237-0230  for purchase.

Past Exhibitions

To see more of our past exhibitions visit our archive page here

Tale of Two Cities Exhibition
Call for Artists!

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Important Dates:

Exhibit: Monday March 20th - Friday, April 29th, 2023

Deadline for entries: Friday, March 17th 

Reception: Thursday, March 23, 2023 5-7pm (date subject to change

All Artistic Mediums Welcome!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of construction, it was the age of snow.” A Tale of Two Cities is a classic from Charles Dickens. The novel explores themes of economic and political unrest between Paris and London that eventually lead up to the American and French Revolutions. The Spirit Room is asking artists to consider themes of revolution, resurrection, and duality to help celebrate the historical novel’s entry into the public domain. Though the work focuses on Paris and London artists are free to interpret themes as they please. These could be Fargo and Moorhead, two people in love, the distance between your hands, etc. The primary means of communication concerning the exhibition will be e-mail. Please ensure you provide an e-mail you check with some frequency as there are often additional opportunities related to the exhibition, and reminders regarding drop off and pick up.

Where and When: Spirit Room Galleries

Exhibit: March 20 - April 29, 2023,

Gallery I

Gallery Hours: 1:00 – 5:00 Monday through Friday

Reception: Thursday, March 23 rd at 5:00 p.m.

Gallery Talks: 6:00 p.m.

 

What:

Please join us at the Spirit Room for the celebration of our invitational exhibition, A Tale of Two Cities. A Tale of Two Cities is an open, non-competitive festive exhibit celebrating Charles Dickens classic work “A Tale of Two Cities” as it joins the public domain this year.

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie whom he had never met. A complex novel it explores themes of resurrection, the necessity of sacrifice, the tendency towards violence and oppression in revolutionaries, class inequities, socioeconomic strife, struggle, and justice among many more.

Our artists were invited to interpret the novel and its themes in whichever means they found most appropriate. We are fortunate to be presenting work from twenty of the regions talented artists including Beth Bradley, Karen Perry-Anderson, Thom Tammaro, Joetta Weible, Carol Albright and many more.

The reception will be held on Thursday, March 23 rd at 5:00 p.m. Food and drinks will be available, and the event is open and free to the public.

A Tale of Two Cities is made possible through funding in part by North Dakota Council on the Arts and the Arts Partnership.

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Kary Janousek
"Night and Daughter Sleep"
Ambrotype
Price: $300

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Carol Albright
A Tale of Two Breasts, one with a "mild architectural change"
Stoneware
Price: $249

Daniel Johnson
"Partisan"
Digital Giclee Print
Price: $210

 These and many others are available in our gallery. Please contact Spirit Room at: fargospiritroom@gmail.com or 701-237-0230  for purchase.

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Cynthia Mcguire Thiel
"Brocade Gown"
Polyesters and metallic fabrics
Price: NFS

ARTIST BIO

 

Joe Larson has a Bachelor of Arts from Gustavus Adolphus College and a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary. Joe has enjoyed doing art throughout his life, including several murals for congregations in the Twin Cities and three large mosaics for Churches United in Moorhead. Since 2016, Joe has served as pastor with St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Fargo and is the executive director of Welcome Connection, a nonprofit that seeks to organize faith leaders and congregations around social justice issues. Joe has exhibited his work with Gallery 4 and The Arts Partnership in Fargo. Joe lives in Moorhead with his husband Charlie and their cat Estrella.

 

ARTIST STATEMENT

 

Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic three years ago, I have committed much more time to my artwork and have created nearly 100 works of art—more than any period in my life! I have focused on developing my Impressionist painting style—someone once suggested that I should call myself “Van Joe”! Which is fitting, because Vincent Van Gogh has always been one of my favorite painters.

 

Many of my paintings have personal stories or memories, connected to photos I’ve taken of flowers in our garden, life celebrations, and still-life arrangements (created from pieces of my husband’s dish collection). I always begin with a black-gessoed canvas and like to experiment with alternating transparent and thick layers of acrylic paint—focusing on the play of light and shadows.

 

I love painting so much that I take my art supplies with me on trips, so I can work on paintings while on vacation. For me, creating art offers a chance to unwind and engage with me creative self. I sometimes amaze myself at the end result. And I wonder at how a painting can express a sense of joy and hopefulness, yet also reflect a subtle melancholy and sadness. In my eyes as a pastor and spiritual person, they reveal the sacred beauty and spirituality hidden in the mundane—with a celestial light that transforms ordinary things like flowers and vases and boats into mystical visions.

 

Joe A. Larson

429 Valley Avenue, Moorhead, MN 56560

Cell:  612-750-5079

Email:  larsonjoe1106@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joe.larson.79/

The Celestial Light of Ordinary Things by
Joe A. Larson

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Lilacs Vase with Flowers

$275 with frame

$250 without frame

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Bearded Iris

$275 with frame

$250 without frame

These and many others are available in our gallery.
Please contact
Spirit Room at: fargospiritroom@gmail.com or 701-237-0230  for purchase.
 

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Creative Photo Art by
Gordon Court

King's Court Creative Photography    

Gordon Court, Photographer                

Web Site:  https://kingscourtcreativephotography.pixieset.com/

Facebook Site:  https://www.facebook.com/court.gordon.17

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordoncourtphoto17/

Email:  kingscourtcreativephoto@yahoo.com                                 

Phone:  701-238-0359

 

I am a 50 something, husband, father, and photographer currently embarking on the long process to transitioning into a full-time photography career.  I have been in love with photography, nature’s beauty, and airplanes since I was in Junior High School.

 

I currently enjoy photographing nearly anything that’s in front of my camera, but I specialize in pets, scenery, weather, wildlife, high school seniors, architecture, interior design, and night sky photography. Though I have photographed a few weddings one of my favorite subjects is aviation photography which is something of a passion for me.   

 

I was a past President of the Fargo/Moorhead Camera Club for two separate terms and have won numerous awards at the local, regional, and national level. I have also been the lead photographer for Angel Paws, in Fargo, ND which was a non-profit organization offering a free photo shoot to pet owners whose pets were very old or had a terminal diagnosis. 

 

I have my camera with me nearly constantly, and I am very adept at lighting and composing, having spent way too much money on lighting and camera equipment.

 

I have been published in The International Society for Aviation Photography, ISAP on several occasions, most especially having a feature article in the November 2019 issue where I wrote about the Battle Lake Gathering of Airplanes – Tribute to Gerry Beck.  It was Titled “Lucky 13” as it was the 13th Annual event. 

 

I regularly teach at the Fargo Moorhead Camera Club and have taught classes in photography at a local college.  I also write a regular blog for the Fargo Moorhead Camera Club called “Photo Escapes.”

 

I was honored to be the sole supplier of artwork for the Fargo Veterans Administration Center for Long Term Care.  I have 93 of my photographs decorating the rooms, hallways, and commons areas of the new wing, on metal prints, in sizes from 16x24 to 40x60 inches. 

 

If you have questions or inquiries for photos sessions, or other photographic services, or if you need artwork for interior design for businesses or homes, please contact me.  I have over 100,000 photos in my library, but if I don’t have something that will work with your decor, I am more than willing to go and find it and photograph it for you.

 

Thank you,

Gordon Court.

Photographer/Owner

Kings Court Creative Photography

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Bovines in Sunset

$349

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Moonlit Aurora

$349

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Sunset on the Sheyenne

$129

These and many others are available in our gallery.
Please contact
Spirit Room at: fargospiritroom@gmail.com or 701-237-0230  for purchase.
 

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Cut Away: prints by
Eric A. Johnson

Biography

The youngest of six children, Eric A. Johnson was raised on a farm near Embden, North Dakota.  Johnson’s father Alton M. Johnson was a cattle and grain farmer.  His mother Edel, who had immigrated to the United States from Norway at age 16, worked for many years in a nursing home in Enderlin, ND.  The family raised cattle, sheep, goats, one milk cow, and a large array of pet animals including horses, dogs, and cats.  The farm was an active place year round and each of the children had an active part in doing the farm work. Bailing hay in the summer and straw in the fall were particularly busy times, and Alton would bail only square bails that weren’t too heavy for the children to handle.  In 1990 Mr. Johnson became ill and passed away the following year in August, 1991.

Having little interest in taking on the family’s small cattle operation, Eric moved to Fargo and enrolled at North Dakota State University.  After several years of study Johnson decided to focus on sculpture, but ultimately found that printmaking was his true passion.  He especially took to the reduction relief print technique, which was made famous by Pablo Picasso in the 1950s and 60s.  That process uses one block to create a multicolored print instead of using one for each color.  The printing matrix is “reduced” down by carving away where the artist wants the last color to stay.  Johnson used this technique to complete a series of sixteen reduction relief prints in his last semester at NDSU.  The imagery focused, among other things, on his feelings about his father’s death.  He earned his bachelor’s degree in Visual Art from NDSU with a minor in Art History from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 1997.

In 1998 he began his studies at the University of North Dakota’s Master of Fine Arts program in Grand Forks, ND.  During his time at UND he began his ongoing series of cityscapes, inspired by recollections of his first visits to Chicago and New York City.  He longed to escape to those places, which seemed to be worlds that were both exciting and filled with opportunities for young artists, contrasted to what at the time was a pretty bleak reality for most young people staying in North Dakota, especially for artists.  Johnson persevered with his studies and despite some turmoil in his personal life, by the time Johnson completed the program in 2001, it was clear that he had found his forte with printmaking.

From 1999-2018 Johnson served various positions at NDSU, teaching in both the Visual Arts Department and Interior Design program.  In the Visual Arts Department’s P.E.A.R.S (Printmaking Education And Research Studio) program, under the direction of his former professor and mentor Kent Kapplinger, he served as Master Printer for editions by artists Ken Dalgarno, Star Wallowing Bull, Carrie Lee Kinslow, and Dennis Krull.  Johnson also worked intensively on his own practice, creating a large body of new work using the reduction relief process, as well as other printmaking techniques including screen-print, intaglio, monotype, and lithography.

It was during this time that people began to take notice of Johnson’s work, eventually being recognized for his daring use of color and emotionally expressive line work.  An exhibition of 58 of Johnson’s prints traveled through North Dakota and Montana in 2010-2012 through a North Dakota Art Galleries Association exhibit.  In 2016 he helped organize “PRINTOBER” a celebration of printmaking at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND.

In 2017, a solo exhibition of recent work entitled “The Nature of Things” was held at the renowned Rourke Art Museum and Gallery in Moorhead, MN.  In 2018 Eric purchased his own etching press, a Griffin Press Co. “Series IV” and became the first resident artist specializing in printmaking at West Acres Shopping Center in Fargo, ND.  Johnson shared his passion for art and printmaking at the mall from June to October 2018.  In January 2019, he opened “Big Oak Press”, his printmaking studio at his home in Hillsboro, ND.  In April 2021 he will exhibit his newest body of work “Cut Away” in his second solo exhibition at the Rourke Art Museum.  Johnson also has plans to expand his studio to be able to offer workshops and classes, and will begin working with artists to create editions of their own work in the fall of 2021.  

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Denver Bryce Spotted Bear 1-28-2023

#4137

Corey Lee Davis, Jr.

5-20-2022

#4264

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Michael Crandall Bissonette 4-22-2022

#4230

Please contact
Spirit Room at: fargospiritroom@gmail.com or 701-237-0230  for purchase.

 

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Shane Balkowitsch
Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective

Artist Statement

 

Each and every day the world is filled with millions and millions of digital photographs that have no value, character, significance or physical form.  That is not the case with a wet plate.  The wet plate process is magical, and the end result is tangible and precious.   

 

Digital photography of today relies on technology.  Wet plate photography relies on 160 year old chemistry, a bit of magic, and some luck.  I think it is very important that as technology moves forward, we embrace and continue to celebrate and not forget important processes from the past.  Wet plate photography is one of those processes.  Every time I show someone the wet plate process in person, they are absolutely amazed regarding the ability to get a photograph using some chemicals and pieces of glass that I cut by hand. 

 

It is my goal to capture as many people as I can in this process.  Friends, family, loved ones or complete strangers, it does not matter.  I want to share with as many people as possible this beloved process that dates back to 1848.  Wet plate photography was such an important medium for expression in the past and I want it to continue to be today.  It has been said that “you do not take a wet plate photograph; it is given to you” and this is so very true. 

 

Shane Balkowitsch, Ambrotypist

Nostalgic Glass Wet Plate Studio, Bismarck, ND

Wet Plate Photography Explained

Wet plate collodion is one of the earliest forms of photography.  Frederick Scott Archer
has been credited with inventing this historic process back in 1851.  The process
became very popular worldwide, then quickly died off in the 1880's when a more
convenient way of taking photographs was invented.  In recent years there has been a
small revival of the process when a number of contemporary photographers decided to
go back to the roots of photography and embrace the old.  Making a wet plate can be
difficult, timely, costly, unpredictable, and requires a high degree of commitment.   The
images can be captured on glass (ambrotype) or on metal (tin type).  The word
Ambrotype is translated in Ancient Greek as "Immortal Impression".  Digital
photography of today relies on technology, wet plate photography relies on 160 year old chemistry and a bit of magic and some luck. 


A wet plate photographer makes a film base on a piece of glass or metal using
collodion, submerges it in a silver nitrate solution to make it light sensitive, and then
exposes the photograph usually in an old style wood bellows camera box and antique
brass lens from the 1800's.  The process is called wet plate because during the entire process the chemicals on the plates must remain wet and cannot be allowed to dry. 


The end result is a one-of-a-kind, archival object of art that will last many lifetimes. 
There are wet plates of Abraham Lincoln that look just as good today as they did a
century and a half ago.  It is thought that less than 1000 people worldwide carry on the
tradition of wet plate today. Many of those individuals are professional photographers at
the height of their career. 

Revised January 20 th , 2022
By Shane B. Balkowitsch, Ambrotypist, Bismarck, North Dakota

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Denver Bryce Spotted Bear 1-28-2023

#4137

Corey Lee Davis, Jr. 5-20-2022 #4264 (Low Resolution).jpg

Corey Lee Davis, Jr.

5-20-2022

#4264

Michael Crandall Bissonette 4-22-2022 #4230 (Low Resolution).jpg

Michael Crandall Bissonette 4-22-2022

#4230

Prints of these pieces and many more were created by master printer in the Netherlands, Luc Brefeld, and will be available for worldwide shipping during the exhibition. The prints are created using carbon Inkjet process, the finest inkjet process on the planet, and are signed, embossed, stamped and labeled, each selling for $250 each.  The frames are also labeled on the back.
The sale of these prints supports the American Indian College Fund.


Please contact
Spirit Room at: fargospiritroom@gmail.com or 701-237-0230  for purchase or 

 

Shane Balkowitsch at: 

(800)355-2956 USA Toll Free

(701)223-9936 Phone

(701)223-8984 Fax

shane@balkowitsch.com

http://sharoncol.balkowitsch.com/wetplate.htm

https://www.facebook.com/balkowitsch

https://www.instagram.com/balkowitsch/

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