Some Good Things
When winter settles in, it's the little things that can get us through. In their newest blog post, Riley Kleve shares snapshots of their last month in the Artisan Development Program, and the things they're looking forward to this winter.
Late autumn has brought short, chilly, days up to us on the North Shore. Here’s a collection of what has been getting me through these times, in no particular order:
Cooking my lunch in big batches to enjoy throughout the week. This week’s meal has been a chilled udon noodle soup with tofu and baby bok choy. Next week I’m dreaming up a pesto white bean soup with some polenta on the side.
Vitamin D supplements, walks down to campus before sunset, studio time to work on holiday production in the evening.
Good time spent with good people, art, and food–earlier this month we went on an all-staff field trip to Duluth to see Dreaming our Futures: Ojibwe and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Artists and Knowledge Keepers at the Tweed Museum. The exhibit featured work by George Morrison, who grew up in Cook County/Grand Portage and Jonathan Thunder, featured in PBS American Masters film Jonathan Thunder: Good Mythology, which will be screened at North House Folk School during Winterers’ Gathering followed by a Q&A with Jonathan about the film and his work.
After the museum, we stopped by New Scenic Café for a delicious group lunch. Gabe and I were enamored with the tiny shrimp and deviled eggs, Ty gravitated towards the pickled beets and gravlax, and Cooper was captivated by the lingonberry tarts with whipped cream served for dessert.
Long phone calls with loved ones, reading good books about craft, and watching the waves on Lake Superior.
Community events–last weekend I went to a screening put together by the Grand Marais Film Society on Friday night, then Saturday I attended a tour kickoff of Iconoclasm - Queer Mythologies & Forgotten Songs by Carlisle Evans Peck at the Community Center Log Cabin. Lots of joy and some tears at both events.
I’m looking forward to Winterers' Gathering, where I and the rest of the ADP cohort will be leading skillshares in our areas of craft. The first weekend of December, Cooper and I will be headed down to the Twin Cities for Julmarknad at the American Swedish Institute, where we’ll both have some of our handcrafted work available for sale.
I’m looking forward to spending some quality time this winter getting to know a floor loom I recently purchased to supplement my table loom, studying exciting structures of weaving with handspun yarn. I’m looking forward to working with friends and family near and far on projects centering community and uplifting one another. I’m looking forward to getting through the dark days of winter and towards a brighter future together.