This interview is part of our #mixedmediamondays series that highlights the significant human capital that exists in Calumet in the form of artists. We ask creative types that live or work in the Calumet area (or have lived or worked in the Calumet area) from any genre to participate! Questions from Main Street Calumet are in bold below, artist answers in italics. First things first, what's your Calumet connection Carrie?
Our connection with Calumet is that it was a stop on our honeymoon four years ago that drew us to move here. We live in Laurium. What type of art do you make and what's your preferred medium? For about a decade I have worked exclusively in oil paints. How long have you been creative? Did you have any formal training? I always enjoyed making art as a child, but became most interested in my last year of high school, which resulted in my decision to get a Bachelor of Fine Art in painting and drawing. I also have taken five workshops through Grand Central Atelier in New York City and one at the Great Lakes Academy of Fine Art in Duluth, MN. I also learned from books on oil painting because that's the only way I could grow at it for a lot of years. I have devoted time to learning about painting on-line for the last decade also. What have you been working on lately? What's been inspiring you? The painting on my easel now is a very red sunset that my husband and I, and other diners witnessed from Fitzgerald's Restaurant on New Year's Eve 2019. It was such an unusual one that everyone in the place got quiet for a moment. I have been focusing on our beautiful Keweenaw for my last couple dozen paintings. Tell us whose work you've been admiring lately! My favorites are the Nordic landscape painters from the mid to late 1800's to early 1900's. You will see in these paintings of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and other countries so much of what we have here in the Keweenaw: pastels against deep earth tones, our pine trees, snow or our seascapes and rocky coastlines. Please provide an image or video of your work and tell us about it. Although I primarily paint, I also illustrated, wrote, and published an alphabet book that intertwines Psalm 148 of the Bible, and is available at all major on-line book stores. This book is enjoyed by both adults and children and is hard to categorize. The vocabulary and images are complex and unique so appeal to grown ups, but it has an innocence and delight that is appropriate for children as well. The colors, birds, animals, flowers, and other parts of creation call out to each other in their joy and admiration for the Creator. The title is "Song for the Maker: an Alphabet", and it is available in hardcover, paperback, and as an e-book. How can people see/ buy your work? At the Vertin Gallery in Calumet, Michigan, when it reopens. Until then via our website. On this website, and at Vertin Gallery, viewers may also see photographs by my husband, Rob Mohn.
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