Much of our regional art expresses the powerful forces and moods of Lake Superior and the beauty that surrounds it. Yet the region is filled with stories that are just as powerful but remained in the shadows of our lake. My art as well as my farm parallel our early European settlers who brought their cultural knowledge of small farmsteading to a region of short summers and long winters. The livestock provided food, protection, and labor and, in exchange, the farmer tended to and cared for them. Visit an abandon farmstead and you can almost hear the stories that the barn would tell. These stories, this collected wisdom of early European and American farmsteading, are becoming lost to our urban way of life.

I hope my art tells another story of our region. Hundreds of small Scandinavian farmsteads dot our area and a few folks are choosing to pick up the traditions of living with the animals, working the land and embracing the seasons. If my animals could, I think they would tell you a story of how proud they are to contribute to the farm. Some offer meat while others offer a portrait to paint. It is such a privilege to be part of this cycle of life, death, and hope. I hope you will see it too.