Deo Gallery’s October Exhibit Water. Color. Wood. features wood turned vessels by Marc Himes and Watercolor paintings by Louise Laakso Lundin.

This month’s Deo Gallery Exhibit will be available for viewing through the end of October, with an Artist Reception on October 13th 6-8pm with an artist talk at 7pm.

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Artist Statement from Marc Himes:

I have lived in the UP since 1997, when I started my medical practice. My UP roots go back to the early 1900s, when my ancestors came from Finland and settled in the area. My grandparents had a farm in Eben Junction, where my mother was born and raised. She had three sisters and seven brothers, and I had forty cousins. We all came back to the farm in the summer for haying season. My fondest childhood memories are of time on the farm. Among my Eben relatives are the Laakso families, one of whom, Louise Laakso Lundin has honored me by being a co-exhibitor of this show. My Mother was very artistic and carried on the Finnish tradition of weaving. My father, Harold Himes, was an architect and became a Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan. He was also a painter, a photographer and a wood worker doing both turning and carpentry. He was a very talented man.

I was introduced to Woodturning by my father in the early 1990s, but it wasn’t until I was able to develop my own shop, in 2005, that I really got into the craft and art of turning. I am largely self-taught but have taken several workshops which encouraged me to continue in the craft and explore it as an art form. I like to use figured wood such as Curly and Bird’s Eye Maple along with burls, which have wonderful figure. I love it when the wood “tells a story”. Often in the grain, or figure of the wood, I can find images of landscapes, animals, faces or even the Northern Lights.

I love to highlight these images with color and texture, which tends to amplify them and bring them to life. Many coats of finish are applied to give a depth and glass like appearance to the final product. There is a sense of wonder about them, as many people must be told that it is indeed wood.

I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners and a founding member of our local AAW chapter, Superiorland Woodturners. We generally meet here, in the Marquette Arts and Culture Center on the second Tuesday evening of each month, from 6:30- 8:30.The public is encouraged to attend.
I have had my work in multiple galleries, but now show my work primarily as a member of the Zero Degrees Gallery on Third Street in Marquette. It has been my privilege, while being in that gallery to have met and worked with many wonderful and talented artists.

I have been in Art On The Rocks for several years, winning awards for best of Three Dimensional Art and best of Wood Art multiple times. I have also been in the local shows here in the Marquette Arts and Culture Center, the William Bonifas Center in Escanaba and the North of the 45th show at NMU, winning the Peoples Choice Award in 1919 for my sculptural wall hanging, Hidden Images. I was an exhibitor at Art Prize in Grand Rapids and the American Craft Council Show in St Paul, Minnesota.

I have been very encouraged by the positive reactions of those who view my work. I was humbled and honored to receive the City of Marquette award for Visual Artist of the year in 2021. There are many very talented people in this Queen City of the North.

My hope in making these pieces is to create something that will capture the viewers emotions and imagination, bringing them joy whenever they view my work.

Enjoy the exhibit.
Marc Himes

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Artist Statement from Louise Laasko Lundin

I am a life-long artist from Northern Minnesota (originally from the U.P.) who loves to draw and paint and encourage others to try.

My favorite medium to work with is watercolor — alone or combination with acrylic and gouache and various dry media.

Subjects I love include portraits or people (all ages), red poppies, purple iris, and Michigan and Minnesota’s white birch trees and aspen.

I began drawing at age two (using color crayon) on the wall behind the sofa. The colors were beautiful!

I began formal study of design and watercolor under Edgar A. Whitney A.N.A., A.W.S., often referred to as “The Grandfather of Watercolor”; and continued advanced study of design, painting, art history, and philosophy.

My work has been featured in juried exhibitions, in publications, and on cover art. I was invited to work as courtroom artist. My “Sauna Paintings” embellish walls of dressing rooms in the United States and Finland.

My artist philosophy:

1)As a painter, I am a shape-maker, entertainer, symbol collector, and perennial student. I love painting and sharing the joy of the process with others.

2)I am a shape-maker, entertainer, symbol collector, and a perennial student. Leonardo Da Vinci stated it well — “… for love of anything is the offspring of knowledge, love being more fervent in proportion as knowledge is more certain.”
I love to highlight these images with color and texture, which tends to amplify them and bring them to life. Many coats of finish are applied to give a depth and glass like appearance to the final product. There is a sense of wonder about them, as many people must be told that it is indeed wood.

– Louise Laakso Lundin