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Local artists are celebrating their annual Holiday Art Tour with an outdoor format and earlier date this year to accommodate pandemic social distancing.
The 2020 Art Walk will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19, at Crow’s Nest Farm, located at 1074 161st St. Luverne.
Outdoor booths will feature art by hostess Carol Ceynowa, Jerry and Kathy Deuschle, Mary Petersen, Nan Kaufenberg, Gonna Rolfs, Rylee Gee and Gerry and Julie Punt.
Ceynowa and her husband, Tim, moved from Luverne to the seven-acre rural home three years ago.
“When I hear the crows, they encourage me to do art,” she said about her Crow’s Nest Farm. “Plus, they’re known for gathering pretty things and putting them in their nests.”
The “pretty things” in Ceynowa’s nest will be on display for the art walk.
Her collection includes pottery, oil painting, encaustic painting, needle felt and more.
Encaustic painting, also known as hot wax painting, involves using heated beeswax to which colored pigments are added.
The liquid or paste is then applied to a surface — usually prepared wood, though canvas and other materials can be used.
Ceynowa said she grew interested in the artwork because of its history. “They used beeswax and resin to fix their boats,” she said. “And then they started adding pigment to it.”
She said she enjoys the fact that she can create the entire product from the bottom up.
“You can cut the wood yourself, prepare the oil and wax yourself, and then layer it on the wood,” she said.
The surface can have textures carved into it, and photographs can be burnished into it. Some of the byproducts of the process can be used for other art.
Ceynowa’s needle felting has become a favorite medium as she continues to create endearing miniature creatures – both animals and fairies – from wool that she now grows on her farm.
Needle felting is the process of transforming wool into 3D objects using a barbed needle. As the wool is felted, the fibers are agitated and bond together, creating a solid fabric.
Ceynowa’s materials now come from wool she shears from her three alpacas, Buttercup, Giselle and Stardust, named for princesses in the movies, “Princess Bride,” “Enchanted” and “Stardust.”
The alpacas will be part of the draw next weekend at the Art Walk. In addition to viewing and buying local art, visitors to the event can enjoy chickens and gardens and a pond (converted from an in-ground pool that was lined with Sioux quartzite).
Vendor booths will be spaced for social distancing, and masks will be required for both artists and attendees.
Ceynowa can be reached at ctceynowa@hotmail.com