Spotlight

This untitled painting, by Andy Ness, is part of Art Along the Lake. Ness will be a featured artist at the Grand Marais Art Colony and at Upstate MN. | ANDY NESS

Studio Tours & Festivals

By Breana Roy

It’s another busy month with studio tours and art festivals, starting with the Harvest Moon Festival in Ely Sept. 10-12. Next up is the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio and Art Tour in Two Harbors, held Sept. 24-26. Last but not least is the Art Along the Lake: Fall Studio Tour in Cook County, held Sept. 24-Oct. 3. See the events section for more info.

Jewelry, like this blue bracelet by Diane Rihiloma, can be found at the Harvest Moon Festival in Ely. | DIANE RIHILOMA

This lidded clay vessel by Natalie Sobanja can be found at Art of the Elements Gallery in Grand Marais, which is part of Art Along the Lake. | NATALIE SOBANJA

Elliot Crompton is a new guest artist for the Lake Superior 20/20 Studio and Art Tour. This linoleum block print on paper is titled “Grand Marais.” | ELLIOT CROMPTON

Kristin Webster is one of many artists participating in the Harvest Moon Festival. This painting is titled “Evening Paddle.” | KRISTIN WEBSTER

Superior Siren

CREATIVE SPACE: By Eric Weicht

With a sound as alluring, dark and ethereal as the sirens of Greek mythology, Superior Siren is one of the North Shore’s premier musical talents.

Their version of “eerie folk music” is comprised of a mesmerizing blend of vocals, strings and percussion, all of which is anchored by lead vocalist Laura Sellner’s powerful voice and poignant, honest songwriting.

Superior Siren was started as a solo project in 2014 by the group’s lead singer-songwriter, and guitarist Sellner who finds inspiration for her music in “human connections and the beauty and challenges of relationships.”

“My songwriting is raw and vulnerable,” says Sellner, “and my goal is to evoke deep emotions within listeners.”

Born and raised in Duluth, Sellner got her start as a musician writing songs and performing at open mic nights along the North Shore.

Sellner always enjoyed singing and listening to music growing up, and after graduating high school she found herself surrounded by talented musicians and people involved in the local music scene. Encouraged by this musical community and the acoustic Fender gifted to her by her mother, Sellner picked up the guitar to accompany her vocals and began writing her own songs.

“I worked with a number of different musicians at first,” continues Sellner, “and then, over time, began to develop my own sound. I pondered a number of different life paths throughout college, but knew that I needed to pursue a career in music to support my happiness, so that’s what I did.”

Superior Siren is led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Laura Sellner. | KEELY ZYNDA

After the solo release of Superior Siren’s first EP Lotus in the Muck in 2014, Sellner spent the next few years searching out local female talent to compliment the project’s “ethereal melodies and ominous tones.” In 2016, cellist Rachel Gobin, bassist Nyssa Krause, and drummer Emma Deaner joined the group, all of whom played an integral part in creating the band’s first album—Superior Siren—in 2018.

“We are a musical collective,” says Sellner, “as well as a sisterhood, and are grateful to be creating soundscapes together.” 2018 also marks the year Superior Siren produced one of their boldest projects to date, the music video for her song Trying Too Hard off the self-titled LP.

“The song was originally about the turbulence of intimate relationships, feeling underestimated by others, and breaking free from limitations,” says Sellner. “We worked with the innovative videographer Killy Kay and filmmaker extraordinaire Caelan Mars to create the video, and had Allison Peluso play the three different characters—a young women tapping into her inner wisdom, an oppressed ancestor unable to stand up for herself, and a third character representing divine feminine energy and the goddess within.”

In addition to telling a story of empowerment and universal well-being, the film acknowledges Ruth Bader-Ginsberg by highlighting her iconic necklace and showing the groups appreciation for “her life-long efforts to promote equality for all and her role in establishing authority for women to make their own life choices.”

Earlier this year, Superior Siren released a new solo EP Kill Your Darlings, a project funded through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. The EP was released as a way for the band to stay connected to listeners as they work towards their next full-length album.

When not actively pursuing her career, Sellner immerses herself in music by keeping a steady flow of music playing and attending as many performances as she can. Staying “immersed” in music is something that Sellner finds keeps her inspired while supporting the local artistic community.

Sellner is also passionate about yoga, and as a certified trauma-conscious yoga strives to serve as a “vessel in which the benefits of yoga and the healing power of music can flow through.”

The ladies of Superior Siren had a busy summer of 2021, highlighted by a performance on August 18 at the Water is Life event where they played alongside an outstanding set list that included performances from the likes of Bon Iver and Lissie, all in support of the environment.

They look forward to performing with Trampled by Turtles and more at the Grand Rapids Riverfest on September 10.

In addition to live performances, Laura Sellner plans on starting “Superior Siren Studio Sessions” this winter, where she will provide free virtual solo shows live streamed from her creative space.

You can find Superior Siren’s music on Spotify and Apple music, as well as on their website: superiorsiren.com.

Sámi Knitting

BEHIND THE CRAFT: Laura Ricketts

Color—that is what has lured me down this garden path of Sámi knitted items. I was already a lover of all things knitted and Nordic, but those beautiful colors on the Sámi gákti (traditional outfit) called to me.

In 2010 I flew to Seattle to attend the Nordic Knitting Conference held at the Nordic Heritage Museum so I could expand my knowledge of knitting. I love the precise work, the wool, and the patterning. During my time there, I toured the permanent holdings at the museum and stopped to wonder at the Sámi traditional outfit.

But before we go on, we must answer the question: who are the Sámi? The Sámi are the Indigenous peoples of the northern Nordic lands and the Kola peninsula of Russia. Perhaps you know them by the name “the Lapps,” but today this is considered an ethnic slur. They prefer to be called by their self-name “the Sámi,” which means “the people” in their own language. Historically known as the reindeer people, today only 10 percent of the Sámi are involved in reindeer husbandry.

Back in 2010, the first gákti I viewed had a clear blue background edged with a multitude of thin ribbon, each sewed on individually. The neck opening, the cuffs, and the various seams along the shoulders and back had echoing rows of ribbon. Each gákti is different and can indicate to others the area of Sápmi (the traditional homeland of the Sámi peoples) from whence the wearer comes. Styles can be so precise and specific that the gákti can communicate if the wearer is male or female, married or unmarried, and from which family he or she comes.

Swedish Sámi mittens by Laura Ricketts. | SUBMITTED

The knitted mittens are a later addition to the traditional gákti. Knitting came to the Sámi from the peoples of the south. One visiting Dane wrote about viewing Sámi knitting in the mid-1700s, but, through my research, I have not found more references to knitting prior to the mid1800s. Before this time, most Sámi garments were made from reindeer skin. Reindeer skin leggings and mittens were de rigueur. Such items would be wind-proof and warm with the materials easy to obtain. Instead of socks, Sámi would use sedge grass, harvested and dried during the summer. Sámi traditional shoes have the curl at the toe, which allows for extra space (as well as toeing into skis, which the Sámi invented). Sedge grass was both an insulator and absorptive for sweat.

Since all these traditional elements of dress were well covered already, once knitting came on the scene the only area it really impacted was hand coverings. Sámi mittens are a beautiful, colorful celebration reflecting the rest of the gákti. As a result, each area of Sápmi has different mittens. The patterns are all different, but all share four similar elements according to my study: the style of cuffs, the making of the thumbs, the manner of decreasing on the mitten tip and thumb, and the braid that hangs from the cuff.

Sámi traditional craft is both beautiful and useful. For a people who traditionally packed up all their belongings to seasonally follow the reindeer, they did not own many items, but what they owned needed to be durable. And, often, those items would be decorated—inlayed, carved, embroidered—with beautiful designs. Traditional Sámi mittens are no different. Cuffs can be either fitted with ribbing or as wide as the mitten—the style chosen according to the mode and need for the mitten. For fishing or forest Sámi, most often their mitten styles have a fitted/ribbed cuff. Nothing could be worse than fishing above the Arctic circle and losing a mitten! For reindeer herding Sámi, the mitten design more closely resembled the reindeer mittens, which could be worn over the knitted mitten for colder seasons. Wide, open cuffs allowed the wearer to be able to shake the mitten off when the hands were needed quickly to adjust a harness or tend to an animal.

Knitted “peasant” thumbs are arguable the easiest knitted thumb to make and have been used on every knitted Sámi mitten I have observed save one. Peasant thumbs are easy to make, easy to fake (if you forgot to make one) and can more easily mimic the pattern on the palm of the hand during knitting. Decreases on the mitten tip and thumb are likewise easy and are exactly like each other. Braids from the cuff allowed the mittens to be tied together during drying, in storage, or on a reindeer harness while tending to other work.

After I returned from the 2010 Nordic Knitting Conference, I started to research the contributions that the Sámi have made to knitting. It was very difficult to do in English, as so little has been written about it. I turned to Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish books and online sites and found more. Gradually, my queries turned to northern Nordic museums. By 2013, I had exhausted what I could by communication alone and I journeyed to northern Norway, Sweden and Finland. I visited two national folk museums and 12 regional museums and studied the Sámi knitted items in their holdings—over 500 pairs of mittens. I have written articles, patterns and an eBook based on these historical items, and greatly enjoy teaching about both the knitting and culture of the Sámi peoples whom I love.

This journey started with the textile colors of a people. Only after I had studied for a couple years did I learn my Minnesota aunt is part Sámi and active in the North American Sámi organizations. What a joy! Through her and others, I have been introduced to fabulous work being done in the States through descendants of Sámi immigrants. For example, Marlene Wisuri, head of the Sámi Cultural Center of North America in Duluth (samiculturalcenter.org), is a storehouse of knowledge. The museum is a great place to visit. And every region of America and Canada with large amounts of Nordic people also has Sámi clubs. You can look them up online or in Facebook groups.

Laura Ricketts is a Lead Fiber Art instructor at North House Folk School, where traditional craft is taught on the shore of Lake Superior.