We were in Elk Rapids Tuesday spending a week’s wages at the Corner Druggist and wishing for something more pleasant to do when there it was.  Seed.  It’s on Dexter.  You can’t miss it.  Look for the red rooster weathervane.

 

This is the studio and gallery of Lindy Bishop, recently returned to her northern Michigan roots after a long sojourn in Chicago. The space is filled with light and color and surprises: the spare barn images of Lars-Birger Sponberg, a rubber covered bird’s nest, an abundance of sunflowers, Joani Braun’s roadkill art. The Trickster studies the view of the harbor from the window.

 

I was especially taken with the vivid mixed-media works by Eniko Stone, who uses felt and acrylic and found objects to create three-dimensional paintings that simply dance. The photos give you the merest glimpse of the vitality of these pieces. Go see them for yourself.

Lindy makes things happen, and she has a lot of ideas about making her studio a welcoming drop-in spot over the winter.  Music, poetry slams, book-signings, lively conversation. She’s the first visual artist who ever told me she thought writing was becoming more important in everyday life, and there we were, debating the relative importance of graphics and words, the writer arguing for images, the painter for language . . . gotta go back to this place. It wakes up my brain.