Mark Granlund Studio

Please ask for assistance.

Just 57 companies linked to 80% of greenhouse gas emissions since 2016 Analysis reveals many big producers increased output of fossil fuels and related emissions in seven years after Paris climate deal

SWCTC (https://swctc.org) came to my studio yesterday to film about the commission I am doing for the City of Woodbury. It was great fun interviewing, setting up shots, and watching the team working professionally! Thanks, Dan!

Metro Transit is commissioning two public artworks for the North Loop Garage. Call for Artists (RFQ): Deadline June 21

Public Art in Transit Want to receive notification about arts and design opportunities at Metro Transit? Sign up for the Artist Roster. It only takes five minutes to fill out. 

City of Hopkins is commissioning two murals this summer - Call for Artists:

CaFE Event Information - Hopkins Mural Project 2024 Read more about Hopkins Mural Project 2024 on CaFE

Everett and Charlie 6th Anniversary party. Come on down!

Grasping the Millennia
My Grandmother as the Measure of Humanity

As I get older, my sense of time is changing. What used to seem like a relatively long time now seems not so. Having lived sixty years, it is rather easy to imagine and understand what happened sixty years before I was born. Even though there has been an amazing amount of events since 1903, I can get my mind around it and understand the…

Read my latest on Substack:

Grasping the Millennia My Grandmother as a Measure of Humanity

I have been asked numerous times over the years if my paintings are available as prints. They are not. It is just not what I am interested in. But, I have made my series of Scientific and Natural Area plein air paintings from last summer available on greeting cards. Cards with eight of my compositions are available for sale either by clicking here or on the GIFTS tab on my website. ALL proceeds from the sale of these cards will go to support Minnesota’s Scientific and Natural Areas.

I was needing a new easel. Some of the new large canvases will need to be supported on both ends to be painted, so I purchased an easel identical to the one I purchased last year. Assembling an easel is a bit of a hassle. It always takes longer than it seems like it should. It is kinda like building Ikea furniture, but a bit more complicated.

Public Art Opportunity at Metro Transit:

metrocouncil.org

I have finally gotten around to creating smaller stretchers for my gallery paintings. I created a storage space on the workshop wall where they wait to be stretched with canvas. I enjoy accomplishing projects and finally getting this wood cut up and into stretcher form is very satisfying. The wood has been in my workshop for a year. When I am done I will have about 50 stretchers ready to be stretched.

I have created four of the six large-scale canvases for the City of Woodbury commission. I am very excited to start digging in and painting them. For these stretchers I switched from linen to organic cotton canvas. Linen has more of a tendency to sag over time. The larger the canvas the more likely this will happen. Therefore, I switched to organic cotton.

The image is one of the sketch paintings I created to help determine the composition and color palette for the murals. The sketch is 1 foot high and 2 feet wide, oil paint on panel. This image will eventually be 14.5 feet high and 29 feet wide.

Art Touring - Getting to Know a City Through Its Art

For this trip, part of what I wanted to do was get to know Tucson and Phoenix to see if they might be good places to start over-wintering. As an artist, I can’t just look for a place to house myself for a few months, I also need to find a place to create my art.

Read more about Art Touring and my trip to Arizona on My Substack.

Art Touring Getting to Know a City Through Its Art

Had a great weekend of art! Started with Touring Hopkins public art on Friday morning. Then Holly Tappen's opening at Ambiente Gallery on Friday night. Saturday night: the Minnesota Orchestra's Tchaikovsky's Symphony #2 conducted by the mesmerizing Elim Chan, Veronique Wantz Gallery opening and Form+Content Gallery opening, as well as working a bit in my studio.

Stop in this weekend and see some great art in the South Como Neighborhood!

Flooded Quarry
Oil on Canvas
40" x 30"
$2,820

Oil painting of a flooded quarry in Central Minnesota. Framed and ready to hang. Available at my Open Studio next weekend, April 26 - 28.

https://buff.ly/4aB1FnJ

I have been thinking lately about legacy. A coworker used the word when talking about my employment. He said my legacy was set. Meaning the program I created has been so positively received that I will forever be thought of well. I laughed. I don’t spend much time thinking about what other people think about me. I am a project or activity focused person. I spend my days figuring out what I want to do or make. Each day I want to…

Read my latest on Substack: https://buff.ly/3TnS5NC

Hey! Wet Paint is a sponsor of the upcoming St. Paul Art Crawl with St. Paul Art Collective ! Support your local artists and see some great art 3 weekends in April! Check out all the info at their website!
https://stpaulartcollective.org/spring-2024-art-crawl/

I will, once again, be having an Open Studio as part of the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Please, come by and see my work, and visit other artists in the South Como area.

OPEN STUDIO
April 26 - 28
Friday, 6 pm - 9 pm
Saturday, 12 pm - 8 pm
Sunday, 12 pm - 5 pm
More details: https://buff.ly/48YlX95

Big Stretchers!
As mentioned previously, I am making large-scale stretchers. Making and supporting them properly is quite the job in and of itself. The larger the stretcher, the more likely to warp. So, extra care has to be taken to cross-grain the main bar and the angled edge wood, provide proper support on back, and remove any imperfections before stretching canvas on them. It is very satisfying seeing long straight edges when done right. It will take me a good part of the next 4 - 6 weeks to complete making the canvases and have them ready to paint.

Bluff III
Oil on canvas
30" x 24"
$1,695

This painting of a bluff in Southeastern Minnesota's bluff country will be available at my Open Studio, April 26 - 28, 2024.

https://buff.ly/4aG6uMe

Last Recap, I reported that I was busy working on 16 paintings at once. I am happy to report that I have completed 6 of them. Only 10 more to go!! Some are pretty small, but I am always happy when I complete a task.

Harvesting Sustainably-harvested Lumber

I took another trip up north to my favorite sawmill, Cedar Woodcutter, run by Alan Presley and Jennifer Feist. They sustainably-harvest trees from several plots that they help manage in Northern Minnesota. The image is the barn where they dry-out and cut up the wood. Alan had 618 linear feet of pine board waiting for me when I arrived. We talked about all kinds of things for about an hour and then I was on my way back home. Its always a fun adventure picking up the wood. Here is the story of my first visit to Alan and Jennifer’s sawmill: https://buff.ly/4aipakU

I will, once again, be having an Open Studio as part of the Saint Paul Art Crawl. Please, come by and see my work, and visit other artists in the South Como area.

OPEN STUDIO
April 26 - 28
Friday, 6 pm - 9 pm
Saturday, 12 pm - 8 pm
Sunday, 12 pm - 5 pm
More details: https://buff.ly/3PpNzgv