Fall Art Tour 2023

Every year on the third weekend of October, we are blessed to have the opportunity to drive through Wisconsin around Mineral Point, Dodgeville and Baraboo for the Fall Art Tour.

During the three-day tour, artists are in their studios, demonstrating and selling their work. There is a wide range of painters, sculptors, potters, weavers, jewelers, woodworkers, mixed-media artists, and many more. Some only open their studios for this event.

There are other events covering other artists such as, The Winding Roads Art Tour (Viroqua and the Driftless region) and the Farm/Art DTour (Every other year on conjunction with the Fermentation Fest). All opportunities to explore the beautiful geography of Wisconsin and her creative forces to be reckoned with. These are a few highlights of the tour this year.

We spent Saturday visiting with Nancy Blake and Joe Clark. (Double Iris Studios, a collaborative adventure in the arts in their combined studios allowing for a wide range of creative expression including: Fiber Arts, Ceramics, Wood, Hot and Cold Glass Work, and Metals

Nancy Blake and Joe Clark

Tim Znidarsich, Printmaking and Woodcut Printing

Printmaking is something that I find challenging for myself, I can hold my own with many media but printmaking is magical. There is something to the history of old woodcut techniques blending with modern ones that makes me appreciate it so much. How they can manipulate the blocks and plan and practice for the final graphic is amazing. Anything can go wrong at any time. Znidarsich subject matter is rooted in personal places, people, objects, and memories. Some are amusing, others make social statements or just reflect the beauty of nature. I love when artists share their process and provide a block or print plate side-by-side with the final art. ZnidarsichPrintmaking

Cheese Factory Resturaunt (Baraboo, WI)

This small vegan restaurant made the perfect resting spot for tea, light snack (veggie lentil soup) and a wonderful Linzer Torte. Finding a great version of a Linzer isn’t easy but this one, I will dream about having it again sometime soon. My companion enjoyed her apple pie slice full of sweet yumminess — heavy with apple slices.

Char terBeest Kudla (Helen’s Daughters Studio)

I made a return trip to Barbaboo on Sunday because the sun came out because the colors are so incredible this year and to replace a handbag from Helen’s Daughters.

Christopher Sweet (Blue Bear Studio)

A Native American (Ho-Chunk Nation and White Earth Ojibwe through his father) artist, Christopher Sweet’s images are colorful, expressive reflections of his life and heritage.

and finally the drive home

I love a drive through Devils Lake

Whenever I can, I’ll take the leisurely crossing over the Wisconsin River on the Merrimac Ferry, especially this time of year. As long as your time it flexible (there is often a lengthy wait for this short 7 minute bit of historical nostalgia) there are bathrooms and seasonal concessions on either side in case it’s a long one.

A bit of history. The ferry began running 1848. In 1844, Chester Mattson and George Grant built the ferry charging each passenger five cents a ride, as well as 25 cents for each horse and 40 cents for a team of oxen. In 1924 Sauk and Columbia Counties took over the operation of a wooden ferry, Colsac I, carrying eight cars across now Lake Wisconsin, charging 35 cents per car and 5 cents for pedestrians and 75 cents for trucks. The State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation took over in 1933, allowing all passengers and vehicles to cross the lake free of charge. The Colsac III, a 15-car ferry, now makes the routine voyage across Lake Wisconsin. The ferry is open for service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, normally from April 15 through November 30. (Merrimac Ferry).