itinerant artist's visit
Jim Mott's visit would have been enough weekend excitement by itself...but NBC's Today Show heard about his Itinerant Artist Project and chose his stay with us to film for a segment of Bob Dotson's American Story series. (When a producer from the Today show called me Thursday to set things up, my husband and I had trouble believing this was for real and not, perhaps, an elaborate hoax. But we played along, and good thing too--because it was no prank at all.) Filming took place today and there is a bit more to do tomorrow morning.

I tagged along for most of the day as Jim was filmed painting--first at a nearby scenic overlook and then at the Norske Nook, a restaurant in Osseo, WI--close to our house and well known for its pies and home cooking. Besides trading paintings for staying in people's homes across the US, Jim has added a new twist to his current trip--he is attempting to spend no money except for gas, and to this end has successfully bartered paintings for food, admission to a museum, hotel lodging and even to pay off a speeding ticket. The cameraman for the Today show wanted to capture him bartering for lunch at the Norske Nook...and the manager there was very pleased with the idea (I guess it didn't hurt to have the attention from NBC either.) In fact she gave all 3 of us lunch and pie. With a nod to pop artist Wayne Thiebaud, Jim pulled off a very nice little pie painting, performing admirably under pressure (fellow painters, imagine doing this with TV camera rolling.)



There is more to tell about the weekend--besides Jim's visit, Chicago encaustic painter Kathleen Waterloo also stopped by today on her way back from her opening at Circa Gallery in Minneapolis last night. Her show was stunning, and it was also the grand opening at Circa's new location, so it was quite a party (my husband and I were there too.) Kathleen couldn't stay long, but we had a great talk and studio visit...I hope to keep in touch with her in the future.  ¶ 9:21 PM