A Brush With Life

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Kirk Payne  is enraptured by raptors!  Kirk is  a practitioner of the ancient sport of Falconry - training wild hawks to hunt for quarry. He is also an ardent conservationist,  protecting and promoting the expansion of the kestrel population by installing nesting boxes throughout the region in appropriate landscapes. But he is most beloved in the community for teaching youth and families about the wonders of the natural world for  many years as the (now retired) Naturalist of Quarry Hill Nature Center.  

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Deb Majerus and Joel McDonald share the surprising story of love and flowers literally growing out of the ashes,  as they launched Iron Butterfly Flower Farm.

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Tamsin Barlow is a full-time Printmaker and Painter, who also squeezes in a couple of hours teaching Zumba exercise classes every week.She painstakingly carves her design into a linoleum block, rolls ink onto the surface, and presses it onto paper — but that's just one of many ways Tamsin makes an impression!  Tamsin Barlow InstagramKTTC Interview with Tamsin

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Jeff Feece lives right in in the city, but he can listen to the tree frogs trilling at night, watch hawks hunting in his back yard and he sometimes finds the dried  nymph shells where dragonflies have hatched out in his tiny pond. Jeff is a landscape designer and city park planner, and loves wildlife. He has created a haven for insects, birds and small animals  in his  urban backyard in Rochester, Minnesota. Today he talks about how to attract critters to your yard .Jeff's Wild Heights Garden websiteRochester Post-Bulletin Interview - Planning City Parks

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Cassandra Buck never met an art medium she didn't love. She is a painter, muralist, jewelry-maker, weaver, embroiderer, and more - and she often combines those traditional mediums in untraditional ways.  Cassandra is not one of those artists who secludes herself in her studio. She is truly out there - leading community art projects, organizing exhibits for artists, teaching classes, and being a businesswoman running her vintage shop. Cassandra Buck Website

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here! "Be the Change You Wish to See in the World." That pretty much sums up Robin Greenfield's life and philosophy. Once a successful businessman and aspiring young millionaire, Robin had a revelation about how his lifestyle was harming the earth and did a 180, dedicating himself to living simply and in harmony with the earth. His experiments in simplicity include living off-grid,non-ownership, growing all of his own food, traveling in other countries with no money whatsoever, biking across the continent  (3 times) on a bamboo bicycle, and wearing all the trash produced in the day-to-day life of a typical American on his body over the course of a month in a huge MIchelin-man-like suit. This year, Robin is committed to foraging 100% of the food and medicine that goes into his body. In this episode, Robin tells us about his journey and what it takes to survive off of only what you can forage from the land. Check our Robin's website for documentation of his projects, resources galore, and great videos and interviews.  You can't help but be inspired!

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Teresa Walter grew up playing classical violin, and she was really good at it, but she took a 20-year hiatus from music to focus on family and career. When her daughters were grown, she picked up the violin again and started to play casually at community venues, such as the Salvation Army kettle at the grocery store. One night, she attended a bluegrass jam session, joined in, and fell in love with playing her violin in the fiddle style. Just ten years after playing her first bluegrass jam session, she won first place in the Minnesota State Old Time Fiddle Championship in Mountain Iron, Minnesota.  Enjoy Teresa's story of becoming a champion fiddle player and beloved musician in the community! This interview ends with Teresa performing "Blugrass in the Backwoods," composed by Keny Baker.Hear Teresa's music:Teresa Walter - From Classical Violin to Fiddle FunTeresa  competing at National Old Time Fiddle Contest  in Wieser, Idaho, 2025

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!It has been so much fun creating these podcasts, interviewing so many fascinating folks, and sharing the conversations with you!  I appreciate you, all of the guests, and the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council, who awarded me a grant to launch this podcast. Fr the next month I will be taking a little break over the holidays, putting down A Brush With Life and picking up my paintbrush and my pastry brush to do a little creating and holiday baking and celebrating with friends and family. Please stay tuned for the return of A Brush With Life after January 1st! I have some amazing interviews lined up that I am eager to share with you! Thank you and Happy Holidays!Susan

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!With plenty of guts and gusto, Marie Marvin turned an old Carnegie Library in  Zumbrota, MN, into a hub of creativity.  The building was bursting with art, whimsy, artists working, children learning, sometimes even people doing yoga. At night it  hummed with fabulous music concerts, artist openings, and poetry readings.  Marie has a way of encouraging the artist inside everyone.The road to Crossings was not an easy or obvious path. Listen in as Marie shares her story, and how after a lifetime of trying to find what she was meant to do with her life, she finally found it.After 16 years of showcasing and celebrating the arts in Zumbrota, Marie retired two years ago to focus on family and her own personal pursuits. Crossings was sold to Virginia Cooper, who carries on the arts legacy as "Crossings Art Center."

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!John Sievers is not one to toot his own horn, but he does let it slide. John is a trombonist who plays in many bands, a poet who writes a haiku a day, an English professor, and Rochester's most enthusiastic music booster. In this episode, learn how John developed his lifelong partnership with the trombone, how he juggles his busy creative life, and what makes him most proud. This episode of A Brush With Life closes with 'Trombot," a joyful tune composed by John for the band Loud Mouth Brass. John Sievers FBLoud Mouth BrassWatch "Horizons" music videoThe D'Sievers      Watch "Mermaid Shuffle"Jagged EaseWatch "Jump, Jive an' Wail"AmateurListen to "More to Me" 

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Amy Johnson is an enamel artist who creates copper and silver jewelry with gorgeous, colorful glass designs fused to the surface. Amy tells us how she  discovered this art form, her process, and how making art helped her survive and heal from  tragic life events.View Amy's work:Website: https://www.amyjohnsonenamels.comFB Page: https://www.facebook.com/amyjohnsonenamelsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyjohnsonenamels/

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!As a young girl, Heidi Kern was inspired by "Little House on the Prairie" and dreamed  of creating a self-sufficient life where she grew all her own food and sewed her own clothing.  As an adult, she wound up living in the city but she and her husband Chris have transformed their cul-de-sac lot into an urban farmstead.  Growing vegetables, fruits, herbs and chickens, Heidi  produces most of the food for her family and generously shares her skills with the community. She leads the group "Backyard Bounty Urban Homesteading" and co-founded the Rochester Seed Library at the Rochester Public Library.Visit the Backyard Bounty Urban Homesteading site to learn about their upcoming events and see gorgeous photos of Heidi's garden bounty.

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Jean Prokott is Rochester, MInesota's Poet Laureate!  As the community's official artistic wordsmith, she writes poems for community events and creates an annual poetry event for the public. She is also a teacher of English and Philosophy at Century High School.  Her  book of published poems is titled "The Second Longest Day of the Year." American Couplets (4th Fest)Claiming Light (4th Fest)The Second Longest Day of the Year

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Oliver Books is  passionate about all things sound.  He is a singer-songwriter who performs solo and in a 7-member band called Oliver Books and The Big, Big, World.  He has worked in music production and movie production. in the past year, he and colleague Alex Ortberg produced The Rochester Mash-Up, a compilation music album of 20 diverse  local musicians. Currently, Books and Oliver are launching a new recording studio. Listen to Oliver's music at:  https://oliverbooksmusic.bandcamp.com/FInd  more information about  Oliver Books & The Big Big World at: https://www.facebook.com/OliverBooksMusic

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!LeAnn Eriksson speaks softly but carries a big voice.  Music has always been a huge part of her life, beginning with growing up on an Iowa farm, playing the flute in school and singing in the Lutheran church choir.  Since then she has become a citizen of the world and lived, worked and sung in many countries. She discovered crystal singing bowls and learning "toning" and polyphonic singing - singing in more than one tone at the same time - and now leads meditative sounding experiences.You can hear some of LeAnn's music here:Wavegarden -singing, crystal singing bowlsDeep Wild Stillness - spontaneous meditational music with Judith Maria Günzl: My Body Knows - song and video for Monthlies 

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Susan M. Davies Sue Davies is a painter who approaches her work from many directions - abstract, animals, landscape, sumi-e,meditative, whimsical...but the constant is color: rich, vibrant, exuberant color. You sense that she lives her entire life with that same exuberance.  Sue's other art is music; currently, she plays the tin whistle in a Celtic band called Hurkle-Durkle. You are invited to a special project Sue is bringing to Squash Blossom Farm!Into the Unknown - Exhibit/artist talk/contemplative walk in nature:August 23, 10AMBring a curious mind, a sketchbook and dress for a short hike!“Into the Unknown” Project overview:This project will begin with a display of current nature-inspired work created by Susan Davies and an informal gallery talk. Following the gallery talk, participants will be encouraged to join along in an optional workshop.Workshop participants will bring a sketchbook and a writing/drawing utensil and embark on a short walk through a wild area near the exhibiting venue and listen contemplatively to the wilderness. Along the walk, they will be encouraged to be silent making stops to listen, meditate, and respond in their sketchbooks. The session will end with time to contemplate and share responses. Walking paths will be handicapped accessible and lawn chairs will be available for anyone who wants to use one.Susan Davies is a fiscal year 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.See  images of Sue's work at her website and Facebook pageSusan Davies Creations Website: https://www.susandavies.site/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063503110772

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Darin Podulke-Smith is an artist, improv actor, stained-glass creator, banjo-player and Buddhist priest. In this episode, we talk to Darin about banjo practice and the practice of Buddhism, and what it takes to become a Zen priest. He also describes his most recent adventure, a 500-mile hike on the Camino Frances with his wife, Laurel. 

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Artist Deb D'Souza is devoted to the ancient art of mosaic and has traveled the world to study it,  but she also incorporates innovative techniques.  Mosaic is a patience-testing process than can take 40 hours to assemble thousands of tiny bits into 1 square foot of design.  Deb magically creates landscapes and botanical images with amazing details, shadows and reflections and herlandscape mosaics sometimes incorporate materials actually found at the place  she is depicting.See images of Deb's work at her website: https://debradsouza.com

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Eva Barr puts the culture in agriculture!  Eva and her partner Todd started Dream Acres Farm, near Wykoff, Minnesota, as a land collective where they built all the timber-framed farm buildings, taught heritage farming techniques, farmed with horses and oxen and raised organic veggies for a 40-family CSA. With Eva's theater expertise, the farm launched Flourish, a summer Theater + Agriculture camp for youth. On Friday evenings during the summer, they serve wood-fired pizza featuring farm produce. Plus, Eva is a passionate activist for social justice issues.To  learn more about Dream Acres Farm, the Flourish Theater Camp, and opportunities for pizza and theater on the farm, visit https://www.dreamacresfarm.org/

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Lynette Yencho has a lifetime of experience as a commercial artist, from drawing school buildings and class ring designs at age 16 and for Jostens, to designing collectible figurines, to being agraphic designer for the Minneapolis Star newspaper...to creating fantastical murals and other very fine art. https://gardenstudio.biz https://lynettestudio.com/To follow Lynette in Art 64 , an Art Tournment in Wauwatosa, WI June 6 &7, 2025, visit: https://discoverart64.com/

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Kevin Ian Reid was the Orofacial Pain Specialist at Rochester's  Mayo Clinic for 26 years. He had never studied art, but in order to cope with the strain of working with so many people suffering from pain, he began painting, especially abstract faces that often evoked pain. When Reid retired, he decided to return to school to study art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, immersing himself in painting and  metal sculpture and earning his MFA. He  built a cabin and studio in the woods where he creates enormous colorful, abstract paintings and large-scale welded metal sculptures.  He also plays drums in the band Incognito.Check out Kevin's art at his website, www.kevinreidstudio.com 

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Becky Schlegel grew up in South Dakota singing classic country music. When she moved to Minnesota, she fell in love with bluegrass music and with her banjo-pickin' husband, Heath Loy.   Now Becky is a singer with a voice as sweet as nectar writing songs that tug at your heart or lull you to peace, a painter of gestural flowers, and the grateful steward of a 100+-year-old farmstead. Learn more about Becky Schlegel's music and art, and a schedule of her upcoming performances at www.beckyschlegle.com

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Judy Onofrio's work has spanned from firing ceramics to burning huge structures in fiery performances, elaborate, quirky brooches to elegant sculptures assembled from bones, celebrations of nature to divas, acrobats and other colorful characters. She is renowned for creating monumental sculptures from the tiniest bits, baubles, beads, buttons and shells, collected over her lifetime. For the past 50 years, Judy has been a creative force in the Rochester art world.See images of Judy's work, exhibitions and studio on her website: www.judyonofrio.com

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!The first time I met Suzanne Szucs, she was dressed in the most sumptuous, colorful, exotic clothing you can imagine, dancing at Squash Blossom farm during  our Cow Puja festival. That is just one facet of Suzanne's life -  she also  teaches  Photography at Rochester Community & Technical College. Her own photographic art is inspired by nature and the native plants in her garden.   

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Kevin Ewing recently retired from his career as a teacher and is now devoting himself to his favorite pastime - woodcarving.  He is not just whittling away his time - he creates elaborate, elegant pieces inspired by architectural and historic masterpieces.  Plus, he generously shares his craft by teaching woodcarving to aspiring carvers of all ages. For photos of his work and details on upcoming classes check out  KevinKEwing on Instagram. You can also see photos of some of the pieces we talked about in this interview on our Facebook page.

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Brooke Burch is all about textile design. She is a fashion designer, seamstress, sewing instructor, and has a vintage clothing boutique in her Rochester studio.  Her original clothing designs have been featured on the runway at Minnesota Fashion Week. 

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!Stephanie Podulke is a woman with a huge heart and great wit, who has created scores of spectacular stained glass windows throughout Southeast Minnesota. She is one of the inspiring leaders of our Rochester community. 

Please leave me your feedback and ideas here!In this premier episode of A Brush With Life, you will learn how my husband, Roger Nelson, and I met and how 60 years of friendship and shared dreams ultimately landed us at Squash Blossom Farm where learned to be real farmers with chickens, a milk cow and everything. At Squash Blossom Farm we celebrate Local Food, Local Art and Local Music, and invite the community in to feast upon wood-fired sourdough pizza, mead and bean-to-bar chocolate.