Recently this Norman Rockwell concept sketch was in the shop to be re-framed. Rockwell would rough sketch a proposed painting, present it to a potential client and solicit feedback. Hopefully he would be awarded the project, finish the piece, get paid and then move unto the next project.

Does the fact that an artist is directed what to paint diminish the art itself? Not at all. Artists who can support themselves strictly on their own creative output are rare. And it is a minor step from an artist taking on a commissioned project to a full-time commercial illustrator. The net result might not be an artist's first choice, but finding opportunity to be creative within the boundaries of a client's expectations requires both a unique skill set and maturity as an artist.

This is the segue into an upcoming exhibit that was just finalized this week. The working title (and it will change soon) is "Tough Guys and Tough Cookies" and will be a presentation of original art used for pulp magazine covers. This art typically presents scenes of over-the-top drama, usually with somebody in peril. It is a sub-genre illustration art that required efficiency and productivity on the part of the artists. The pay checks were smaller than most of their colleagues, but it paid the bills and allowed artists to create art for a living.

This is the third year in a row we have had the pleasure of working with Grapefruit Moon Gallery. The first two shows (original pin-up art and original Cream of Wheat art) were very successful. This will be a bit different, but consistent with the idea of presenting 20th century illustration art and various subsets. More details next week.

People who invent snappy metaphors to describe business principles might say something like; a small business today is like a great white shark, always on the move, never resting, never sleeping. That sounds way too contrived, so it would be best to simply say that a business must constantly ask itself what it does for a living, and is it where it wants to be in doing that thing it does.

The name change is more a matter of acknowledging how this business has evolved. We frame and we print and we do anything in between. Also it was time to freshen up the logo; shine our shoes, so to speak. This was harder than you might think because the fonts used are fabricated for our needs. It isn't an off-the-shelf font, but it does have a basis in the history of this business. But it is too difficult to explain without hand gestures.

The new web site is another matter. The changes appear to be mostly cosmetic, but under the hood it is an entirely different animal. It would take a rocket scientist to explain the differences and unfortunately, one isn't immediately availible.

With any new web site, it is very easy to be driven crazy trying to chase down every image resizing requirement or some dropped html code. This is called 'overhead' and produces no income. Overhead bad. Income good.

But, you do what you have to do, when you have to do it.

Several Fiddler on the Roof selections were sung (a teaser for an upcoming production) and Rosanne Cash and her husband came out and performed for about 90 minutes. It was a straightforward performance, very professional and simple (two guitars). Just a class act. Then Roomful of Blues picked up the tempo for the next 90 minutes. The skies cleared (it was spitting rain on occasion) and the Sheldon Brass Band took the stage and played mostly some traditional John Philip Sousa music.

It was the final score, which was Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, that something truly remarkable happened. Right at the crescendo, right at the peak of the music, cannons began firing off explosions and all the church bells in town started ringing. Red Wing has a lot of church bells and between the Brass Band, the cannons and the church bells, it was a very moving experience. Several people started spontaneously crying and it is hard not to get choked up thinking about it now. The Sheldon Theatre deserves a ton of credit for making this an amazing day in Red Wing history.

It has been fun charting the progress of the newest neighbor in our neighborhood. But now it is time to move on to other curious topics.

The Red Wing Central Park Bandshell appears to be ~99% complete. The railings need to be anchored and the grass needs to be mowed one more time. It seems right-sized for the park; not too big and not too small.

The side walls (six total) all pivot open when needed. The inside ceiling has a complete lighting system. It isn't clear what purpose the two round towers to each side serve. They each have doors as well, and when opened close the gap between the towers and the shell. It might be both dressing rooms and off-stage space. One of the very interesting aspects of this location is that in every direction a church steeple can be seen.

This is the view from the bandshell looking out. The balustrade wall was built in 1880 when Hamline University owned this land.

Even the view behind the Bandshell is impressive. The activities begin on July 4th at 3 pm, The Sheldon Phoenix Theatre, Rosanne Cash, Roomful of Blues, the Sheldon Brass Band at 9 pm (complete with cannon) followed by fireworks over the Mississippi River. Awesome.