Exciting news from the
Coffee Artists! ™

November 16, 2005
This is a fun little article that I did with the Reykjavik Grapevine about my love affair with Iceland:

issue 15 page 41

Reykjavík is for Lovers:
An Interview with Andy Saur

Here is an excerpt from a curious letter The Grapevine received this summer. “In October 2002, my girlfriend and I embarked on an adventure to Iceland, and I had romantic intentions in mind. After our over night flight from Minneapolis, we toured through Reykjavik and the first photo we took was in front of Leifur Eiríksson. During the trip we drove up the west coast to a mountain top near Snæfellsjökull. When we hiked to the summit, I set up a camera to take a timed photo of us the instant I proposed to my wife. A year later, we were married in Leif Erickson Park here in Duluth. For our honeymoon, we hopped on a flight back to where it all started, Reykjavik and the Leifur Eiríksson statue…”

We contacted the author, an artist from Duluth Minnesota, to get more perspective on what makes Reykjavík so romantic.

Grapevine: Is there Nordic Culture in Duluth?
Andy Saur: Yes, there is a quite the Nordic community here in Duluth. I would have to say that it is at least more than half the population are descendants from Norway, Sweden and Finland. It was mainly in the early 1900’s or so when the immigrants arrived from Scandinavia, looking for work and starting a new life. My great-grandfather emigrated from Norway, my wife’s great-grandparents emigrated from Finland, so that was the movement at that time. The landscape and climate is fairly similar to what they were used to, so that is why I think they chose Northern Minnesota as one of their destinations. The Nordic heritage is still reflected in today’s society here from everything from festivals, Sons of Norway community groups, Scandinavian influenced Lutheran churches, cuisine and other events in everyday life.

Grapevine: When did you first hear about Iceland?
Andy: I have always been interested in my Nordic heritage, so I first came across Iceland in books I read as a youngster. I was, and still am, fascinated by Viking explorers and Iceland. From the photos and descriptions that I read when I was little, I knew it was a place that I had to see for myself.

Grapevine: Few people in Iceland feel the city or the Leif Eiriksson statue is romantic. Can you explain the attraction?
Andy: I am not sure what the attraction of the Leif Eiriksson statue is, but it must have some mystical qualities. My wife and I designed and created our wedding bands. On our rings, we have an infinity symbol and a Viking ship. It symbolizes our never-ending journey together and our everlastingly love. Maybe that is the connection there, from where we were engaged and the time in Iceland and the Leif Eiriksson statue to the Leif Erickson Park we were married at in Duluth. Leif Erickson was an explorer and adventurer, and my wife and I feel that we have the same heart for exploration.

Grapevine: If Leifur Eiriksson didn’t land in America, would you still like Iceland?
Andy: Yes, if Leifur Eiriksson did not land in North America, I would still love Iceland. In grade school, we were taught that Christopher Columbus was the first European to land in North America. It wasn’t until a few years later that I started reading about the Vikings, Iceland and Leif Erickson, that I discovered the truth. Iceland is such a magical place to my wife and I that we stop in our tracks when we see the word ‘Iceland’ or hear ‘Iceland’ on the news. It is a place that we would love to stay for a longer period of time.

Grapevine: What would Icelanders think of Duluth?
Andy: Icelanders would think of Duluth as a familiar place. Duluth is on the tip of Lake Superior and has a feel of being on the ocean. The lake is so vast, one can not see the other side. Duluth has a harbour, and built on a hillside. The population is about half of Reykjavik, around 80,000 or so. We also experience long, dark winters and much daylight in the summer. The weather changes very quickly here, it just depends which way the wind is blowing! We have local cafes where local artist display their art and musicians play. It is a charming city that isn’t too big, or too little.

Andy Saur maintains regular correspondence with the Grapevine. He last wrote to us to remind us of Leif Eriksson Day, on October 9th, as dedicated by Lyndon Johnson in 1964.

 

 

November 14, 2005
This past summer, a regional grocery store here in Duluth, Minnesota was having an art contest. The contest called for using no more than 50 grocery bags in creating a piece of art that reflected our community. I spent all day one Saturday with my Viking ship creation.

It is called:
"Imported Scandinavian Foods -Aisle 6"

The winner from the store will get $250 in grocery gift cards, and go to the next round where the winners from all the stores will receive a year's worth of groceries!

I received a phone call from the grocery store, but it was not the news I wanted to hear. I was beat out by an ore boat creation. The Vikings would not have settled for this! But that's ok, second place will have to do this time. I won a $50 gift card, so at least our groceries were paid for one week.

After sitting in my basement for five months, I decided it was time to send the ship to Valhalla. It was a beautiful November night, with a moon glowing in the sky. We thanked the Viking ship for the week’s worth of groceries, and Angel set the ship aflame. We watched as the ship burned and bobbed in the waves. It was a surreal moment, thinking about how the Viking kings were sent to Valhalla.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

November, 7 2005
We were featured in The Finnish American Reporter with one of our pieces adorning the cover. Here is the text of the article:

Artists always have new ideas ‘brewing’

By Dave Maki

Duluth, Minn – When Andy Saur had his first taste of coffee – courtesy of his great-grandmother, Ester Backlund, who emigrated from Vaasa to the U.S. – it was so bitter to him he had to add tablespoons of sugar and a half-cup of cream so he could tolerate the taste.

“It was a taste that I haven’t forgotten,” he said. “To this day, I still do not drink coffee!”

Instead, he’s found a better option for the popular beverage. He paints with it.

Saur, along with his wife, Angel Sarkela-Saur (whose great-grandparents emigrated from Kurikka) have been painting with coffee for several years now, a hobby that started because they wanted to do something unique for their first art show at a coffee house in Duluth.

“Since our show was going to take place in a coffee house, we thought it would be appropriate to use coffee as our medium,” the couple – both 28-year-old University of Minnesota graduates – explained” We tried several techniques, such as using the coffee bean to sketch and making pastels from coffee grounds. These were not successful, so we finally decided to use the coffee as a watercolor.”

They brought 30 paintings to that first coffee-house show; all sold before the end of the day. Since then, they’ve created and sold hundreds of paintings, ranging from portraits of people or their pets, to nature scenes, to images reflecting their Scandinavian heritage.

“We believe our ‘Finnishness’ shows through in our subject manner,” they explained. “For instance, Angel has created two paintings from the ‘Kalevala.’ Andy has also created a few paintings inspired by Finland, including a painting of a sauna and a fun take on Finland’s Coat of Arms; instead of the sword in the hand of the lion, a cup of coffee is there instead!”

That painting, they said, is to show that Finland is the number one country in the world for coffee consumption.

“That’s what I like about the Finnish people,” Andy said. “They are very proud of who they are and what they can accomplish.”

The Finns also like what Angel and Andy have accomplished. Their work was exhibited in Kurikka at the Kurikka-Seura in August of 2004.

“It was received with great support and we found out that it was the most successful are show that museum has ever had,” they said. “After that show, the works traveled to Turku and we displayed until recently.”

The Finns will also be further exposed to Angel and Andy’s work in the near future. The couple will be featured, along with numerous other Finnish Americans, in a film documentary filmmaker Erkki Määttänen, who visited the Midwest last summer. The documentary will be aired on YLE television and in other Nordic countries in 2006.

The couple might be in Finland for the documentary’s premiere, in fact.

“We are planning on returning to Finland next August for another family reunion in Turku,” they said. “One of our goals is to live in Finland for an extended amount of time to be immersed in its culture. We would love to learn more about Finland by experiencing it first-hand.”

“It is difficult to find the resources to make this opportunity happen, but we are working toward it. Our art would be tremendously affected by living in Finland, and it would be exciting to see what ideas and concepts we could come up with.”

Based on past feedback, it’s a safe assumption their audiences would agree.

 

November 1, 2005
Last night, little Gidget was really excited to hear the door bell ring and greet all the trick-or-treaters. This year, she was a little angel with wings. She liked her costume and would prance around, all proud. She would go up on her stool and look out the window to see who our next visitor would be. The doorbell would ring, and 'ruff fuff' and off to the door. I would pick her up as Angel would hand out the candy. We were worried Gidget would get too excited and not recognize what was going on with all the costumes and commotion. It was a lot on the little puppy.... after we handed out our last candy bar, we called it a night. Gidget was tuckered from all the excitement of the evening.