Weekend In Duluth

This weekend Nicole and I went to Duluth for their annual Art Hop. There are 10 art galleries in Duluth and there is a free trolley that takes you to each one. Nicole and I are not art junkies or anything, but we know what we like when we see it. It's pretty common that we walk into a gallery and gravitate toward the same piece as we almost always have similar taste. Our favorite artist is David Gross and his show was held at the Washington Gallery. He was their featured artist for the month of April so his paintings filled the gallery. DJ as his friends know him, has been on the Duluth art scene full-time for the past 6 years, and he has been in Duluth for 10 years including studying art at UMD. He spends his summers in Alaska taking tourists out to catch large halibut and salmon, but from September - April he paints full-time in Duluth. We absolutely think his life is amazing and comment each time we see him how refreshing it is to see someone doing exactly what they love to do. Not everyone is that lucky in life to do what it is they love to do. DJ commented on the recession and how it has affected sales this year, but he's getting by.

His latest artwork is more landscapes inspired by places he's been. 3 pieces of this show were from Texas where his new love is from, Sara, and a few are from the Wisconsin side of Lake Superior. He sold one of his pieces when we were there to a man from England. (Katy Moritz's father-in-law) To check out his work go to http://www.davidjgrossstudios.com/ He is a true talent and Nicole and I are happy to call him our friend.
After the gallery show and a long day of "drinking wine" and looking at art we never pass up the opportunity to eat at our favorite restaurant in Duluth, Va Bene. We then met DJ and some friends at Old Chicago for drinks.

One of the highlights for the day for Nicole was finding 2 new Root Beers that she has never tried...Point Root Beer from Stevens Point, WI and Gale's Root Beer. They were both pretty good. She is always excited to come across a new root beer she has never tried before.

On Sunday we had a great breakfast at Fittger's and then worked our way home. Nicole spent the afternoon working on her dissertation (I think my blog from last week motivated her).
We are headed to Hudson this Thursday as Nicole has a conference in Plymouth on Friday and Saturday.
Have a great week!