Chasing Arnold Flaten

  Lord, You Have Called Your Servants 2020 Oiled white birch, 32"x36"x2" St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Bloomington MN This is another edition of a well-known and well-loved prayer.  I have finished seven or eight versions of this in walnut, in a horizontal layout; this is the first in 'paragraph' format, with corresponding icon miniatures on the side.   The icons, from top down:  sun/clouds of creation, the cross, shock of wheat, dotted eighth note of music, the star, the acorn seed, and the sprout of new growth.

  The Beatitudes 2020 Minnesota walnut, series of seven panels each 48"x36", 1.5"thick Memorial commissioned for Marion Sheie at St. Luke Lutheran Church, Portland OR After the passing of a dear aunt, Marion Sheie, I entered the new narthex of her church, St. Luke Lutheran in Portland, Oregon.  Just above the entrance doors of the sanctuary was a huge--blank--triangular wall that called for something to fill it.  After much deliberation with cousins and in turn, their deliberation with church leadership, I submitted a proposal for a series of seven carvings focused on the Beatitudes from the book of Luke.  This made a lot of sense in that St. Luke in Portland has a strong sense of social justice, and the texts will withstand the test of time. At left is the back of the third carving, showing a picture of Marion and Ernie Sheie as well as my normal 'signature' for my work. Late in 2020 I was able to deliver the finished work to Portland and begin the installation.

  To a Skylark 2014 cherry,12"x84" collection of the artist, Anoka MN With deep gratitude to fellow choral singer and St. Olaf friend Eldri Wittkamper.. We just wanted to stop by and see the house where Eldri's relative lived, one of the Roe family who taught voice at St. Olaf.  We knocked on the door, and it turns out the house was occupied by the mayor of Northfield, who invited us in.   My jaw dropped when I saw it--the style was unmistakeable--it was a Flaten work surrounding the mantelpiece at the fireplace.  The text is a selection from Percy Bysshe Shelley, "To a Skylark": Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; The blue deep thou wingest, And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever singest. Since we couldn't guarantee access to the house in the future, it was a stroke of luck that Eldri had a rubbing of the work, an exact copy.  From the rubbing, I was able to reproduce the carving exactly as Arnold did it.  I gu

 Non Moriar 20"x20"x2" walnut burl with brass accent Donated to The Dwelling Place to support women and children in crisis and recovery. "Non mortar sed vivam et narrabo opera Dominum"  This is the Latin text of the rare choral work by Martin Luther:   I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.. The Latin text is scribed around three sides of the edge of the wood, with the face surface in English.

For the Kingdom &  I Have Come 12"x24"x2" cherry 1999, collections of J. Horn and R. Groehler This was one of two works that I lost track of.. the influence of Flaten should be obvious. In 2020, I found two photos in our files that began a search for the whereabout of these carvings.  There's a long and emotional story behind them that involves St. Olaf College music, and suffice it to say that we were visited by two angels who provided something surprising, generous, and unexpected.  In deepest gratitude,  these two pieces were given to the individuals as a gift of thanks.

In Pleasant Places Red oak, 24"x36"x2"   1977 and 2020 Originally done in 1977 for the 40th anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Meyer of Sheboygan, WI Retaining the original design, the piece was redone in 2020, updating the circular text for readability and refinishing the oiled oak. The text is from Psalm 16, taken from the headstone of Rev. Gustav Meyer, Vincent's father, in the Sheboygan Lutheran cemetery.