Chasing Arnold Flaten

  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.