|
Keith O. offered the invocation, and we recited the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four-Way Test. President Katie told us that the day of our meeting was Randy K's 16th anniversary of when he joined Rotary. Cody O. passed around two sign-up sheets, one for helping at the water table on Saturday, June 7th, for the Lake Region Run, and another to do a build day with Habitat for Humanity on July 8th. Those attending were encouraged to get their Lucky Duck Derby tickets from Brian T., who had on a light blue shirt with yellow rubber ducks all over it. He must have deflated some. For this year's Derby, we will have a $1,000 first place price and $100 awarded to those holding the numbers of the next four finishers. We will also have a fire department member on hand to assist with any person overboard situations. Mark B. started the bragging, paying in for having to leave the meeting early but also to recognize his son who took a year off after his freshman year at Concordia but now is going to attend the University of Minnesota to pursue a career in architecture. Hal L. paid for missing some meetings and to tell us he was glad to be done with a dental appointment that lasted two terrible hours. Keith O. was very happy to report that granddaughter Nora is now, at a little over nine months, as healthy as a horse; Keith also commented on returning from his long vacation in Europe and while there both he and brother Guy attending all the Noon and Sunrise meetings. This writer was glad to be back attending meetings in person after surgery on a ruptured Achille's tendon in early April and not being able to put any weight on his injured leg until the cast was removed the prior week. John M. rose to tell us he has known our speaker for many years and that he is a fine young man. Finally, Zack S. paid in for missing a couple meetings and for having to leave the day's meeting early. Cody O. introduced Blayze Buseth, owner of the Creation Shop in Fergus Falls. The store website is creationshopmn.com. It opened in 2021 "right after Covid," and Blayze said his "whole life has been a gamble." Since opening, Creation Shop has hosted 100's of workshops, a lot of which have been pottery wheel focused but sculpture classes have also been offered. Blayze made the otter statues for the Splash Pad and is also now dabbling in AI inspired pieces. In 2019, Blayze met someone who worked with Pixar that showed him how cartoon characters can connect with our emotions. Blayze found himself wondering if he could bring a cartoon adventure to life and that is when "Tom," his workshop's/store's mascot, came into existence. When in China for three months he created ten illustrations involving Tom and since then has created over 1000 pieces of fine China based on the character, including five giant Tom sculptures. While in China, Blayze showed his work at what is the second largest art festival in the world. Blayze and his partner, Desiree, live above Creation Shop and she also does artistic works. Since returning from China and in 2023, Blayze created Tom's origin story by way of ten new illustrations. Blayze recently returned from his second international adventure, this time to India. He first went to India last year on a twenty-day excursion, attending a conference for 10 days where everyone from India came to New Delhi to exhibit their art. While in India, he learned of an artist residency program where he could work with ceramic, stone and bronze. He started a crowd funding campaign that raised about $17,000 to cover his expenses of attending, including round-trip air fare, not including the 8% commission Kickstarter charges for its services. Because Desiree also wanted to go to India, Blayze added a second Tom, explaining to us that everyone, male or female, is a "Tom." Ther was a launch party to raise the funds and introduce the second Tom, ultimately resulting in Blayze and his partner going to India for 70 days. They worked in an ancient temple city, learned about the bronze casting process, and went to the top of the mountain that was the inspiration for The Jungle Book. Blayze worked with two master craftsmen, one in bronze and the other in stone. Desiree did an adorable otter sculpture and Blayze did a giant sandstone Tom sculpture.  Blayze spent about 30 to 40 hours working on angle grinders during the residency program as well. He was inspired to create 14 more Tom illustrations and Tom's story is now being formatted into a hardcover book that will be available next month; he described it as a coffee table book. On their return flight home, there were ten suitcases were full of the works they created. During his presentation, Blayze said "art itself is about grand aspirations and dreams" and the items he brought to display reflected he is already an accomplished artist and a great dreamer. |
.png)
