A box arriving from metal-smith and jeweler, Pen Andrishok, is always exciting for me. Pen’s craftsmanship is impeccable, and her choices in stones and design are guided by a richly personal aesthetic. “Serpentine”, a green to yellow stone with mottling that people are accustomed to seeing in turquoise, and Lake Michigan granite both feature subdued colors that make them versatile choices for just about any taste.

Serpentine bracelet, Pen Andrishok

An inveterate dog-lover and rescue-er of golden retrievers, Pen has specified that 10% of her sales of her hammered silver earrings will go to Iowa dog rescue efforts. The seriousness of this activity for Pen was made plain by a photo of her current assemblage of charges. I can’t imagine a more compelling image for sales than these sweetly smiling, RESCUED canines.

For a few idyllic years, our family lived in a small valley near Indian Creek Nature Center. Walking out the door on a summer morning, I was greeted by the sight of a lush expanse of beans or corn in alternating years. It was, quite simply, beautiful. On steamy, summer days like the
ones we’ve had this week, I could stand at the edge of the cornfield and HEAR the corn grow. My affection for the pastoral aspects of our fair state is rooted deeply in that time.

Summer Sky / Pastel Painting / 24″ x 36″ / Marcia Wegman

The pastel paintings of Marcia Wegman recall all the variety and power of rural Iowa’s vistas. Often observed from a viewpoint just slightly above the foreground of her compositions, Wegman’s paintings include land and sky in equal, luminous parts.

And, now, some poetic advice by native son, Paul Engle, for those to whom an Iowa field is accessible:
“Gather from the yielding land
Roots of purple thistle;
Go out in early dawn to stand
In clover fields and whistle.”