Sailor, woodsman, carpenter, fly fisherman
By Allison Stupka
Sun contributor
Mark Ringlever is a man of many interests and skills. He is a boat captain, a fly fisherman and he can do many things with wood. His carpentry and woodwork can be seen in private homes in Leelanau and Grand Traverse County. Recently I caught up with him in his studio at Lake Street Studios in Glen Arbor. On the wall were some large drawings of fish. They, he explained, were sketches for a 12-foot-high totem pole he made for a Leelanau County residence. On another wall were prints of fish. He made these when he studied Japanese wood block printing, Moku hanga, at the Glen Arbor Arts Center. Around the studio were piles of wood in intriguing shapes and colors.
Ringlever is always on the lookout for special pieces of wood. He knows a few local people that mill wood and regularly visits them. He showed me pieces of different oaks and maples.” How do you decide what shape to make from the wood?” I asked him. He showed me a piece of tiger stripe maple and began sketching on the board with a sure hand and a purple pen. “The grain inspires a shape and I just start drawing on it”, he explained, “when I like how it looks and feels I stop and then I know where to cut it.” After the board is cut it is sanded smooth with various tools and then treated so it can be used for serving and preparing food.
Ringlever is preparing to offer his cutting boards at the third annual Home + Table show at Lake Street Studios Center Gallery on August 3-9. Looking around at the piles and seeing the sun come through the studio windows as morning walkers ambled along the newly improved road to the Glen Arbor Arts Center I watched Ringlever put one board down and take up another, holding it sideways, looking at it, wondering what shape it will become.
Center Gallery hosts its annual Home + Table Show Aug. 3-9 at the gallery, located at 6023 S. Lake St. in Glen Arbor. A reception to open this group show is Friday, Aug. 3, from 6-8 pm.
Home is where the art is, and Home + Table celebrates artist-made objects for the abode–artisan cutting boards, ceramic tableware, hand-built cottage furniture and woven objects. Grand Rapids painter Holly Sturges returns to Center Gallery with oil paintings of fruit and vegetables. The exhibition features work by studio artists represented by Lake Street Studios, and invited friends. A list of exhibitors is at LakeStreetStudiosGlenArbor.com.
