Artists in the Family

Story-telling is not the only artistic talent found the in the Tolstedt/Tolstead family. We also have artists, poets, woodworkers, and musicians. On this page we would like to include a sample for you. We would love to add more -- just click on "Contact us" and tell us about it. [Young art welcome!]

Lowell Tolstedt is a career artist. The following links to galleries will give you a glimpse of his recent work:

Karen Lind has always been a poet at heart. Her recent book, EARTHWALKING & other poems by Karen Ethelsdattar, is available through Xlibris.com/bookstore, Amazon.com, Borders.com, Barnesandnobel.com and your local bookstore (these are not links). With her permission, we've included two poems here, both have a family theme.

These first days

Elegy for Edmund L. Lind, January 1900-July 1995

Dearest Dad,
These first days
after your death
there is much to be done,
many people to be seen.

I find myself longing
for the hours to savor your life
like a loved book laid down
when one comes to the end,
like the moment of
reverberating silence
after the last chord
of great music sounds.

...or has the last chapter ended
& is it the last chord
that echoes?

Perhaps my own life
& the life of my children
& children's children;
the lives of that larger family
whom your life touched
will go on writing chapters
in the book of your life.
May we be worthy inheritors
of your pen,
your life well-lived,
your mind well-spent.

Love,
Karen

For Nancy Lee Lind, my twin sister

August 1936 – November 1970

In memoriam

Four years later
sitting with rolled-up trouser legs
in a New Hampshire stream
in August, our birth month
The sunlight on the water,
the water eddying around the stones;
fingering the stones which cannot be brought home
because their beauty is of the water & its movements & the sun
tears flood my eyes.

Feeling what I felt years ago with you beside me
I pull my feet out of the water
to stop the flow of memory
I cannot bear even to think your name
form words or clear images of you:
how it was with us when our feet dangled
side by side in the water, & we rose
to balance on slippery stones
all the moments we were so happy we didn't know it.

Karen Ethelsdattar (Karen Lind)

Glen Tolstedt was a farmer. A farmer who loved art. He took correspondance courses in art and found great pleasure in drawing and painting. Featured below is a piece selected by his eldest son. Some of you will recognize the kuchin. The kuchin was a piece of Russian crockery that was used on the Tolstedt farm for many purposes, for example, Kool-Aid on a hot summer day.

Vern Tolstedt is a retired physician who started woodworking as a child. Throughout his life woodworking has provided him with a source of pleasure. Since retirement, woodworking has gone from hobby to vocation. He has recreated designs by great artists and has created many of his own.

The Artistry of Vern Tolstedt

Contribute a work of art!

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