Multimedia artist Jamie Kalvestran turns product design into a fine art on display at Granite Falls gallery

Shelby Lindrud, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·4 min read

Aug. 9—GRANITE FALLS

— Many times, when

Jamie Kalvestran

puts paint to canvas, she has no idea what the end result will be. It could be a painting of fishes or flowers, or end up with interesting faces hidden in the brush strokes.

"I keep painting until something shows up," said Kalvestran, whose art is on display in the Riverside Gallery of the

Granite Area Arts Council

through Aug. 26. "It is a fun way to work."

Some of her artwork also started life as a design Kalvestran created for one of the many companies for which she has worked as a industrial designer. The exhibit in the K.K. Berge building in Granite Falls, "A Melding of Art vs. Design," is exactly that — a fusion of Kalvestran's product design and fine art.

"Many of the works on display started as a textile design for a product," Kalvestran said. "Sometimes I see something and I start painting on top of it."

Art has always played a major role in Kalvestran's life. She said she was an artsy kid growing up in north-central Wisconsin, always asking for horse books and art supplies as gifts. However, after high school she didn't immediately enroll in art school or start an art career.

Instead she started working in a bank. But when she would have lunch with her friends, she started seriously thinking about changing direction.

"I wanted to do what they were doing," Kalvestran said.

She ended up quitting the financial sector and enrolled at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. It was there she learned all about industrial or product design, a type of art she never knew about.

"When I learned that existed, I was like that is what I want to," Kalvestran said. "I want to make products."

By the time she was done with her first year of art school, she was working for Tonka Toys, where she helped design trucks and accessories for the Pound Puppies and Pound Purries line of stuffed animals. Over the years she has worked for other toy and sporting good companies including Rollerblade, Wildkin and Manhattan Toys.

"I designed about 150 toys in three years" with Manhattan Toys, Kalvestran said. "It was a great company to work for."

She has also designed textiles for fabric lines and sewing patterns for quilts and bags using the fabric. Companies for which she has designed include Andover Fabrics, Northcott Fabrics, P&B Textiles, Quilting Treasures and Wild Wild Rags.

Coming in September, Kalvestran's second line of quilt fabric, titled "Origins," will be released. The line has a very west central Minnesota look, according to Kalvestran.

The look of her newest fabric line is fitting, as Kalvestran has just relocated to the area, moving into the old hardware store in Milan. She said she has jumped back and forth between Wisconsin and Minnesota, depending on family situations and her career.

With her son and three grandchildren living in the local area, Kalvestran decided another move was needed.

"I can work from anywhere; I am going to where the babies are," Kalvestran said.

What Kalvestran hadn't expected to find was a wonderfully welcoming and creative community. She said complete strangers have come by to help her with the move and just say "hi."

"I've got to say, I feel I have landed in a real sweet spot," Kalvestran said. "The people have been amazing."

Last fall, she and her daughter took in the

Upper Minnesota River Art Meander

. Kalvestran, who has participated in other meanders in Wisconsin and Minnesota, was captivated by what she saw.

"The quality of the art here is tops. I was blown away," Kalvestran said. "I was like wow, this is amazing."

Kalvestran hopes to be able to create amazing work of her own in her new studio space in Milan. As a multimedia artist, Kalvestran likes to use a variety of different mediums in one piece. She sometimes even makes her own paper to incorporate into a painting.

"I like it all," Kalvestran said. "I've dabbled in lots of mediums."

The inspiration for her works can come from all over. Themes to which she returns include fishes, flowers and faces. However, sometimes Kalvestran isn't aware she has been inspired until it reveals itself on the canvas.

"I think I am inspired on a subconscious level and it comes through somehow," Kalvestran said.

Visitors to the Granite Falls exhibit will be able to see a selection of Kalvestran's work that spans many years. An artist reception will be held at 7 p.m. Aug. 10 at the gallery.

"Come out to the show," Kalvestran said.