DULUTH — Back in April 2020, people were doing a lot of different things to cope with the rising pandemic. Duluthian Teri Glembin didn't start her own passion project with the idea of starting a new small business. But eventually what started as her finding a nice horse shape to doodle on and release stress grew into her Bloom in Art studio business.
Glembin has worked in graphic arts for years. She worked for Maurices and Fitger's on graphic arts projects before pursuing a CNA certification right before the pandemic.
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"I was working at a nursing home, and it was kind of a low point. I couldn't see my family because I didn't want to expose them to anything because my parents were older," Glembin said. "And I needed to do something artistic to deal with the stress. So my dad sent me this ginormous 50-pack of Sharpies, and I got a pad of paper, and I started googling."
Glembin turned to her Scandinavian family roots and looked at the Swedish Dalahast or Dala horse design. Originally from central Sweden, Dala horses were children's toys created from wood scraps and painted orange from nearby copper mine paint pigments.
The horse is named after the region from which it comes — Dalarna, Sweden. A 22-foot tall version of a Dala horse can be found in Mora and a shorter one in Cloquet, formerly outside of Berquist Imports but now near the Cloquet Chamber of Commerce building.
"I made a template and traced that shape and then I started to doodle in it. That's how this all happened," Glembin said. "I decided to make a Dala a day for a month, and that's exactly what happened."
Glembin said as she started filing in the empty template shape, she could feel her stress lessen.
"It kind of lightened my spirits and let me stay connected to the art world when I was having to mask up and care for my lonely patients every day," Glembin said.
After she created her 32nd Dala horse, Glembin thought that would be it. She'd shared the photos of the horses on her social media pages, but didn't think they'd have much of a life other than to help provide her with stress relief.
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Later that year, Alison Aune-Hinkel approached Glembin with the idea of doing a show of her Dala horses at the Nordic Center.
"I was like, 'Wait, seriously?' So I reached out to Jeff Schmidt from Lizzards, and he helped me frame them all and get it set up. We were still in lockdown to a degree, so it was more of a virtual art show," Glembin said. "And we had a big print in the front window so people could see that. And we did some Zoom meetings and storytelling and craft events. And that got me thinking: I could mass produce these. I might have something."
Glembin started making prints of her Dala-a-day designs, then turned them into a coloring book and cards. She was asked for another exhibit at the Dovetail Cafe and started selling her prints there as well as other galleries around the area.
"I sold a few of the originals, but I still have most of them. I like them so much, I don't really want to part with them," Glembin said.
In early 2022, Glembin started working with another art medium, wood burning. She found a connection who would take scrap wood from their sauna business or from Glembin's father's garage as he's cleaning it out and turn them into small carved horse shapes.
"Then I burn it by hand, creating a couple of shapes and patterns and color them all by hand with brush markers," Glembin said. "This is literally what I do when I'm sitting on my couch in my living room, watching TV and coloring wooden Dalas."
In the time since she started her art side business, Glembin has expanded past the Dala design, but she does find herself returning to Dala horses often.
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"I like them. They're part of my family's Scandinavian roots and they're just a good shape to fill," Glembin said. "And people seem to like them to, so I'll keep working with them."
Find more information about Glembin at bloominartstudio.com or visit Dovetail Cafe, Lizzards or 47 Degrees to find her art.
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