Because it is my husband, Dan, who paid for this entire website for my Gallery,

am making a single page on it to serve as my personal website...

Thank you for taking the time to visit here.

Welcome to a Corner of My World

Almost 53 years in 500 words or so...

A child of the 50's & 60's, I am drawn to working with materials gathered from the Natural world, and adore exploring the technology & tools of our ancestors.

Currently, I am stongly pulled to Celtic & Viking styles, along with my perennial favorite, Rustics.

Many of my creative endeavors originate in the obtaining of something that has passed it's intended use, and often these materials were prematurely destined for the landfill.

A lifelong ethic of recycling and "making-do" combined with outdoors & workshop skills honed over the decades lead me to some very unusual results.

Exploring my Norwegian & Swiss heritage is very important to me, recognizing that we live only about two generations removed from methods for doing many things which were essentially unchanged for hundreds or thousands of years.

I have long considered myself a modern Renaissance woman.

My parents instilled in me the ideal that one must do whatever it is that one does in the very best manner that one can possibly do it. Also, that when it is time to move on to doing something else, one must learn what is needed to do that new thing as well as it can possibly be done, and to not be afraid to make the leap into essential changes. This has led me to aquire a very broad and unique range of experiences & skills, and to the struggle to overcome the crippling effects of perfectionism & "just do it".

Contributing much to who I am and how I function in life, my prior employment experiences include: Girl Scouts camp staff, Lifeguard, retail management, fast food counter help, horse-drawn carriage tour driver, Motor Vehicle Inspector & State Trooper, carpenter, Registered Nurse (now 20 years) & formerly volunteer EMT, gallery owner/manager, downhill Ski Instructor, dog racetrack Asst. Chief of Security & then Mutuals Clerk, licensed Private Investigator in WI & IA, retail theft prevention specialist, DMV files clerk/researcher, ski lift operator, floral designer, and I've even shovelled much manure out of horse barns and hired out for a fair amount of yardwork to earn my way in this world.

My hobbies include: fly tying, fishing, canoeing, woodworking, jewelry making, reading, martial arts, bird watching & bird feeding, whittling (aspiring to be a woodcarver), snowshoeing, gardening, writing poetry, hunting, hiking & exploring, archery, skiing, & creating gear for the Rendezvous & SCA activities that I wish to take up in a more serious manner in the near future. Though not yet really good at it, I am learning to spin wool roving into yarn, both with an antique spinning wheel & by use of a drop spindle.

When my son was younger, I was a Cub Scouts Den Leader for 5 years, and took one Boundary Waters Canoe trip with his Boy Scouts Troop. Having experienced three Boundary Waters canoe trips thus far in life, feel the need to return for perhaps a dozen more before advancing years put a stop to the practice. Closer to home, have paddled the Wisconsin River from Portage to Wyalusing, and have covered hundreds of miles in Wisconsin's Vilas & Oneida counties by canoe. My parents had me out canoe camping before I could walk, and the first photos of me hunting with Mom & Dad were taken in the fall of 1957. Like so very many modern midwestern women, I am fully capable of seeking & obtaining nourishment in the wild & from the garden, rather than being completely dependent upon the local grocery store.

Being a Volunteer Naturalist since the late 1960's (except for the 1980 thru 1992) and a Master Gardener since 1995, keeps me in contact with our Natural world, and concious of the need for humans to have contact & touch daily those things that are of the Natural world.

One of my life's most wonderful experiences was a trip to Norway for 24 days in 2005, getting to meet many cousins, and exploring the places where my father lived for several years of his youth. Backpacking somewhat solo around what must be the most beautiful place in the entire world, and being so very blessed to be invited into the homes of so many amazing people who are my extended family, was life-changing. Perhaps someday I may be able to return, though since my heart-attack probably won't go solo backpacking again.

My husband, Dan, and my son, Peder complete my life in so very many souldeep ways. Combining mutual adoration & tolerance for & of one-another, we go through life's adventures great & small together.

And, of course, there are the pups... Princess the momma, and her babies Duchess & Bubba... three black Labs with boundless energy & unconditional love.

Have to stop rambling on sometime, so I'll not list my dear friends here individually. My friends and I have helped to sustain one-another through the many joys and sorrows which the years have sent our way. Greatly blessed am I to enjoy the loving friendship of several people whom I consider to be among the finest folks alive in this world today !!

Examples of Ann's works.

Some photos of some of Ann's works...

At work & at play

Woodlanders Gathering 2009

Shake Rag Alley, Mineral Point, WIsconsin

Still using that wonderfully versatile Mora knife given to me

by my father, Snorre Gronbeck when I was about 10 years old...

My first box-style Turkey Call...

Detailed handwork, using reclaimed Chestnut, Cedar, & Butternut...

And, it really does work

AAUW Art Fair on the Green 2009, UW - La Crosse

Hammering out a Celtic-style Penannular Brooch, 2nd Century BC technology still useful in the 21st Century AD.

A bracelet done in the Viking Knit technique, 8th Century technology in a 21st Century adaptation.

Artist's Statement for our family's Deciduous Designs Studio

Deciduous Designs Studio Of La Crosse, Wisconsin

The formal entity of this studio was founded and is owned by Ann Karen Gronbeck-Peterson and Daniel J. Peterson, in their home since 1999. Son, Peder Dohve-Peterson, now assists with some of the works, so this truly is a family studio.

Raised in Madison, Wisconsin, a child of the 1960’s, Ann’s artwork stems from her strong connection with Earth’s environmental status. Her lifelong commitment to our environment is reflected in her frequent use of found and recycled materials. Most often, the material inspires the design, resulting in ‘one-of-a-kind’ creations.

Ann has a very different way of looking at things…thus, glass, copper, leather, and ceramics are often utilized in very unconventional ways. She enjoys using her personal energy to bring new life to "obsolete" objects which could have been lost forever to a landfill.

As a child, Ann’s father placed into her hands more tools than dolls. Later, she was one of the first girls to take Woodshop class in her high school. Now experienced in home construction and remodeling, she brings these skills to the studio. Most of her works are functional art for home and garden, her favorite forms are Rustic furnishings, freeform birdhomes, and an unusual variety of birdfeeders. Ann has dabbled in wood-carving, and does often incorporate some hand-carved details into her pieces.

As an avid amateur Naturalist, Ann has an excellent understanding of the nesting preferences of many bird species. Special concerns such as ventilation, drainage, nestling safety, predator exclusion, and hygiene are satisfied by her unique and often subtle design details. Every style of feeder that she designs is tested by birds in her own yard, before that design is used to create other feeders of the same type. Any paints, stains, or other wood treatments used by Ann are selected to compliment the design without endangering wildlife.

A number of factors came together in recent years, leading her to open Gallery La Crosse on August 30, 2008.

A native of Holmen, Wisconsin, Dan supports (and tolerates) Ann in the workshop, as well as in life. He enjoys building custom cabinets, especially when the piece involves dovetail joinery. Dan’s favored materials are exotic combinations of various woods in contrasting natural colors.

His creative time in the studio is often limited by being the sole proprietor of our family business, “We Realty Clean Up” - a home maintenance, construction, remodeling, and handyman service specializing in cleaning & caring for vacant properties. Skilled in the soldering of copper pipe joints, it is Dan who assembles many of Ann’s copper trellis and fountain projects.

Peder has been ‘tooling around’ the workshop with Mom and Dan all of his life, gradually gaining knowledge and skill in the use of tools. Now in college and beginning his studies in the direction of Electrical Engineering or Computer Science, he has recently been working on the creation of his own Rustic & Primitive furniture. He is also the main technical support crew for our Gallery La Crosse website.

Our studio’s name reflects both our use of the very renewable resource of wood, and our belief that, as stewards of the Earth, we should emulate the cycle of renewal demonstrated by deciduous trees.

Inquiries for custom works may be made through this gallery.

Also available at...

CURRENTLY...

~ Main Street Station Public Market in Viroqua, WI

Please, find link on our Favorite Links page.

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~ Pearl Street Books in La Crosse, WI

323 Pearl Street

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~ Myrick-Hixon EcoPark Gift Shop in La Crosse, WI

Please, find link on our Favorite Links page.

COMING SOON TO...

~ The Violet Flame in La Crosse, WI

Please, find link on our Favorite Links page.

OCCASIONALLY EXHIBITING AT...

~ Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point, WI

www.longbranchgallery.com

(will be posted to our Favorite Links page very soon)

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~ Every July in the AAUW Art Fair On the Green in La Crosse, WI

In the Odin Arts Co-op's group booth.

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~ Every June in the YWCA GardenFest in La Crosse, WI

Please, find link on our Favorite Links page.

PREVIOUSLY AT...

~ The Pump House Regional Arts Center

Please, find link on our Favorite Links page.

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~ The Odin Arts Cooperative Gallery

No longer in business, though our Co-op still meets often to share arts experiences with this wonderful group of arts people.

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~ Sugar Loaf Antiques in Winona, MN

on US Hwy 61