Last winter, mosaic artist Katy Helen sent a serendipitous email.

She had moved her family to Marine on St. Croix over the summer, after nearly a decade and a half in California. For much of her time there, she’d created her intricately tiled surfboards in an independent studio, and now, back in her home state, she wanted a shared creative space.

She found a building that could house a studio — the old Marine Cafe space on Judd Street — but needed a partner.

As she asked around, one name kept popping up: the landscape painter Emily Anderson. They’d never met, but Helen invited her to coffee.

They hit it off immediately. Both artists’ work is deeply inspired by nature and particularly water; they’re both moms and both previously lived in California and both have similar business models and ideas of what makes for a positive work environment.

And both artists were feeling the isolation that comes from working alone in a studio and shipping finished work to customers they may only rarely, if ever, meet in person. Anderson, who used to run the HWY North Gift Shop & Gallery in town, particularly missed being able to invite community members into her creative space.

What if they built their own shared studio?

“We went from ‘Hi, nice to meet you’ to ‘Should we partner on this?’ by the end of coffee,” Helen said.

Marine Village Art Studios is set to open on June 1 and 2, during Art Opener, an open-studio event across the St. Croix Valley.

Following the studios’ grand opening, Helen and Anderson plan to have additional open studio days throughout the summer and fall, and you can stop in any time by making an appointment with either artist.

The building’s interior is unrecognizable from its former life as the Marine Cafe: It’s bright and airy; the bold red walls are gone, as are the wall shelves (and ceilings) full of antique trinkets and bike parts. The kitchen equipment was removed — except for a large sink, helpful for artists — and plenty of kitchen grease was scrubbed away.

“It’s just so good to have excitement and new energy, and it seemed like the perfect way to have a storefront that’s welcoming to the community, where we can have events and invite people to see what we’re doing,” Anderson said. “It seemed like everything was perfectly timed.”

As they get closer to settling into their new creative spaces, their art is evolving, too.

Anderson is experimenting with larger compositions, which she said “is exciting and also scary.”

As for Helen, one of the first major purchases she made when she moved back to Minnesota was a canoe, and she’s been paddling at William O’Brien State Park. In California, the mosaics she’d create on surfboards were rooted in the nearby Pacific coast, but here, inspiration comes from the river.

A work-in-progress: She commissioned a smaller handmade wooden canoe, which she split lengthwise — so each side can be mounted on a wall — and is tiling it.

“And I’ve recognized scenes from William O’Brien in Emily’s paintings,” Helen said. “That’s one of the first Minnesota-inspired directions I’ve taken here, is doing art on canoes. It’s fun to see, now, how…the art is connecting to the place.”

Marine Village Art Studios: 41 Judd St., Marine on St Croix; open periodically and via appointment; marinevillagestudios.com

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I sure hope you had a chance to see at least some of the solar eclipse last Monday. Where it was visible and clouds didn’t get in the way, it was quite the show! Unfortunately, the next total solar eclipse in the lower 48 states won’t be until 2045, but if you don’t mind a long plane ride, there’ll be a total solar eclipse in Northern Alaska on March 30, 2033.

Nighttime stargazing is still going strong, though. Since last December, the mighty constellation Orion the Hunter has dominated the southern half of the evening sky, but the times are a-changin’. Another bright and classic constellation, Leo the Lion, is perched high in the southeast evening sky, pushing Orion and his posse of other bright winter stars and constellations toward the western horizon. You can see this push going on from night to night this month. Leo has to push a little harder this year because the mighty planet Jupiter is residing in the same neighborhood of the sky as Orion this spring. Our Earth’s orbit around the sun is making this all happen. As our world continues its annual journey around our home star, we’re turning away from the direction of space where Orion and the other winter constellations reside and toward the stars in and around Leo.

(Mike Lynch)

Leo, while not as flamboyant as Orion, is still a constellation of distinction, one of the brighter ones in the night sky. Most people perceive it as a two-part constellation. The right side forms an easily recognizable backward question mark with the moderately bright star Regulus, the brightest star of Leo, marking the bottom dot of the query mark. It doesn’t take much imagination to see how the sickle of stars outlines the profile of a lion’s head, with Regulus marking the heart of the giant heavenly feline. To the left of the lion’s bust is a triangle of moderately bright stars that supposedly outline the lion’s derriere and tail, adding a touch of whimsy to this celestial masterpiece.

Regulus, Leo’s brightest star, may not be among the night sky’s most luminous stars, but its astronomical properties are nothing short of awe-inspiring. Regulus, a Latin name that translates to “little king” or “the prince,” is a star of considerable size. It’s more than four times the diameter of our nearly million-mile-wide sun, and its interior nuclear fusion furnace is much more active than our sun. The outer layer of Regulus has a temperature of more than 20,000 degrees F, about twice as hot as our sun. This intense heat causes it to emit more than 300 times as much light as our home star. Regulus would be much more dazzling in our sky if it were closer, but it’s nearly 80 light years away, with just one light year equaling nearly 6 trillion miles. The bright star Regulus is actually part of a closely knit, four-star system, with the other three stars being much smaller. Denebola, Leo’s second-brightest star, is found at the tail of the king of the celestial jungle, adding to the constellation’s celestial allure.

In most cultures, Leo is depicted as a lion. Some of the earliest records of people making up constellation pictures come from ancient Sumerian culture in present-day Iraq. Sketches of Leo the Lion have shown up in caves in that area. In Greek and Roman mythology, Leo the Lion was a huge, legendary beast that terrorized the countryside, annihilating and devouring anything in its path. Many tried to bring down the ferocious giant lion and wound up in its digestive system instead, but the mighty hero Hercules was the end of the line for Leo. Hercules is depicted in a nearby summer constellation that I’ll feature in the coming weeks. The tale of Hercules, the hero, is quite a story for another day.

Other cultures have many different interpretations of the group of stars we see as Leo the Lion. Egyptians see Leo as their famous Sphinx, a strange mythological figure of a half-recumbent lion with a human head. The constellation Egyptians saw as the Sphinx was critical to them because, in ancient times, when the sun passed into the stars of the Sphinx, that was the seasonal sign of summer that the life-giving Nile River was about to go into its annual flood. In Peru, the stars of Leo are supposed to picture a puma pouncing on its prey. In China, Leo is a horse in the Chinese zodiac. Christian cultures in the Middle Ages saw Leo the Lion as a reminder of the Biblical story of the prophet Daniel being thrown into a den of lions for his beliefs.

Enjoy the great celestial feline of the spring evening sky!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

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Sue Christianson watched in shock and heartbreak as Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and she wondered what she could do to help.

Christianson, of St. Paul, was looking for a way to donate money online when she came across a Forbes article that mentioned ENGin, a nonprofit organization that pairs Ukrainians with English-speaking volunteers for free online conversation practice.

She filled out an application in October 2022, and got an email back within a week. She attended an online training session and was asked to commit to one hour a week for conversation practice for at least three months.

Christianson, 56, was paired with Denys Piatnytskyi, a 28-year-old business analyst for a telecom company in Ukraine who now lives in Reisterstown, Md. She has been helping him practice his English via Zoom or Google Meet ever since.

More than 20,000 students in Ukraine have been served by ENGin, pronounced like “engine,” since it launched in 2020. English-speaking volunteers, who must be at least 14, are connected with young Ukrainians between the ages of 9 and 35.

No background in teaching English is required, but volunteers must have a basic knowledge of English “sufficient for minimal conversation and understanding your conversational partner,” according to ENGin’s website.

ENGin participants are matched based on preferences, interests and availability. After a match is made, ENGin supports the “buddies” – as the learners and volunteers are called – throughout their participation in the program with resources and lesson plans. A Twin Cities ENGin chapter recently formed, and volunteers are needed, Christianson said.

Learning conversational English is key to helping young Ukrainians find employment and navigate life in English-speaking countries, Piatnytskyi said.

“I really deeply started learning English in 2020 when the coronavirus started and nobody knows what will happen with your job, your position,” he said. “A lot of people started to go on the external markets, and we started to learn English deeper, but after the war started, and a lot of people emigrated, there was kind of a real need to know English to be able to communicate. It’s kind of a basic need.”

Tutor, student, friends

Sue Christianson talks online with Denys Piatnytskyi about Ukrainian Easter traditions from her St. Paul home. The two meet each week to work on Piatnytskyi’s English-language conversation skills. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Christianson, a retired human-resources manager, said the teacher/tutor relationship has turned into a true friendship. “I think of Denys as family at this point,” she said. “The formal commitment of the program is for a year, but I’ll stick with him as long as he’ll put up with me.”

Said Piatnytskyi: “I appreciate her patience because at first when I came here, I wasn’t as talkative as now, and Sue was very patient to listen carefully, and she tried to do her best in understanding what I’m trying to say and all my explanations. I appreciate that.”

When the pair first started meeting via Zoom, Kyiv was still “being bombed really heavily,” Christianson said. “He was literally sitting in the dark because there was no power. He had to run his computer off of some sort of ancillary or remote power charger. We definitely got cut off at times.”

Piatnytskyi once went in to work to log on with Christianson because his place of employment still had power. “I was just like, ‘What are you doing?’” she said. “Because he had told me that they weren’t going to work at all because that area was being bombed so heavily. This was not worth it to me, just because you can get power there.”

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Piatnytskyi rarely missed a session, even though he was living in the middle of a war zone, she said. “One time, he was helping his grandparents because their windows had been blown out from an aftershock,” she said. “It’s crazy how it barely fazes them. It’s just become part of their life. They just keep going on. My kids are around the same age, and I just can’t imagine them going through this.”

Piatnytskyi, who moved to Maryland in October to be with family, said his weekly video chats with Christianson were a lifesaver, especially during their first few months together.

“We had an agreement to have sessions on a regular basis,” he said. “It was in the evening, after my working hours, so it was not a problem. If you’re already able to work somehow and have electricity and internet connection, why should I postpone my meetings? It’s not a problem. They are kind of relaxing after a working day and after all this stuff going on, so I didn’t want to cancel them for that reason.”

No experience, solid progress

Christianson has no prior connection to Ukraine, “other than enjoying Kramarczuk’s,” she said, adding that she is “pretty much all Scandinavian.”

Sue Christianson laughs during an online conversation with Denys Piatnytskyi from her St. Paul home on April 2, 2024. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

She does not have any prior experience in teaching English. “English and grammar were my absolute worst subjects in school,” she said. “I can do a spreadsheet, but I can’t write to save my soul. But I can talk!”

In fact, her pronunciation is excellent, a skill that Piatnytskyi has picked up after almost 18 months of tutoring sessions.

“It’s not because of me. It’s because of his hard work, for sure,” she said. “He constantly wants to learn new vocabulary.”

“I’ve attempted to learn other languages, but it’s really hard,” she said. “You have to be kind of brave to say them out loud. He’s able to find his words maybe a little bit quicker now, and I just think confidence is a big part. He had a great foundation.”

When praised for his English pronunciation, Piatnytskyi responded: “Thank you for this compliment. I’m not sure if it really is. I’m trying to do my best.”

Every once in a while, Piatnytskyi trips over an especially difficult word, such as entrepreneur. “I pronounced it like ‘interpreter,’ and it had some confusion,” he said. “Yes, some words you’re not using frequently, and you don’t know how to pronounce them and some fails happens.”

Christianson and Piatnytskyi said they used the provided ENGin lesson plans and materials for about six months, but then decided to branch out on their own. They often pick a topic they would like to discuss or choose an article to read and discuss.

“There is a lot of flexibility to meet your student where they’re at – what their interests are or your own interests,” she said. “It’s really about just giving them the opportunity to speak and to learn.”

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Their Zoom and Google Meet sessions have covered a range of topics – from Piatnytskyi giving her a virtual tour of Kyiv, to his teaching her how to make wine through a detailed PowerPoint presentation, to his reviewing his top 100 movies.

“He even got me to watch a boxing match and actually made it interesting,” Christianson said. “We have met each other’s family through pictures and video greetings. We have definitely talked about the war when he wanted to, and I have learned so much about Ukrainian culture and history from him, which I knew nothing about prior to the war and becoming an ENGin volunteer. He’s really another member of my family at this point despite the fact we have never met in person.”

‘Wish I could do something’

In October 2023, Piatnytskyi and his girlfriend joined family members living in the Baltimore area through a program called “Uniting for Ukraine,” a federal government initiative launched in April 2022. The program allows Ukrainians who have been displaced by the war to seek refuge in the U.S. if they have a private sponsor willing to house and financially support them for two years.

Almost 6.5 million Ukrainians have fled the country or been displaced since Russia invaded in February 2022, according to the United Nations. Many of those people have found shelter in Europe, especially Poland, but more than 250,000 have come to the United States.

“I see that a disaster is happening, and I hope it will end by some kind of peace in Ukraine according to Ukrainian will and according to Ukrainian desires,” Piatnytskyi said. “A lot of people are dying there on the front line. A lot of people not on the front line are struggling, and a lot of people are dying, like, really every week, because of these hits because not every city is very well defended from the air.

“The only reason Ukraine is still standing is the bravery of Ukrainian soldiers and the support of Western countries. Thank you for that. As for now, the situation is pretty bad, but I hope for a better future.”

Christianson, who is married and has two children, said she hopes she inspires others to volunteer with ENGin. She recently signed up to take on a second student.

“All the times you see something going on, like the war in Ukraine, what’s going on in Israel and Gaza right now, what went on in Afghanistan, and you sit here, and you feel so helpless,” she said. “You just think, ‘God, I wish I could do something.’ This is something so simple. It’s an hour commitment a week, and everything is there for you. And you know, you have this opportunity to just support and interact directly with somebody who is living in a war zone. I would say I’ve gotten as much – or more – from it than he has.”

English language tutors for Ukrainians

ENGin, pronounced like “engine,” launched in 2020 to match English-speaking volunteers with young Ukrainians between the ages of 9 and 35.

To learn more or volunteer, go to www.enginprogram.org.

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