Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Rietsch
Hi Christine, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am born and raised in Minnesota. I am first generation from a German family. My mother arrived in Minnesota in 1958.
I have done various art my entire life, but my story started with growing up on a horse farm in Brooklyn Park. One of my earliest art memories was in kindergarten at Palmer Lake Elementary. The teacher helped us make paper butterflies with tissue paper in the wings. I made several of these, and I remember running around holding one above my head. I thought it was flying! Later I spent the rest of the childhood in Saint Francis where we bred, showed, and trained horses. The farm was always busy. When I was 4 we had a lot of people from various Indigenous Tribes that had horses boarded or were showing. So I had exposure to Indigenous art, jewelry, and philosophy at a very young age. My mother is a retired cowboy artist. I also had the influences of a fantastic art teacher for 8 years from Junior the Senior high school. Lauri Svedberg. She no longer lives in Minnesota, but her former home known as the Wolf House is a landmark in Minneapolis. I graduated from Saint Francis High School in 1986. I started painting in oils when I had the time. I was Queen of Double Bit Riders Saddle Club in 1987. There was not a lot of time for art then! Off to college! Less time. I finished a computer degree in 1994, then my RN in 1996.
I began Black Feather Crafts in 1992. The name came from a dream I had when I was 17 of a large eagle feather falling out of one of my paintings into my hand. I have been called Feather for many years, or Black Feather. So I used it as the business name. I also attended my first Renaissance Festival in Shakopee in 1990. This is important later!
From 1992 until approximately 2005 I really did not know where I was going with my art. I was struggling with trying to find my identity. That year I was asked to do beadwork on a bald eagle wing feather for one of the Ojibwa elders in Duluth where I lived at the time. This was a tremendous honor for me. In exchange I had my tobacco ceremony and was granted the name of Christina Black Feather. I cherish this still.
My best friend of 30 years helped me with craft shows and added chainmaille to our vendor booths at various craft shows. Troy and I still work together as a married couple.
When I went through my divorce from my first husband I was homeless for a few months. I still worked, and a fellow nurse helped me get back on my feet. So I lived in Fridley, then Golden Valley, then Minneapolis. I was remarried to the love of my life, Troy Teske. We were wed at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in 2015 in full costume with the knife throwing performance happening in the background. Best day ever!
In all of this craziness I have raised 2 fantastic persons who are heading towards 30 years! Laura and Michael are into music, and Laura is an amazing artist in her own right. She is also continuing the family tradition of blacksmithing. My mother worked as a farrier for years, I sculpted lost wax in bronze, and now my daughter makes knives. Michael started flying planes at 16, and playing violin at 9 years old. He was born with Erbs Palsey that affects his right arm. Both have accomplished a lot so far in their lives! I have also been lovingly adopted as the American grandma to a beautiful boy from Togo. He, his mother, and his aunt are special to me. I can’t believe he is in my life! Of course there is my best friend, Maureen, and her husband. I’ve been the crazy Aunt to her children. Of course I have my niece and nephew, beautiful people that belong to my sister Erika. Mom and dad are still kicking around their farm! I have a full family and they all make life amazing!
In all of this, I still make a lot of variety of jewelry, and I paint pets and baby portraits. I will paint abstract as well. It all depends on what shows up in my head. Sometimes it’s dragons. Sometimes my art is very primitive. I use a variety of techniques and mediums. I will incorporate beads into chainmaille, make Kandi, paint on pendants, or do all with leather. I sculpt needle felt dragons. Wood carving is harder now due to arthritis. I also used to work in bronze with lost wax. My dream, however, is to own a kiln and fire my own beads for use in my jewelry. I’ve had a crazy journey in art over the years!
I am the main face painter for Twin Cities Pagan Pride every September at Minnehaha Falls Park for about the last 12 years. I am a Pagan. I also sell my wares at Pagan Pride. I do sometimes do craft shows at other locations. We are part of the LGBTQ community!
I am a wild, busy woman!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think having been homeless and going through a divorce has been my toughest battles. Then covid hit us in 2020. I nearly lost Troy. Had I not just come home from work to do CPR Troy would not have survived. This was 2 months after we had both been sick, and Troy had organ failure. But they are able to walk now, no more diabetes, and no more seizures. It’s been a rough road for certain!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am most proud of beading 3 eagle feathers total. To be asked to do that was my greatest honor. I was given a bear claw necklace as a gift for doing those, and my naming. I wear that necklace with pride.
I also am proud of being part of the Pagan, and LGBTQ communities. My art is friendly for both.
What sets me apart I think is my attitude. I tend towards the positive and I’m very outgoing. I love my life even with it’s ups and downs. I tend towards bright colors and tiny details. Like my mother, I paint with a tiny, tiny brush on big canvases. My acrylics tend to look like oils. That comes from her influence, and my work in oils in high school. I am most known for my dragons. I am often called the Mother of Dragons because I make a lot of them in my art.
I’m always learning new techniques, and I don’t do art to appease others anymore. That’s where I’ve grown up! I’ve learned of my own self worth and I love the work I do. I think that is the thing that sets me apart the most. Art is joy!
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
This is a complicated question, because it has affected my professional life as well as my personal life.
I’ve learned how navigating the medical system is difficult on the patient’s/ family’s side as well as the nursing side. In my career it’s helped me have more compassion and understanding of the patient’s struggles. People deserve excellent care, compassion, and an advocate. I do the best I can.
It has also made me more aware of loss. Troy–my spouse and my love– has lost a lot. The loss continues due to the progression of MS, progressing blindness, and renal failure. We are navigating through dialysis, and we hope there will be a day for a kidney transplant. There are times I feel helpless. I’m good at managing the care, doctors, medications, etc. But I have to in a way watch all this happen and I can’t fix it. I’m typing this with tears in my eyes. I can’t fix this. All I can do is be there, and it’s not always enough.
I was lucky to bring my spouse back, but others have not been so well off. My heart goes out to everyone who lost loved ones and family in these last few years.
Pricing:
- from $2.00 an item to custom pricing
- for commissions it’s based on the project
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackFeatherCrafts
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@blackfeathercrafts
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/blackfeathercrafts
Image Credits:
Christine Rietsch
