History 21 The Podcast - 1.12 Tory Arfstrom
Tory Arfstrom’s father, Jon Arfstrom, spent his entire life creating art. In this episode, Tory chats with Erin McBrien about what kind of artist her father was, the places he worked (including Brown & Bigelow), and dive into talking about the real yet surreal qualities of some of their favorite pieces.
Hosts Rebecca Desens, ACHS Executive Director, Sara Given, ACHS Volunteer Coordinator and Erin McBrien, ACHS Archivist.
Jon Arfstrom self portrait, 1958.
Jon Arfstrom
1928-2015
There is a house in the city of Anoka filled with hundreds and hundreds of original paintings and drawings: they range from portraits to water color landscapes to surrealistic scenes found only in the imagination.
The artist, Jon Arfstrom, was an unassuming man with immense drive and artistic talent. He was born in 1928 in Superior, Wisconsin, and grew up in Duluth.
Arfstrom was drawn to art even as a very young child. His first art job was on Great Lakes cruise ships. At 14 years old (having lied about his age in order to land the job), Arfstrom sold concessions and did portraits of the passengers. He married Norma Siegford in November 1945, when he was 18 and she was 16. He worked odd jobs and they were quite poor in those first years, but he was determined to make a living doing art. In 1950, Arfstrom began working as an advertisement illustrator for the Gamble-Skogmo company. He also provided illustrations of Bible stories for the Lakeland Color Press company.
Brown & Bigelow of St. Paul hired him in 1956 as a staff illustrator, and he stayed there until his 1996 retirement. He was the company’s portrait artist and did watercolor landscapes for many of their calendars.
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, at the same time that he was working for Gamble-Skogmo, Arfstrom submitted cover art and illustrations to pulp magazines that were publishing science fiction and fantasy stories. In January of 1952, the magazine Weird Tales used one of his covers, and he did two other covers for later issues, as well as many interior illustrations. On his own time, he painted more surrealist works, letting his imagination roam free as paint covered his canvases in vivid colors.
In addition to his line drawings in pencil and pen, his portraiture, and his oil and acrylic paintings, Arfstrom was a dedicated watercolor painter, and an early member of the Northstar Watercolor Society (founded in 1976). He also worked with markers, colored pencils, charcoal, and pastels – a very wide range of mediums for a single artist.
Arfstrom was known in several different circles of artists and admirers, but for the most part they were completely distinct from each other. Those who admired his watercolors did not see his surreal and science fiction works, and the science fiction fans did not know about his landscape and portrait art. Outside of the family home, his different types of art hung on very separate walls.
Who was Jon Arfstrom? He was a quiet, meticulous man who kept dozens of notebooks to track what happened to each piece of art he created, and filled journals with stories of his daily life, surrounded by sketches, small portraits, and tiny watercolor landscapes.
He was a husband and father, married to Norma for 69 years, and raising four children with her. He loved biking, and eggs.
But most of all, Jon Arfstrom was an artist. He drew or painted constantly, in all kinds of places, at any time of day or night. He lived and breathed his art, right up until the day he passed away.
History 21: The Vault Extras
Listen to Tory Arfstrom and Erin McBrien’s full interview.
Weird Tales
From Here to Infinity, 1987
Sunnies in the Forest
An Acrylic Fantasy, by Jon Arfstrom
Anoka County Library Minute
Further Reading:
Creativebug is a database accessible with your Anoka County Library card, and is chock full of fun creative art ideas. With everything from fiber arts to paper arts to cake decorating and ceramics, there is something for everyone on Creativebug! Find it under Books and More in our databases!
Want to learn about watercolor but don’t know where to start? This book will give you tools, techniques, and suggestions for how to use the natural world to inspire your watercolor! And it’s step by step, so you can follow along!
Fun with Mixed Media - DVD751.422 FUN
Join artist Karen Knutson as she teaches you to create fun mixed media artworks to share with your family and friends. Using such tools as charcoal and paint, and techniques like collage, there is something for every artist to contribute in mixed media projects.
Anxious Visions: Surrealist Art by Sidra Stich - 709.04063 STI
Jon Arfstrom also dipped into the weird world of surrealism on occasion. Learn about the art movement, it’s beginnings, and its most famous practitioners in Sidra Stich’s book. Complete with historical context and examples of surrealist art, this book is a great introduction to the surrealist movement.
Written by DC Comics artist Prentis Rollins, this book will not only give you a primer to drawing but will teach you how to conceptualize and create sci-fi scenarios as well. It also features author-provided scenarios, complete with fleshed-out world building to help you create future worlds.
Fantasy! Cartooning by Ben Caldwell - YA741.5 CAL
And we have drawing instruction books for those of you interested in fantasy, too! This book on cartooning is aimed more towards teenagers but is fun for all ages – former Marvel cartoonist Ben Caldwell provides fun context and insider tips for making your fantastical drawings come to life.
You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation by Sarah Urist Green - 700.2 GRE
Based on the suggestions of artists themselves, You Are an Artist uses creative prompts to inspire you in your own artistic journey. Likewise, the materials recommended are all easily acquired – no costly acquisitions here! The book contains over 50 assignments from artists like The Guerilla Girls, Pablo Helguera, Toyin Ojih Odutola, and more.
The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard - FANTASY HOW
Pulp sci-fi and horror magazine Weird Tales was just one of the venues for Jon Arfstrom’s work. Many well-known authors today got their start in this strange magazine, including Conan author Robert E. Howard, and his horror-penning pal, H.P. Lovecraft.
This Little Artist: An Art History Primer by Joan Holub - EASY BOARD BOOK
Learn about some of the most creative artists in history with this board book for young children! With fun illustrations, beautiful colors, and a fun rhyme scheme, your own little artist can see how artists before them changed the world.
Based on the popular podcast, Artcurious teaches about the lesser-known side of art history, like the fact that Monet’s paintings were once considered ugly (what?!). Or that there is evidence to suggest that Vincent van Gogh may have actually been murdered. Learn about the weird parts of art history in this fun book!