Niki Gessler Artist

10/23/2026

Like many artists, I will no longer be uploading my art to social media. The benefits no longer outweigh the costs. Seems like the end of the year is a good time for the end of my social media. So I have 2 months to figure out a new solution. During that time, I’ll keep posting farm updates and maybe videos/images of parts of my paintings/drawings but no more full, finished paintings. I’ll be building a website and looking into YouTube as well as figuring out if a newsletter/print club is a viable option. I know this means that I will no longer be able to stay cooped up at my farm while reaching the world with a video, but getting out in the community more is probably a good thing for everyone. I should have more art shows, really. I should also meet people face to face. Think of all the time I’ll have if I’m not doomscrolling! I’ll also have to figure out an alternative to finding new art and artists. Instagram has been so good for that. I’ll be buying a flip phone and using this handheld computer as a computer. There’s only so much space in my brain and I’d rather fill it with ancient agricultural practices and animal knowledge than keeping up with the digital world. My evolving understanding of social media will stop in 2027. I want to live my life as a creature, not as a machine.

10/18/2026

Today is the day you’ve been waiting for- a voiceover from Brian Gessler.

10/13/2026

We’re going to have a work day this Sunday, 10-18 starting at noon and going for a few hours or however long you want to work! I’ve always wanted to roast a rabbit on a spit over a campfire and this is a good excuse to do that. So we’ll start with lunch and then get to work. (I’ll make some other food, too) If we can get our field tilled by Sunday, we’ll be planting wheat but if not, we’ll be building fence and cutting trees. We’re looking for a couple of people to help. Send me a message. The weather should be nice! If you’re a meat eater, we can send you home with some meat from the farm. Or if you like to bake bread, we can send you home with some fresh milled whole wheat from the farm!

10/12/2026

What a big day! Yesterday was my first Studio Tour-
I’ve never been part of a studio tour before because my rural location just doesn’t fall into any established tour. I imagine quite a few artists have this issue, so my friend Marci Wease and I got together to try to solve it! So if you or anyone you know may be interested in having your rural art studio on the tour, send one of us a message! We ran out of cornbread and chili, which was the soup I made the largest quantity of, and had a few bowls of butternut squash and creamy mushroom soup left. I love to share my farm to table foods with people. I feel so proud of my small farm; and being told my food tastes good is just a feeling I don’t have words for. Start to finish, this food is my work. I’m really serious about my chicken breeding program and the chicken stock and bone broth that came of that gave many people nutrition yesterday. It’s a good feeling. I grew the kidney beans in the chili, the butternut squash, the garlic and onions, the tomatoes, I even have a bay leaf plant! From the milk in the creamy soups, to the sorghum in the cookies and more, after 6 years of building this homestead, yesterday made it clear now more than ever that this property can feed people! More than just my husband and I. So yesterday was for art, but it was about so much more to me. I want to grow our community of artists and according to my Serbian heritage, that is accomplished through food ♥️ Thank you so much to everyone who came out and ate my slow food (the extreme opposite of fast food 😆) And to the artists who joined in! The Twisted Toadstool and kindall and Coleman and David and Marci- Couldn’t do it without the artists ♥️ Also I’d like to have a work day on Sunday to get our wheat planted, more info on that soon!

10/12/2026

Come out! Bring a friend! I think I’m going to switch to charcoal this time. See you there!

10/04/2026

The Far Out Studio Tour is a week from today! Come out and see what rural artists have to say. The weather looks like it’ll be a perfect fall day.

10/04/2026

A few words about my little heifer Karlo- she’s a bred Dexter heifer in training! She’s just about as tall as she’s going to get, maybe a couple inches more, but she’ll get more stout. She was born and bred on our farm and I’ve been training her since she was a little baby. She is first and foremost another dairy animal for us but cattle are so trainable, it’s been a pleasure working with her and will be a bonus to have an animal to run this mill and clear snow for us in the winter! But all good things take time, and I will be slowly adding weight for her to pull until she’s fully developed. In fact, today was her first day pulling any amount of weight and she did such a beautiful job! This mill comes out once a year so I was very excited to take the opportunity to introduce her to it. She did a few circles then got put back in the pasture with the herd. Next year I’ll have her do a little more, and then by year three, hopefully she can pull the whole time! She also has a little pack saddle which I haven’t added weight to yet, but she carries it around like a little champ. They don’t call Dexter cattle triple purpose for nothing! She has a bright future as a handy little ox and family milker♥️

10/03/2026

10/02/2026

We’re not close by, we’re far out! This is the studio tour for rural artists- the artists who usually don’t make it on studio tour routes. And it’s our first year! Interested in joining next year? Send me a message! I’ll be making a bunch of farm-to-table food. What other studio tour has that?! Chili, butternut squash soup, cream of mushroom soup, fresh sourdough, cornbread, honey butter, and more! Is there a better way to welcome fall than with a soup party and local art?! Bring a camp chair, hang out by the fire. Bring your ‘fun driving car’ if you have one of those and take the beautiful backroads from Marci Wease’s studio to mine!

09/29/2026

As you can tell from my tone, like many farmers at this point in the year, I’m very much overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted 😆. I would have liked to have a big sorghum processing demo day but with my Far Out Studio Tour less than two weeks away, I just don’t think it’s in the cards for me this year. I am so exhausted. But I can sleep in winter!