Mike Martin and his wife, Laura Siitari, have lived in the Driftless Area alongside the Mississippi River since 1999. They fell in love with the area’s beauty, bought a home in Lansing, Iowa, sold their Milwaukee home and never looked back. In Lansing, they ran a RiverRoad Gallery and The Channel Cat; a gallery and coffee shop for 5 years before moving up the river to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they still enjoy the beauty of the bluffs and river.

Mike Martin is a former magazine editor and freelance author of numerous nonfiction children’s books. Currently, he is a reporter for several newspapers in the La Crosse area. Struck by the unique geology of the region , he enjoys the challenge of capturing its images with his camera.

Laura Siitari is both a graphic and fine artist. She is most interested in honoring the grace of everyday scenes and objects with oil and watercolor paints and color pencil drawings. She occasionally uses the camera as well.

 Photography:  Our photographs are printed on a professional-quality giclee (inkjet) printer, the Epson R1800 Photo, which uses archival pigmented inks rated to last 100+ years on Epson’s photo paper. We do recommend that photos be displayed behind nonglare glass out of direct sunlight, as strong light will eventually fade any type of pigment.

Photo Prices:
Small (on 8.5 x 11”) $40*
Medium (on 10 x 14)  $60
Large (on 11 x 17)  $75*
Larger (13” x proportional width): Ask for pricing
*Plus $5 shipping and handling.

 Home portraits:  Laura will create either a drawing, watercolor or oil painting of your home, capturing what is special to you. She prefers to work from photographs she’s taken, but if that’s not practical, can work from your photos. Contact her for pricing.

Paintings:  Laura is concentrating on oil and watercolor painting right now, offering originals at this point. Please contact her for pricing information.