Creative Art Notes

Late this afternoon a thunderstorm rolled into the area and instead of clearing the air it brought with it a tremendous amount of smoke from the Ely/Isabella area wildfires. This photo shows how really thick it was, obscuring the Sawtooth mountains. It actually set off the fog horns on the lighthouse and boats. I can now identify a little more closely with what folks experience in other areas, like Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, when wind brings smoke to distant places. It actually makes it hard to breathe and irritates your eyes. Lucky for us it was not a fire in the immediate area as it is so dry. Soon the wind shifted slightly and we were able to get a fresher bit of air.

This photo that I took of the Pigeon River was entered in the Cook County Fair here and came out the winner of a 1st Place Blue Ribbon and a Best of Show in the Arts and Crafts Category. I loved this scene at the moment I first I saw it and photographed it as quickly as I could because the sun was just about to set and it would not have been as dramatic a scene without the sparkles and reflections in the water. It was produced from five consecutive  photographs and stitched together in the computer. I did very little color correction or tweaking as the colors seemed very realistic and matched what I remembered of the moment. I can envision this as a very large picture, say 40″ x 70″, on the wall so I could just sit and enjoy the restfulness of nature without the light fading away.

A while ago I was fortunate enough to visit the Partridge Falls on the Pigeon River right near the Canadian border. Getting there is more than just a hike. It starts with a multi-mile journey on an unmaintained (read really rough) road and ends, after a short hike along the river, with a climb down a steep embankment, stepping on, and hanging onto tree roots and rocks. It all worth it when you get there as you are right next to the falls with its refreshing spray, about 15 to 20 feet away. The trouble with trying to photograph it is that you ARE so close. Even a wide angle lens cannot capture it all. So I tried a panoramic shot with six photographs taken horizontally to cover the trees on the left side of the falls over to the down river side on the right, about a 160 degree view. I then assembled them in Photoshop and came up with a panoramic photograph that looked like the scene when I was there.

When I got the idea to make a series of wildlife serigraphs (aka silkscreen prints) I tried to decide on which creatures to include. One of the most obvious was the conspicuous grey and white Herring Gull that inundates our harbor around “feeding time” which is when the fishermen put out the scraps from their catch that day. Hundreds of gulls circle and contest for the best and biggest pieces. In this particular piece of art called “Lighthouse Gulls” because of the background, it is as if they are discussing the meal they just had…or the weather. I took a whole roll of thirty six pictures (in the days before digital cameras) and used them for reference for the series. You can see the rest of the series of 16 gulls, fox, moose and loons by clicking on the serigraphs link above. Enjoy!