Artistic Trails: 2012

Monday, April 23, 2012

Artistic Trails at the Midwest Mountaineering Outdoor Adventure Expo

Last summer I completed 74 miles of the 277 mile long Superior Hiking Trail. I'll be giving a presentation at the Midwest Mountaineering Spring Expo in Minneapolis talking about some of the 26 paintings I started last season. I'll also give a bit of a preview on what sections I'll be hiking this summer. This is the presentation description:

In the spring of 2011 Neil Sherman decided to hike the entire Superior Hiking Trail, a section at a time, and do paintings of it along the way. He outfitted his backpack with a small paint box, canvas’ and some oatmeal and hit the trail. His goal was to capture the “personality” of the trail and the wilderness it traverses. This past year Sherman hiked 74 miles of the 277 mile long trail and started 26 paintings with scenes ranging from a storm whipped birch tree atop the bluffs over Spruce Creek to a quiet bug free morning along Boney’s Meadow.

Come see the stories of the trail in paint and hear about plans for season two of painting the SHT.

The presentation is Saturday, April 28th, 4:45pm, at U of M – Hanson Hall, Room 102
Follow this link for more info: Outdoor Adventure Expo Programs

Painting the Superior Hiking Trail

The Superior Hiking Trail is a 277 mile trail that follows the North Shore of Lake Superior from Duluth, Minnesota to the Canadian border. In the spring of 2011 I decided to hike the entire trail, a section at a time, and do paintings of it along the way.

Admittedly, my original goals for this project were just for me: to create some interest in my paintings and to do some camping. Then I read an interview about a friend of mine who has been kayaking along Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior and he was commenting on the massive development along most of the shorelines. He commented that if you can get people to take an interest in a particular area then they are more likely to take care of it. I like that concept.

I still want to create some buzz around my paintings and get some camping done but I'd also like to make people aware of the beauty of the Superior Hiking Trail and the North Shore and the beauty in just plain old hiking (get off your tuckus)!