Artistic Trails: The Plunge

Monday, October 28, 2013

The Plunge

The Plunge 12" x 16"

This is another view from along the Superior Hiking Trail atop Moose Mountain at Lutsen Mountain Ski Resort. I came here because I discovered this location the following year on my hike through this section of trail and the view is incredible. The thought that kept going through my mind was how much this area reminds me of big western views. Obviously we don't have the snow covered "14-ers" in the back ground but we certainly have the big air. And the color. Holy cow the color! This painting doesn't even come close to how crazy the color was. Next time I'm taking a panoramic canvas because the scene continues off the left side of this canvas another 120 degrees! All reds and oranges.

Another thought that kept going through my head was the namesake of this painting. The Plunge is the name of one of the ski runs at Lutsen Mountain and it is not an exaggeration. I'm not an alpine skier so I don't know how many black diamonds this route holds but it's a 45 degree incline until you hit the lip and then it probably comes in around a 60 degree incline. Yep! This is a SA-WEET spot!

2 comments:

Judy P.October 29, 2013 at 8:46 AM
Love the perspective, the distance, and how you make those reds and oranges sit so nicely, yet vividly , back there!
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Prairie PainterOctober 29, 2013 at 2:53 PM
Sweet piece Neil...since it has been many years when my wife and I first hiked the SHT, I'll surely enjoy your hikes and paintings on the trail!
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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)!