To Rise Above One Must First Let Go

Ice Caves: "Ice Terraces," January 2014 In January 2014, nearly 90 percent of Lake Superior froze, and the ice caves became accessible. The Lake Superior Ice Caves are located in the Apostle Island National Lakesore at Mawikwe Bay along the mainland. When the lake freezes, people can make the two-mile-long round-trip hike across the ice to see the caves, and during that season almost 140,000 people traveled from around the world to do that. Frozen waterfalls formed pillars of ice on the red cliffs. Icicles adorned cliff edges and the domed ceilings of caves. I took some of my favorite photographs during that frigid January.

Ice Caves: "Ice Paws," January 2014 In January 2014, nearly 90 percent of Lake Superior froze, and the ice caves became accessible. The Lake Superior Ice Caves are located in the Apostle Island National Lakesore at Mawikwe Bay along the mainland. When the lake freezes, people can make the two-mile-long round-trip hike across the ice to see the caves, and during that season almost 140,000 people traveled from around the world to do that. Frozen waterfalls formed pillars of ice on the red cliffs. Icicles adorned cliff edges and the domed ceilings of caves. I took some of my favorite photographs during that frigid January.

Woods Still Life #2, Copper Falls, October 2013 When I was selected as one of eight artists in the 2014 Wisconsin Community Supported Arts program, I created a series of photographs called "Still Lives in Moving Places." I photographed everyday objects—a glass vase, a pewter creamer, a white enamel pitcher—in places that included Meyers Beach, Copper Falls State Park, and my yard in Washburn deeply covered in snow. These still lifes occurred in places where water, wind, and light had been moving; and, in the making of these images, gratitude for natural beauty and love for the people associated with those objects moved through me.

The image in this canvas print also appears in Catherine Lange's book, "Why This Place." After I moved to Washburn, Wisc., the idea for a photography project called "Why This Place" crystallized as I experienced the natural beauty in the Chequamegon Bay area and got to know people in the community. I asked 16 people to take me to their favorite places in nature, where I created photographic environmental portraits of them as well as landscape photos of those places. The project, which resulted in an exhibit at the Washburn Cultural Center in 2014, was partially funded by a grant from the Chequamegon Bay Arts Council and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin. In 2016, I designed and self-published a book, also called "Why This Place," containing the 71 photographs and 15 photo essays from the exhibit. The book is available here on Authentic Superior.