Lake Superior
"In any season, the rustic beauty of Lake Superior inspires me as an artist and photographer".
Like gravity pulls us to earth, the majestic Lake Superior beckons to me. Camera in tow, I am summoned to escape to the vacant shores of Lake Superior. For me, Lake Superior is a place of comfort, peace, serenity and inspiration. As I drive over the crest of the mile hill, 20 km from Sault Ste. Marie, I catch the first glimpse of Lake Superior's North Channel. I'm overcome with the same feeling as crossing the St. Joseph Island Bridge to my parent's place. This feels like home. Today I'm hiking on the Orphan Lake Trail, in Lake Superior Park, an easy 160 km drive from Sault Ste. Marie. I trek through hardwood forest, blazingly lit by the splendours of autumn. I skip down steep embankments and skirt the west edge of isolated, and therefore aptly named, Orphan Lake. Forty minutes later, I emerge onto the vast and rugged shores of Lake Superior.
Standing on the shores of the world's largest freshwater lake, wind rushing over me, I am overcome by the magnificent expanse. All of the tension in my shoulders is released. All thought dissolves into sweet surrender amid the sound of the wind and crashing waves. With every lap upon the shore, the waves dance, sweeping multi-coloured pebbles rolling down the embankment. The horizon is so distant, that I cannot tell where water meets sky. Something stirs in me. I feel so small and alone. I lose myself in the natural beauty and wonder that surrounds me.
In any season, the rustic beauty of Lake Superior inspires me as an artist and photographer. I draw on the brilliance of the landscape and through it, express myself. Line, shape, texture, rhythm, movement and colour draw me to use my creative imagination. Nature allows me to experiment in her lab. This is the dialogue between subject and artist. The perfectly rounded rocks on her shore, sun glinting off of her ice sheeted rocks, blues of her depths, the lure of her ice caves: Superior calls me to capture her fleeting moments, to evoke in others the awe that I feel in her presence.