Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you have an opportunity to enjoy the day with loved ones, maybe indulge in some turkey and pumpkin pie for good tradition, and reflect upon the meaning of the holiday.

For those of you who'll be in the Twin Cities on Saturday, December 1, there's one last opportunity this year to see my work or pick up a one of my display pieces at a great price (more on that below).

Art at Ramsey

Art at Ramsey is a high-quality juried art and fine craft event that takes place Saturday, December 1 (from 10am – 5pm) inside the Ramsey Middle School gymnasiums and cafeteria at 1700 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, MN. I will be among about 80 regional artists exhibiting work, so there is a good variety of talent to see if you visit.

 

Gift Certificate Sale

This year, to celebrate Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, I'm offering a very rare opportunity for you to purchase gift certificates at a 10% discount. Purchase $50 certificates for $45 or $100 certificates for $90. These certificates do not expire and are good toward any future regular-priced artwork purchase (at my art fair booth, online, or by phone/email). They make great gifts, especially since artwork can be hard to buy for others. And, if you decide to purchase a few for yourself...I won't tell anyone! :)

There is no limit to the number of certificates you can buy, but overall quantities are limited. This sale goes live at 8pm Thanksgiving and runs through Saturday, November 24, unless sold out sooner. All certificates will be mailed to the address provided at checkout.

Year-End Display Piece Sale

Near the end of the year, as many of you know, I typically offer a selection of my art fair display pieces at discounted prices to make room for new release work in the coming year. These are generally pieces that have traveled with me and have been displayed at shows for the past 1-4 years. As a result, they may have minor flaws or may not be quite as squeaky clean as a brand new piece. However, most are in excellent condition.

If you are interested in the availability or condition of a particular piece, please feel free to contact me (dbarthel@northshoreimages.com or 320-293-1788). Shipping is either free or low cost to most locations in the Upper Midwest. Any piece not sold prior to December 1 will be available at Art at Ramsey as noted above.



"Triple Falls" – 24x32 Ultra Premium-Framed Lumachrome Print — only $495 ($300 off already low price of $795)

– Captured in Glacier National Park, Montana
– Framed dimensions 34x42
– Display piece since 2016
– Small flaw in the acrylic surface that is not easily seen, otherwise in excellent condition





"Ice & Surf" – 24x30 Canvas Gallery Wrap — only $275 ($70 off regular price of $345)

– Captured at Split Rock Lighthouse State Park, Minnesota
– Display piece since 2016
– A few minor scuffs on some edges and corners from handling, otherwise in very good condition



"Twists of Time" – 24x36 Canvas Gallery Wrap — only $345 ($50 off regular price of $395)

– Captured in the Ancient Bristlecone Forest, California
– Display piece since 2016
– Very good condition—possibly a few very minor scuffs on corners from handling

 

New Photographs

Every 10th of November, Split Rock Lighthouse's beacon, as most Split Rock aficionados know, is lighted in memorial of the loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald, the Great Lakes ore freighter that became a victim of Lake Superior's wrath on that day in 1975. All 29 aboard were never seen again.

I've stood on these shores on many a November 10th evenings in recent years and the weather on this year's anniversary most closely resembled what I imagine the conditions were like on that fateful day in 1975. Cold, wind-blown rain and mist accompanied several foot rollers crashing into the rocky shore.

Photographing in these conditions is, not surprisingly, also difficult. In between the inevitable episodes of cold mist gathering on the front of my lens, I managed to capture the rare combination of a lighted Split Rock and a rough Lake Superior.

It was thirty-six years ago on November 10 when a large iron ore freighter encountered a fierce November storm on Lake Superior and, despite modern technology, succumbed to its ravages. This ship, of course, was the Edmund Fitzgerald. The freighter and its 29 crew members were later immortalized in Gordon Lightfoot's song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. While visitors congregated near the lighthouse on this evening for a variety of reasons, I think most, at least in the backs of their minds, gave some thought to the true reasons behind this beacon lighting and the lighthouse itself.

Indeed, photography was the primary motivator that brought me to the lighthouse on this evening. But, it wasn't the beacon lighting itself that piqued my interest this year. I was anticipating what would have been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to photograph, in ideal lighting, the full moon rising from behind the lighthouse on the very night the beacon is lighted every year. My hopes were obscured by a low deck of clouds that refused to part to show the heavenly orb's conjunction with Split Rock's lantern.

A full moon on any given night of the year occurs, on average, about once every 30 years. Thus, a November 10th full moon is a relatively rare occurrence. Often, however, the night before the day of a full moon is suitable (and sometimes preferred) for landscape photography containing the moon. Nevertheless, in examining moonrise times and positions for November 10ths spanning the next 125 years, I have found no future opportunities to photograph the full moon rising from directly behind the lighthouse under good lighting conditions during the beacon lighting events. A handful of full moons on or near November 10 will occur over this period, but none of them will be nearly as ideal, in both azimuth and timing, as this year's would have been if not for the clouds.

Without the moon visible, I took an unusually minimal approach to my photography - I clicked the shutter only twelve times during the entire evening. The photograph you see here is one of them, made near the spot I captured my iconic image, Lunar Light at Full Power, about two years ago. It is not the stereotypical view of the lighthouse overlooking an expansive Lake Superior. I like this composition for the conifers on the rocky point, giving the lighthouse setting a more isolated, northwoods feel.

Was I disappointed in not seeing the full moon on that evening? Of course. But then, in trying to keep the context in mind, I reached into the back of my mind and remembered the real reason I was there. The 29 men aboard the Fitzgerald that fateful night 36 years ago missed so much more.

The beacon will be lit just after 4:30 PM this Thursday, immediately following the commemoration ceremony.

Little Two Harbors, of course, will become a temporary tripod village as eager photographers try to capture the lighthouse in its illuminated glory.

On November 10 each year, the staff and visitors at Split Rock Lighthouse observe the tragic loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald and its 29 crew members aboard with a special beacon lighting ceremony. The 35 years that have passed since that fateful 1975 storm may seem like a long time, but the relative recency of its sinking has immortalized its place as one of the best known Great Lakes shipwrecks.

The ceremony also commemorates the loss of all vessels on the Great Lakes, a handful of which brought Split Rock Lighthouse into its very existence. Even as modern technology has obsoleted the lighthouse, it remains a symbol of the great efforts to ensure the safety of maritime travel.

This is the sixth consecutive year that I have photographed the beacon on November 10. The weather was mild compared with most years, but the wind was blowing hard and sent waves splashing over the rocky shore, some of those reaching my feet. That said, the agitated waters on this evening did not remotely resemble the stormy seas of November 10, 1975. We can only imagine . . .