Neil Sherman lives and paints the northwoods and Gunflint Trail region. He works ‘plein air’ – he sets up his canvas outdoors and works in direct response to the scene, weather, and light of the day or moment. He remembers 2007 when a campfire spread out of control, flaring into the Ham Lake Fire. (Read more about the Ham Lake Fire and its aftermath here.) The fire eventually burned over 75,000 acres around the Gunflint, spanning the MN and Ontario border, involving firefighters from the US and Canada in its rapid blaze, pushed by erratic winds and unusually dry springtime conditions.
He found the smoky skies and the charred stumps of the forest after the fire compelling, and began a series of paintings that now capture the regeneration of a landscape, and the resilience of the northern forest. He shares his paintings and a few thoughts with Quetico Superior Wilderness News.
Neil says: “I was immediately struck by how fast things started growing. It was incredibly green shortly after the fire. Nature knows how to take care of itself. Painting that blackened landscape really taught me how to find beauty in an otherwise not-so-beautiful environment. The shiny silver patterns on a charred tree or stump against a green back ground were fascinating to me. I think we’re all familiar with it, if we’ve been around a campfire, and never gave any mention to it. But in the context of destruction and regrowth it’s pretty incredible. Ive painted at the same locations of the years sense the fire and each year the scene is a different kind of beauty. It’s gone from harsh to gentle.”
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