Weekend Art — Sandstone Stories
The geology of the Keweenaw, carried forward in digital form
These patterns began with small pieces of Lake Superior sandstone I collected in the Keweenaw. I scanned the stones, pulled out textures I’d never noticed with my eyes alone, and played with them in Illustrator.
I love everything about the Keweenaw. My mother was born in Eagle Harbor in 1911, and when she was 13 their house burned down and the family moved to Ann Arbor.
Many summers we spent in Eagle Harbor with her three sisters, my cousins, and sometimes my own sisters. We drove north and took the car ferries across the Straits of Mackinac until the bridge was built.
We learned from my Mom and aunts where the thimbleberries grew, how to pick them, clean them, and make jam; where the wild blueberries grew. Where the sandstone was. We ate pasties for dinner or picnics on the rocky shorelines.
When we were young and brave, we waded from the sandy beach into the icy water of Eagle Harbor… then ran out quickly, wrapped ourselves in our towels, and warmed in the sun. But we were never as brave as my mother. Every year, well into her eighties, she swam far out into the harbor and back.
So many great memories, and so many photographs…
Until next weekend — may something unexpected catch your eye.