Evening’s Long Light

2024
12″ x 12″ (felt)
16” x 16” x 0.75” (felt on canvas)
Status: Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais, MN

Wool needle felting measuring 12″ x 12″ felted onto a 16” x 16” x 0.75” painted cotton canvas frame for a clean, seamless look. Many fine blended layers of varying shades of blue, pink, purple, yellow, white, and gray went into creating the sky and clouds and their reflection on the water.

The photo inspiration behind this piece, titled ‘Evening’s Long Light’, was captured seconds before the actual sunset on November 1, 2022, after an evening of open water fishing on an unseasonably warm and calm evening on Sea Gull Lake near the end of the Gunflint Trail on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The shoreline shows evidence of the 2007 Ham Lake wildfire with still-standing tall white pine trunks.

When the sun is low on the horizon, light has to travel a greater distance through the atmosphere than when it’s overhead and the longer wavelengths of red, yellow, and orange light are visible. Pink sunsets come from the mixing of red colors with white light which comes from light being scattered by fine particulates such as moisture or pollutants.

The backside of the piece offers an interesting view of the colored fibers as they were pushed through the canvas and I like to leave the canvas back exposed for this reason. It also allows the wool fibers to breathe and minimizes any moisture buildup.

Wire hanging hardware is attached. An informational card and a copy of the original reference photo will be tucked into the back of the piece in a cellophane sleeve.