New Page 5 Wild

Organized and sponsored by The Ridges Sanctuary, a 1,100 acre nature preserve founded in 1937, this book features the invited work of ten of Door County's prominent artists. Included are Jack Anderson, Phil Austin, Austin Fraser, James Ingwersen, Emmett Johns, Flora Langlois, Gerhard Miller, Charles Peterson, Ellen Sprogo-Topelmann, and Karsten Topelmann, as well as paintings from sixty artists chosen through a juried competition. The jurors were Frank Sisser, Publisher of U.S. Art, Richard Sloan, well-known nature artist, and James N. Wood, Director and president, The Art Institute of Chicago.

FROM THE FLYLEAF

"The beauty of the wild places of Door County, Wisconsin, is expressed in innumerable ways--in light filtering through a stand of beech, cedar, and hemlock trees, in shimmering water at dawn, in the delicate grace of a single maidenhair fern. Here, in ninety-four paintings by seventy artists, the glory of the peninsula's natural areas is expressed in all its seasons, at once a tribute to the art community and to the wilderness that inspires it.

"Each of the ninety-four paintings is accompanied by a short statement by the artist, and another statement by Paul Regnier, naturalist and director of The Ridges Sanctuary, telling about the natural features depicted. The paintings give graphic expression to the numerous and varied wild places of the peninsula, areas readily available to, but not often seen by, the casual visitor.

"The Door Peninsula, described by seventeenth-century French explorer Pierre Esprit Radisson as "a kingdom so delicious," has long attracted naturalists, artists, and visitors seeking, in Jens Jensen's words, 'a place to breathe and feel a kinship with the earth.' This splendid book of paintings brings nature and art together--indeed, a book so delicious as to be a fitting tribute to the life and spirit of Door County itself."

This coffee-table book measures 11 1/4 x 12 1/4 inches and is in glorious color and is 116 pages in length. All proceeds from the sale of the book go to The Ridges Sanctuary. The hard cover book is $44.95 and a soft cover version is available for $29.95.

Charles L. Peterson: Niagara Escarpment -- Nesting Ravens Flora Langlois: Time for the Butterfly -- Remember the Wild

To accompany his painting for the book, Charles Peterson wrote the following: "This ravens' nest is about 75 feet up the face of the cliff at Sven's Bluff in Peninsula State Park. I made several trips at various times of day to watch the diligent parents disassembling whatever food they found and then cramming it down the throats of their loudmouth nestlings. I was awed by the force of life represented by this age-old scene in such a spectacular setting. It occurred to me that I was watching an elemental process that would have been exactly the same if mankind had never evolved or made its appearance in Door County. My watercolor was meant as a tribute to that life."

Flora Langlois wrote of her painting: "My composition depicts Door County's butterflies. In the painting and in its border, I've included cedars, pines, rocks, a little water, and milkweed -- a favorite food of monarch caterpillars. I like working with borders and have used them many times before.