Twin Points by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

A good place for long term parking and put your kayak in a little side beach next to the ramp. Lake Superior North Shore Minnesota.

Ledges State Park by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Foliage Photogram by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

 It is a strange stark beauty, dark and jagged rocks, cobble stone, lava, and cinder beaches

It looks like a giant ate a pile of bricks and spit it out to make a beach that is only partially kind to little boats like mine

A tour boat pens me in against fallen jagged  boulders where the dark castle sits above

A pile of black rocks stands just above the water line looking like the spine of an ancient sturgeon

Golden yellow lichen pock the granite creating a fools gold effect

An old friend Sun and Rain plays with me on Superior

Such beauty are the sheets of tears that fall from the lusty clouds

You are in the hands of the water god now, he gives you hell, hope, and mercy

A plant pushes its way up from the hard granite and sets a flower of orange and yellow

I am sleeping on a ledge with granite for a bed

I am in constant pain but that is my new life in old age

Summer is soon leaving and you can feel the cold crisp of the air

The November gale will rock and rage and throw boats against its rocky shore

What a perfect place to build a castle

The castle of many colored stones gets licked by waves and slowly eaten by the cold storm of ice

I'm in Two Harbors eating at Judy's Café, eating my grilled cheese sandwich

I am surrounded by noisy people who carry their homes on their backs and laugh at my backpacking tent that doesn't quite fit in with their camping etiquette

I build a nest, I go to bed, I sleep through the noise of a thousand motorcycles and crying little kids

Morning comes and I watch the sun rise as pretty as any sunset.

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

 

Sunset Newton, Iowa by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Thompson Beach Campsite by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Beautiful secluded beach with two great campsites on Lake Superior just North of of Gooseberry.

Blacklock Campsite by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Blacklock Campsite on Lake Superior. A small strip of land with an outdoor toilet with a view.

Rough Landing, Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Kayak landing at Blacklock Water Camp. Rough landing in large cobble boulders.  The campsite is little used, hard to get to and off in higher wave action.  Rocks were slick and you have to jump out before you slam the nose of your boat into the rocks.

Lake Superior Sunset by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Lion Head by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Mayan by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Male Figure by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Female Figure by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Bur Oak Forest Loess Hills by artist Troy Richard Thomas

This is a ridge in Sylvan Runkel Wilderness. I camped below the forest in a bowl like grass land next to the forest. The ridge attracted lighting during big storms.

Loess Hills by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Loess Hills B/W photography done in my darkroom in Newton, Iowa around 1992. Sylvan Runkell Wilderness Area Turin, Iowa

Farm Field Loess Hills by artist Troy Richard Thomas

                 Loess Hills near Turin, Iowa

Little Cottonwood Leaf Photogram by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Circle Photogram by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Untitled by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Creature Feature by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Cloudworks Blue by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Paris Eifell Tower by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Mercedes by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Spiral Photogram by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Sidewalk to No Where by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

This is a sidewalk at Woodrow Wilson Elementary. The dark area is made by blocking and over exposure from the projector.

Indian Grass at Krumm Preserve by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

A beautiful nature preserve near Grinnel,  Iowa. 

Jesse White Actor Old Lonely by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

My Father worked with Jesse White for several years at Maytag Company in Newton Iowa. Jesse was an old vaudevillian comic actor. 

Bighorn Mountains by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

            I went backpacking here in the 90s. We drove our pickup through the mountains, we had a bed in back and one of us could watch the scenery as we went higher in elevation.

Happy Pig by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Untitled Face by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas

Back to square one again

Put that smiley face on

Even though I am tired as shit

Lifes sham, a game show host wants to be President

The beauty of my garden seeps into decadence, but it is the only thing to live for

I paddle alone, I walk alone

The wave action washes over me, and lifts my spirits

The bear shadows me on the trail

I'm just a bag of meat to him

He's just a bag of fur to me

This lady feels I am having to much fun and need to suffer the human race

(Civilization) is it really civilized

Cars and pavement, strip malls, and big box stores with ladies using their mirrors to put on lipstick

Art is no fun, no joy, it's just all hard

In a nation that has an intellectual deficit and wants to bring back Mayberry there's no way you can make it

I lift my paddle out of the water

There's only one place for me, headed for Nahhani Wilderness, Best Wishes.

Poetry from the book {The Lion and the Sun} by Artist Troy Richard Thomas