Tremolo's indoor gear-corner thread in the Gear Forum got me thinking, how many else of you have something in your house to remind you of your favorite place? Here's mine in my office...

Does a pile of camping gear count?

Gutmon, please tell us about the painting and the clear frame. It's beautiful.

It's a photo of me and my buddy's shadows on a rock face on the Kawishiwi River. The frame was something cheap from Walmart or some other such place. The color saturation is turned way up on the print, causing it to look like it does.

Nice. I might steal the clear frame idea if you don't mind.

I have a panoramic pic taken June 2000 in the BW in a frame on my wall at work

Two very large Craig Blacklock framed pictures prominently displayed in the house.

No shrine as such. A few of my photos on the wall here and lots and lots of them at the lake cottage (including poster-size.) But we have a favorite northern Minnesota artist, Keith Thompson, and we have five of his watercolors in our home. The first one I bought in 1996 at the Kess Gallery in Ely, a large painting of a moose along a rocky shoreline. We liked it so well in our dining room that the next year I bought a smaller moose painting to hang over my computer desk. And the following year I bought another small painting entitled "Rapids".

Eventually I contacted Keith and asked him if he would do a large watercolor for me as a commission. I wanted him to do a painting from one of my photographs. He was willing, so I sent him a stack of photos and told him to choose one that he wanted to paint. The resulting painting (below) hangs in our living room. It is taken from a photo that I made of Spartan1 looking out on Loon Lake, and incorporates elements of another photo of our canoe. Keith even sold one of the proof paintings from this work as a greeting card to "Stroke of the Heart" cards, so there is a birthday card out there with Spartan1's image on it.

All of these paintings remind us of our favorite place, so in that way I guess they satisfy the requirements of this thread. And I go in to the Kess Gallery every time I am in Ely, mainly to see if Keith has anything new on display.

Spartan2- I really like that. I recognize S1 from some of the photos you have posted here.

Wow Spartan2... that is a wonderful painting. I really, really like it, especially since it's from one of your own photos and has extra meaning. It's a memory that will always be there. Wow...

Just a replica of my 21" smallmouth that I caught in Fourtown 4-years ago mounted on my living room wall.

Our first floor hall bath/wash room (it's just a toilet and sink) is completely decked out with north woods stuff. The centerpiece is my framed BWJ magazine cover that I shot along with various 5X7 BWCA photos I took and knick knacks like a small hand carved duck and loon, some interesting rocks, and a wooden nine inch long canoe w/paddles among other stuff.

Sometimes I'm not sure if it's appropriate or not but what the hey, I enjoy seeing the pics and will rotate them every year or so. I could take a pic of it when I get the chance.

The room does get some comments when we have guests over. :)

My wife has got the whole "canoe" theme going on in our formal living room. A few great pics and some decor.
My gear room is 10 x 18 for all my backpacking and paddling fun.

And of course, there's all those kayaks and canoe hanging up on every garage wall............

In my den/computer room I have a collection of framed BWCA and other canoeing and outdoor pics that I and friends have taken. They are great conversation starters and each one has a deep personal meaning.

In my basement there is a furnace/storage room that I have turned into my "man cave" where I store my camping, fishing and other outdoor gear. I've built shelving and even wedged a desk into a relatively small but cozy space. No TV - just music from CD's and tapes. I find it a blissful place to repair gear, go through ancient copies of my outdoor magazines, sharpen knives and fish hooks, sort through fishing tackle, clean and lube fishing reels/guns, you get the idea. Oh yeah, there are plenty of canoeing pics down there too.

Both places help me through endless winter months.

Gutmon that is a really unique photo. I like it.

Spartan 2 your idea for a watercolor turned out great! I will check Kess Gallery next chance when I'm in Ely.

I have a couple different areas that are my “shrines” these would include my one wall to scouts camp and then my wife has another that is all geared towards Eagle Scout stuff with pictures and figurines.

Still have to say my favorite one is of “Tool Porn”. It is my once in a lifetime buy. I have this at school were I’m an instructor for the students to look at. Guess these are the types of things that have made all of my other hobbies and ventures possible. Several of these tools are no longer made or they have been moved to China……..But from the glory days of Starrett.

In 2005 I made a fire ring/pit in our backyard using big round Superior Stones. I made it as perfect as a circle as I could, and since then, we've hosted many gatherings around it. It isnt so much as a shrine as a place-- in the right conditions, especially early spring when the yard is transitioning from mud stage to green glory-- where sitting with friends around the fire can transport you far far away. Perhaps that is the purpose of a shrine after all.

We're in the process of turning our spare bedroom/workout room in the basement into our bwca "shrine" we have a frame w/ a few bw pictures in it and we have 8x10 framed collages of our trips with the year on them on the wall. We are choosing which pictures from our trips that we want to blow up and frame to put on the wall also. We're also going to put a big map on the wall down there.

Our family room is also decorated with an "up-north" theme. Nothing bwca specific but wildlife paintings, lamps, nic-nacs etc.

Also, Les Kouba's "Canoe Country" in our living room...

I bought a print of an original painting by Bill Mason featured in his great canoeing film "WaterWalker".




These are available at: redcanoes.ca


hummm?

well, not as nice as some, but this pic is my background on our various computers, plus I have two oil paintings my parents bought from an artist named Signe Greene,(sp?) from the Int. Falls area that are very nice.

My office at home has a variety of photos, art work and a mounted smallmouth on the wall. At work, I have one of those picture frames that show multiple digital photos. The whole thing is filled with pictures of my last trip. It takes about six minutes to get through all of them. Makes for a nice mental health break when needed....

Buz - thanks for the new desktop pic

I had a large BWCA map on my office wall with all of the lakes I have visited highlighted. Maybe that's part of the reason I'm unemployed now...hmmmm.

quote gutmon: "Also, Les Kouba's "Canoe Country" in our living room...


"

I love that print! I was lucky enough to pick one up on Craigs List a couple of years ago.

Favorite Pic...End of trip, handgs on wall in office.
SunCatcher
"Lost in the Moment"

My BWCAW/Q shrine. A framed map of the BWCAW/Quetico on the wall. My favorite trip photos. A cedar strip canoe shelf with my Sig Olson collection along with other canoe country reading. A moose antler. My Bending Branches paddles. A rock cairn. A Brandenburg photo.

That is very, very cool, DuluthPak.

Man cave. Mounted walleyes, a trout print, wolf print, fly tying table, drawing table, and computer. Soon to be hung...a wall map of the BW and the Q, and a flat screen tv. :) Life is good!

I have this website on my favorite list. Does that count?

I have a BWCA poster with all my trips drawn and dated. Circled with photos from past trips. I also have some photo's grouped together and framed in my leathershop. (or I call my "man-cave")

APU, ur welcome. That one was unbelievable, every color in the red/purple/yellow spectrum in about 15 minutes.

DP, awesome shrine, first class.

Gutmon, great thread.

At home it's the canoe fishing themed den, a couple of trophies on the hanging on the fireplace, some antique fishing and camping equipment, etc. At work, I have two computers on my desk, the backgrounds are the below pictures I took.

JD

With Windows 7 you can set your desktop picture to rotate just like a photo picture frame. Kinda cool actually.

Unlike a screen saver that turns off as soon as you are using the computer.

I always have a map of my upcoming or most recent trip in my cube at work. I also keep photos from my BW trips and Alaska trip on the walls. It's a great mid of late day escape.

DP wins and gets the bonus prize for having bwca.com on his computer when he took the picture.

;-)

I just have a picture of me beside my wife........hahahahahahaha

I frame my permits.

Here are some pics from my Quetico/BWCA Room:

quote gutmon: "Also, Les Kouba's "Canoe Country" in our living room...


"

Gutmon, did you ever notice that Kouba's paintings always have 13 birds in them? I have a few of his and from what I can see, yours has the same.

Geofisher, are those bamboo flyrods above the maps?
Very cool room.

My Dad has a bamboo flyrod from the 1950's. He brought it with when we went for a week in 2000.

quote TomT: "Geofisher, are those bamboo flyrods above the maps?
Very cool room.


My Dad has a bamboo flyrod from the 1950's. He brought it with when we went for a week in 2000. "

Yep. They don't get used. One of the rods is a common, factory rod, and the other was custom made in 1910 or 1911 in England.

quote gutmon: "Tremolo's indoor gear-corner thread in the Gear Forum got me thinking, how many else of you have something in your house to remind you of your favorite place? Here's mine in my office...

"

Classic - I love it. :-) Yes a pile of camping gear counts just as much as a pile of maps.

I just have two maps up on my wall at work. If I can remember to bring my camera with me next time, maybe I will have some good pictures to hang.

This may sound crazy, but, Suncatcher, what lake is that picture from?

Speaking of fire rings,I guess this is my camping shrine, not BWCA-specific, but it might be interesting to some. I built that coffee table a few years back from a fire ring I found at Home Depot. The metal sculpture over the FP came from a place called "Cabin Fever".


The tree comes and goes.

Krusty

My office is all artwork of: Canoes, maps and loons. Walk in here and you should immediately understand what my passion is.

quote fly4trout: "

quote gutmon: "Also, Les Kouba's "Canoe Country" in our living room...



"

Gutmon, did you ever notice that Kouba's paintings always have 13 birds in them? I have a few of his and from what I can see, yours has the same."

Yup- it's one of his trademarks- 13 of something, not just birds. Another is that there is often something man-made in his pictures if no actual humans appear. For instance, I have another print called "Grouse Feedin'" and there is a spent 12 guage shell on the ground. He often put litter in his prints- a candy wrapper, cigarette butt, etc.

Trivia question- who is the model in the canoe in Les Kouba's "Canoe Country"? No fair cheating (oh yeah, I guess they call that Googling now...:)

gutmon- I will have to check my prints in the morning when I get home. I have no idea where there would be anything man made in my "Bluebills Past Due" print. Now you have me wondering.

quote fly4trout: "gutmon- I will have to check my prints in the morning when I get home. I have no idea where there would be anything man made in my "Bluebills Past Due" print. Now you have me wondering."

Don't know if its all, but know its a lot. Let us know what you find.

i have a den full of stuff,some going back to the 50's and 60's.books, photos,gear old and new,bits of bone and sheds,furs,water colors my wife did of a couple of our trips.panoramic shots of the Q, a map from the 1700's showing North America with the BW as a line of lakes,paddles,..just too much stuff collected over the many years to mention.but i do have a real shrine,a small jar with some of my Dads ashes and the lure he used as a young man to get a huge Musky and the micrometer he used when he worked for the Atomic Energy Commission in the late 40's,that's set up as a real shrine on a shelf and left undisturbed.

Got a pile of camping gear that is next to my computer work station :), photos of my trips as screen saver and of coure my scrapbook that doesn't get put away as it's a work in progress.

I don't have a shrine in my house.....I have a house that is a shrine. Canoeing, BW, hunting, fishing, ducks, deer....it's everywhere. I'm fortunate enough to have a wife that shares the outdoor life with me and loves to allow it in the house.

Fisher Maps all fit together were basically the wallpaper on the basement walls. Floor to ceiling. Had to take them down to paint. : (

Live your shrine !

quote gutmon: "

quote fly4trout: "gutmon- I will have to check my prints in the morning when I get home. I have no idea where there would be anything man made in my "Bluebills Past Due" print. Now you have me wondering."

Don't know if its all, but know its a lot. Let us know what you find."

I have looked mine over and not found anything man made in my prints. I am gonna have to dig out the other one and check with some friends that have a few of them.

quote gutmon: "Trivia question- who is the model in the canoe in Les Kouba's "Canoe Country"? No fair cheating (oh yeah, I guess they call that Googling now...:)"

Could it be Calvin Rutstrum?

my entire house

quote forestmaven: "

quote gutmon: "Trivia question- who is the model in the canoe in Les Kouba's "Canoe Country"? No fair cheating (oh yeah, I guess they call that Googling now...:)"

Could it be Calvin Rutstrum?"

We have a winner!!!