It's no secret that the Upper Peninsula is full of talented artists, and one of the most well-known and loved in the Marquette area is Paul Grant. His paintings are treasured by those who own them, and enjoyed by many more who've seen them.
A book putting his paintings together with essays on them has been long in the works, first starting out as a proposed joint venture with famed U.P. author and judge John Voelker. But it stalled out with Voelker's death, until now.
This month, "Portrait of a Peninsula" was unveiled, the result of a new collaboration between Grant and local author and TV6 news director Brian Cabell.
Cabell worked with Grant over the last year, discussing the paintings and putting together texts to accompany them, says Cabell on his
blog.
"The book, in a sense, is a love letter to the UP. Paul's paintings are reflections of the scenery, the structures, the animals, and the people of the UP. I provide the text, explaining how the paintings came to be and why we think they are significant in understanding the Upper Peninsula," he writes.
The hardback book was printed at Globe Printing in Ishpeming, keeping the production local, and was unveiled at the Landmark Inn on Dec. 5. It contains more than 80 of Grant's paintings spanning four decades, all portraying the land, seas, people, and wildlife of the U.P.
"It's a 'coffee-table' art book, large, glossy, and beautiful. A perfect keepsake of the UP, a source of pride, we hope, for people who live here, and a classy souvenir for those who visit here," says Cabell.
It's available now for sale at local bookstores including
Snowbound Books in Marquette--where the collaborators will have a book-signing event on Dec. 11--and
here.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: Brian Cabell, Portrait of a Peninsula
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