Bemidji, MN - First City on the Mississippi

[Kargrrl]

There are so many awesome entries already - and what variety! Wow!

I hail from Bemidji, Minnesota. It is known for many things including its roots in the logging industry, home of the Concordia Language Villages, giant statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox, Bemidji State University, and its location near two large American Indian reservations, Canada, and generally lake-filled wilderness. It is called "The First City on the Mississippi" for an interesting reason. The mighty Mississippi river has very humble beginnings in a little lake in a beautiful state park (Itasca). From there, the river actually flows north as the topography of the land is actually lower towards the north and it flows through the lovely Lake Bemidji. Just east of the lake is the most northern point on the Mississippi, making Bemidji the first city (latitudinally and along the river's path) on the Mississippi.

My entry is an original papercut representing the headwaters of the Mississippi, where you can walk across the river on slippery rocks, and then the general shape of the river as it flows all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

Here is the entire papercut, which measures about 5 x 8.5 inches:



A close-up of the top half:



And a detailed close up of the headwaters:



The image is cut from a single piece of black cardstock using only an x-acto blade. I taped it to the window to photograph it.

I based the cut from the photo from this site:

http://www.mnhs.org/places/nationalregister/stateparks/Itas83.html

And here's a link to a page of great Bemidji and Mississippi River-related information:

http://www.visitbemidji.com/location/mississippi.html

Thanks so much for looking!

[JadedJenn]

I'm glad to see someone from Minnesota entering this challenge! That is very pretty. Makes me want to take a little road trip up there. 

[jessimocha]

oh wow that's gorgeous!

really, good job! i think you've inspired me to try paper-cutting now.

[lesleegirl]

Oh, my goodness, that is beautiful!  How are you going to display it?  Will you have is framed?

[Sera unravled]

yay for minnesotans!  That is very beautiful.  I have never been up there but I would like to someday, northern minnesota is so very pretty.

[batgirl]

That's beautiful! I live in St Paul, and I hope to make it up north this summer. There are a couple of Craftster up in Bemidji, I'm glad MN is so well represented!

[jennecca]

What a stunning way to represent your area! I love the silhouette presentation and the way you chose to show the whole shape of the Mississippi down to the Gulf, I would definitely put this in a floating glass frame and hang it on a brightly colored wall with a special spotlight just for this, what a great piece of art!

[instantkarma]

Yay for Minnesotans! Your papercut is very pretty.

[allyinthevalley]

Really beautiful!

[mamafox]

I love this!
Great job and i would love to see how you plan to display it!