Description This photograph captures the St. Louis River at Jay Cooke State Park just East of Cloquet, MN at sunrise. The flow of this river has exposed ancient slabs of massive rock formations. These slate beds formed from original deposits of mud, which formed into shale. Continued pressure, heat and movement from the earth formed this shale into slate. Then molten intrusions through fractures in these beds cooled and formed the diagonal slabs shown in the photograph. What amazing art the earth has presented! Natures beauty has existed almost infinitely longer than our own such beauty on the immense scale of time. The preservation of the earths ancient compositions is vital to the future of natural art in our modern world. Art enlightens and heals many. As Leonardo da Vinci states, He who possesses most must be most afraid of loss. We as global community must be afraid to lose such beauty. Threats of development, pollution and global warming endanger the serene exhibit in which we reside today. My expression for a better world is the preservation of natures beauty and the fight against such threats.