New Works

Just wanted to share my latest pieces completed this week. The above painting is West Bluff on Mackinac Island. The building on the right, is the Grand Hotel. The buildings on the left are some of the beautiful mansions on the bluff. This piece is acrylic and is 3-1/2" x 2-1/2"

Little Stone Church is a wonderful building with three stained glass windows in the front. I think in the future I may paint the windows from the inside! This piece is also in acrylic, same size as the first.

This final piece is greatly blown up as the original is only 1-1/4" square. I call it Pop Art Pansy.

I have several pieces partially complete and hope to post them soon.

Till next time,

Gail

Getting Ready

Been a busy week in the studio painting and getting ready to mat and frames 30 pieces to deliver to Mackinac Island! I am looking forward to our first trip to the island sometime after May 1st, when the ferry begins to run from the lower peninsula. Last year we traveled to the island on the first day of the official ferry season. It was a sunny brisk day on the island. It is always interesting to visit early in the season as the tourists don't arrive till month end. It is fun to walk around and see all the carpenters and painters busy working to get businesses reopened for the season. Sidewalks are stacked with delivery boxes and the street strewn with horse drawn wagons full of demolition materials waiting to be carted away. That time of year the Grand Hotel has all their flower beds planted in pansies, about the only flower hearty enough to withstand the cold. As you walk away from the downtown area, the streets are deserted. It is a great time to takes reference pictures as I won't have to paint the people out!!!
My latest piece, is called Garden With A View, acrylic and is 3-1/2" x 2-1/2". This garden really does have a view as the water in the background is Lake Huron and beyond is a view of the Mackinac Bridge connecting the upper and lower peninsula. It is a place on the island I photograph quite often with the changing of the seasons.
Till next time,
Gail

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Spring In The Air

It has been a wonderful week in Michigan. I can't believe how beautiful the weather has been. Today is was over 70 degrees with clear blue skies. It doesn't get any better that this. Both of my dogs sat in front of the open windows in my studio and snorted in the fresh air. The only drawback was their barking at the neighborhood kids running around down by the lake. I enjoy my solitude. I hope that isn't an old people thing. A year ago this week we had a terrible ice storm that snapped tree limbs and left many without power. That is more normal for this time of year. But not this year. I feel like we jumped from Winter to Summer. Well, it is certainly motivating me to get a lot of painting done. Both of my galleries sell the bulk of my work in the Summer, so I need to push forward.
I have posted two paintings I completed this week. The flower garden I call Up Market. It is 3 x 4 in acrylic. I know, Up Market doesn't really apply to the scene. The street behind the hedge happens to be Market Street and it is heading up the hill. When I took the reference photo for this piece, I was standing along the shore of Lake Huron, with the Mackinac Bridge behind me. Just a breathtaking view for the person who lives in the house behind the garden.
The second painting is called The Grand, and is 2-1/2 x 3-1/2 in acrylic. I have done several pieces of the Grand Hotel and will probably continue to do so, because it is a popular subject on the island. The Grand has the longest porch in the world. We have stayed there several times, but really prefer and small B&B on Market Street, because it is less formal. My husband and I swore when we retired, we would never again dress up. Well, most of the time we live up to that promise. When staying at the Grand, one MUST dress formal by 6pm or not appear on the main prominade or porch. Its fun once in a while. They have a band playing during dinner and later you can go up to the portico which is a piano bar and watch the freighters traveling through the straits of Mackinac. It is a wonderful view!
Well, back to work. I think I am going to be putting in some long hours for a while.
Till next time,