It's hard to believe we are back home from Mackinac already! We left a week ago and camped just South of Mackinaw City for three nights. The weather was beautiful Clear skies every day. It was unusually warm and humid, however ,making walking around and picture taking a bit of work. The island was very crowded as the sailors were coming in from the Chicago to Mackinac Island race. I am told this is the longest fresh water race in the country! There were hundreds of sailboats in the race. We had a beautiful campsite with a view of the Mackinac Bridge connecting upper and lower Michigan. We could sit on the beach and watch the sailboats moving silently under the bridge on their way to the finish line. On our trip to the island on Tuesday, the above photo was the scene in the harbor! This photo was taken from the fort above the harbor. That wasn't all the boats as they were still trickling in!We had a wonderful visit which included dinner with our artist friend Mary Lou Peters and her husband and a visit to our artist friend Bill Murcko's studio on the East Bluff of the island. Although we visit the island several times each year we hadn't toured the fort since our kids were little. We took tons of pictures of war reinactments and interiors of the school house, kitchen and living quarters. I have several paintings lined up already. We stopped by the gallery while on the island and delivered three new paintings. I was pleased to learn that two are sold. One of those paintings is an evening view of St. Anne Church. This church was quite a challenge with all the detail in the building. The blotches in the sky are not in the actual painting-don't know where they came from. I have had a request to paint a similar scene, so I am going to become real familiar with the detail of this church.
All too soon it was time to return home and we are back to work. I am currently working on another fudge maker and a porch scene from the Grand Hotel. Its hard to believe that it is August already. The summer is flying by. I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying the season.Till next time,
