Marsh

Little landscape, trying to capture the early colors of spring as we finally begin to warm up!

Marsh No. 10

This one is still available! With or without the frame. (But I love the frame.)

Marsh No. 9

I never get sick of this view.

Marsh Study No. 2

Same view, different orientation, a little more detail. Off to the right, just out of the frame, is the site of the ongoing War With Beavers. (They want to plug up the culvert; we don't want them to--very complicated. I admit to a disloyal fondness for the opposing team.)
I can't stand the thought that if Michigan Potash gets its way, an enormous potash-mining operation may loom on the horizon of this pristine spot.

Marsh Study No. 1

This month I’ve been sort of fixated on this view of my beloved marsh. And I experimented a little. This first, quick little study is my dad’s birthday card. The experimental part is that, unlike my other landscapes, it’s acrylic. Hmm.

Cranberry Bog

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One of my favorite spots in the world… There aren’t really any cranberries growing here, but this beautiful little bog gets a cranberry color sometimes, and that’s what we call it. Occasionally in the summer you can sit on that far hillside and watch a beaver or two swimming around down below. This painting will also be at the Farmhouse show tomorrow!

Cocktail Hour

This baby’s a big one for me—24x36”. Nearing the end of a winter’s day on our wonderful marsh, before the snow came. I took lots of photos from this spot this winter, at all times of day. Evening and early morning were my favorite. I ended up painting early evening, with its promise of a warm house to return to, and a glass of wine. “Cocktail Hour” will be hanging at the Triumph Brewing Company of Princeton show as of April 14. 

Marsh on the Back Way to Big Rapids

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The countryside to the northeast of Big Rapids, Michigan, is just gorgeous. The road curves around the edge of the marsh here, and it’s a good spot to stop and admire the view. While painting today, I was listening to an interview with Ted Genoways about the environmental consequences of petroleum mining in the Canadian tar sands. Maybe it's because my head was already in the North with the painting, but I found it particularly compelling. And very scary. I highly recommend listening here, or reading his article in the December issue of Outside magazine.

Evening

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Again looking south, this time from the path at the end of the marsh. I always like to stop here and watch the water rushing down into the culvert under my feet, and then out the other side, under the ice and on its way. I like to imagine who is alive under the ice, and who might be in the grasses and snow, waiting for me to leave.

Looking South

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I’ve been working on some larger landscapes recently. This is another view of the cedar swamp, skiing home across the marsh in the afternoon. It’s always a nice, serene way to end a ski, after managing the dicey little hill down onto the ice without crashing or putting an eye out.

Unless it sells beforehand, this painting will be part of my upcoming show at the Flat Iron Gallery in Peekskill, NY. Opening reception March 2—save the date!

Sunrise

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The sun was just starting to come up behind the cedar swamp on this morning; it hadn’t yet reached the snowy marsh. Later in the day we discovered coyote tracks heading purposefully south out on the ice. 

Ski Trail

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Bidding starts at $100.

Sometimes the light on the marsh is just spectacular. This was a super-dark sky above the sugar bush, with sun coming through a few clouds to light up the marsh in the foreground. (You can see a little ski trail coming across the snow toward home.)

Glancing Back

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As I was skiing home across the marsh, I turned and looked behind me toward the west. The clouds were backlit by the sun on its way down, with everything in shadow except their glowing edges.

Cedar Swamp, Late Afternoon

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Bidding starts at $100

This picture is from one of my last days in Michigan last week, coming back across the frozen marsh at the end of an afternoon ski, with a sky ranging from pale turquoise on the horizon to deep sky blue up above, with a faint, tiny crescent moon high over it all. This is one of my favorite spots on earth.

Michigan Marsh

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For the next few days I'll be posting paintings from this summer in Michigan.  

This one is home. One of my favorite views. I was tucked into the high grass at the edge of the marsh, with water on one side and white pines on the other. I liked the feeling of being close enough to hear my family’s voices but still secluded in my little marsh nest. Oh, lest it sound too idyllic, there were mosquitoes.