Kite Boarding on Lake Michigan

Kite boarders enjoy the windy weather on Lake Michigan. Right now the south pier in Grand Haven is off limits due to construction.

Water color by Barbara Spring

Plein Air Watercolor on the Beach

A sand piper tiptoes across the sand while a herring gull flies over the waves.  I painted this water color on the beach in the morning.  The distant clouds are rosy and the waves roll in.  Many writers like to paint.  I am one of them.

Birds of the Great Lakes Shores

I sold some paintings yesterday at an art market, but not the one above.

The birds love the cherry tree in our yard.  Orioles, cat birds, robins.  They are gobbling up the cherries so I do not think there will be any left for us.  This morning I saw chickadees in the little birdhouse I painted.  There are a pair of wrens in another birdhouse hanging from a tall conifer and a pair of mourning doves raising a second brood in the bushes in front of our window.  Ruby throated hummingbirds visit our yard and if their feeder is not filled, they peer in our window knowing someone indoors fills it.

We hear the herring gulls and crows talking constantly and we see hawks and eagles flying over our house. This is a delightful time of year and the birds know it.

Flower Pot Island in Georgian Bay is named for the limestone feature pictured.  I enjoyed a boat trip where I saw many islands and I was so impressed that I painted this watercolor.  The color of the water is very beautiful and its clarity allows views of sunken ships from glass bottom boats.

I visited The Bruce Peninsula while researching my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes.

This painting is now on display in Grand Haven Michigan's Community Center Lakeland Artists Show.

My book is available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and many other fine independent bookstores such as The Bookman in Grand Haven, MI.

Pumpkinseed

When my husband brought home some pan fish he had caught for dinner, I wanted to capture the colors so I painted a water color of one of them.  The background shows how the fish would look under water with light streaming down the water column.  Fishing is a favorite sport in and around the Great Lakes.  Read about fish and other underwater phenomena in my book, The Dynamic Great Lakes.   It is widely available in stores and on the web.

Tern Rides the Wind

A tern rides the wind over Lake Michigan.  People fly kites on the beach, sail, surf and kiteboard taking their cues from the birds.  Regattas, sunset sails and all such pleasures are found on the Great Lakes.

Milkweed

Milkweed seeds blow in the wind.  Monarch butterflies need milkweed to carry out their life cycles.  We often see them migrating along the shores of the Great Lakes.