Author/Artist Offers Kids and Adults Memorial Day Outing to Michigan's Lakes and Woods , Mary Blocksma to sign new Lake Michigan watercolor posters as well as her just-published children's book, What's in the Woods?
Saugtauck's "The Timmel Collection Gallery and Garden" has something for the whole family during Memorial Day Weekend: Mary Blocksma will have her eleventh annual exhibition and trunk show. She will be present both Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th to sign two new " Lake Effect" posters, each presenting over a dozen summertime beach views of Lake Michigan. And for the kids, Blocksma offers her new Michigan treasure hunt, "What's in the Woods?" "What's in the Woods?, " the second title in Blocksma's "What's What Outdoors?", a series of simple but exciting explorations for Michigan nature.
"What's on the Beach?" was the first."I used to be overwhelmed by all that green in our woods," Blocksma says. "But then I discovered that if I just learned the most common wildlife, plants, and trees, that I'd know most of what I saw.You can really name the trees," say Blocksma. " Just three pages of evergreens, two on Ten Easy Trees, and a page each on maples and oaks make Michigan tress come into focus for everyone, even adults. And among all those trunks and leaves find butterflies, moths, mushrooms, wildflowers, animals, snakes, amphibians, and all sorts of birds."
"What's in the Woods," written and illustrated by Blocksma, is her 34th book, and a must for anyone who cares about Michigan forests. Blocksma learned to paint by painting the view out a cottage between Douglas and Oval beaches 160 times in eight months. She published two posters, " Lake Effects I" (covering October through December) and "Lake Effects II" (January through May), but she never did the summer . "Rents went up logarithmically in season," Blocksma says. "I couldn't afford a whole summer on the beach .
Last January, however, she missed Lake Michigan so much that she offered to trade the original paintings for a summer poster for a place to paint them from. She got it - a room with a lake view in a cottage owned by two University of Michigan professors. The result: Two posters, a hot off the Holland Litho presses: "Lake Effects III: Summertime," and "Lake Effects IV: A Day at the Beach." "The posters are still a standard frame size - 18" x 24" - but the paintings are bigger this time," explains Blocksma. "I wanted them to look distinct from the first two, but still complete the series."
Meet Mary Blocksma and get a fresh look at Michigan through her original watercolors, posters, books and note cards. At "The Timmel Collection" located at one 133 Main Street in the heart of historic Saugatuck fr om 10AM to 4PM. Saturday and Sunday, May 24th and 25 th . For more information contact the Gallery at 269 857 7274 or CONTACT GALLERY.