Paradise Beach.........

This is a beach along Lake Superior that is made up of small stones rather than sand. It is just north of Grand Marais, Minnesota.  It is still a public beach as a few miles north it becomes Indian Reservation. Beach is an exaggeration as the water is too cold to swim and the drop off is severe in just a few feet out.
The island is at a distance and the sea gulls have a rookery out there each year.  It is noisy as the sea gull parents are busy bringing in food for the chicks.
The painting was done in acrylic and is on a canvas panel 12" by 24."
When we visit this area we allow our small dog to run freely as it is away from the highway.  He just loves to tear around the beach and stick his nose into the water.

Cascade Falls, Minnesota.........

I removed this old watercolor from it's frame today and thought I would share it with you.  It was painted while sitting on the Lake Superior shore near Cascade Falls.  It was 1989 and I was just a baby at painting in plein air with watercolor.  I know that I took this back at a later date and worked on it in the studio.  I love some of the parts but I was so tight and overworked everthing to make it more like an illustration.  I don't paint watercolors like this anymore but I thought it would be fun to share it anyway.

I labored over these seagulls as I really like to have the wildlife included in a painting.  My grasses and weeds seem pretty spontaneous and the sand textures are good.  The rocks are certainly solid rock in the shapes that I created.