Beaver Island lagoon

 Our painters met near the sledding hill of Beaver Island Park on a weekday morning. I chose to capture the lagoon instead of the mighty Niagara for several reasons. I had painted a similar scene here last year, early in the Spring. It was a lovely misty morning and the silver maples in the distance glowed light blue from across the lagoon. I was working a bit larger that day last year and I didn't finish it due to wind and weather. I had returned afterwards but so much had grown in that I would have changed the entire painting, and additional misty spring mornings had eluded me. It remains incomplete.

This time, the day was bright and the wind was a breeze. Fish were spawning along the edges of the shore and I painted to the sound of loud and frequent splashes and the sight of fins and tails writhing in shallow water. The shoreline was muddy and the current ran to the river, ringing the area with tan.

There is a camera mounted on the perch centered in the lagoon and apparently herons are nested there. Other than an occasional car, it was a silent morning, interrupted by those crazy fish splashing in the shallow water. Wish I knew if they were salmon!

Calm in the Lagoon  9x12 oil on canvas panel c. 2017