John French

"Twisty Tree" 18" x 24" oil Rework of a plein air piece from last summer.

My plein air paintings are loose & sketchy. I'm not a quick enough painter to capture a scene with tight detail on site. Often, I'll rework a plein air piece in my studio, tightening it up into something closer to my style.

11x14 oil painting of horses hailing a wagon of hay past a huge Lilac bush.

"Hay There (Wet Haul on Market Street)"
11x14 oil on canvas
It takes a lot of work to maintain the tourist paradise of Mackinac Island, Michigan. I'm sort of intrigued by the juxtaposition of "regular" folks doing regular jobs in such a fantastic place.

"Unnamed Falls" oil on 11x14 board.

This is my 1st painting on a cradle board. I sanded the board, taped the sides, & triple primed it. It's a smooth but slightly toothy surface. After painting, I removed the tape to show pretty wood grained sides!

Coffee in a blizzard

I took these pictures last night at sunset. This is the beautifully illuminated tailings pile at the Tilden Iron Mine, from Republic, MI. This is the highest point in Michigan right now. At 2005 feet, it's slightly higher than Michigan's highest natural point, Mt Arvon- 1979 feet.

Spend Friday boycotting everything money related and climb into creative comfort while working on your submission for the BlueSkyArtShow then unleash the flood on SATURDAY, March 1st 🤩🥳 💙🩵🪻🌸🌼🌺🌻

A Lighthouse under dramatic skies in four seasons. Each canvas is 8-inch square. They look good together!

"Legendary Lilacs" 16x20 oil on canvas
This is inspired by a picture I took of my wife and her Irish Wolfhound strutting among the Lilac bushes on Mackinac Island, Michigan

#michiganart #mackinacisland #oilpainting #oiloncanvas

Moonlight through my leaded window.

Got a cool paint smudge today.😎

Thanks, Alan!

Chilly but refreshing walk along Lake Superior in Marquette, MI.

Thank you!

Red Pines on Rocks I &II, if you put them together like this, they almost look like the same hill. 16x20 oil on canvas.

Red Pine on Rocks I Oil painting

Red Pine II Oil on canvas

I've been working on these all year! 😉 I painted these simultaneously so they'd have the same colors & the same mood.
I love the granite bluffs on the Lake Superior shoreline, especially ones topped with pillars of red pines. It's like being in a natural temple.
Red Pines on Rocks I & II
16"x20"ea

I get less tolerant.

Got a phone call from a nearby town.
Me: Hello?
..........
Them: Hello?
M:HELLO!
T: can I speak to the business owner?
M: where are you calling from?
T: I am calling from business account depth.
M: What CITY are you calling from?
<click!>
That's what I thought, b!tch.

What a perfectly typical "grandpa" thing to do!
😴

Queen Isabella in her tower.
We just call her Bella. She has thumbs!

It grows…
go.bsky.app/6HM3VgH

Warming up in Michigan; only 4-below this morning!

Ice encased breakwall on Lake Superior.

Oddly enough I found that Pinterest is a great way to keep track of artists' websites!

ALSO ARTISTS - please have a place to find you that is NOT a Meta app or Twitter.
Websites are evergreen places for you to have an online presence no matter what happens to social media!

The Marquette, MI area community is still mourning the passing of Beth Millner; jeweler, artist, business woman, mentor, arts advocate & good person.

If you're thinking of suicide, please reach out to someone. The world will miss you.

There's always hope if you're still breathing.

Thank you!

Y'all, one of my artist friends just died by suicide. She was creative, successful, sharing, productive, and seemed happy. She'd just returned from a rejuvenating sabbatical with new ideas and goals. Now she's gone & nobody saw it coming.
If you feel down, depressed, please reach out to someone!

Oil painting of a winter scene from a hill, overlooking another hill. The snow is blowing in swirls.

"Lake Effect Snow Swirling in the Hills"
11x14 oil on canvas
I climbed Marquette, MI's Sugarloaf Mtn in a lake effect snow squall to get this scene. I almost froze to death.😉

I hope it feels cold!

🤣

Not even a nice try, Anton.

This person is a scammer - just one minute after following back I get a message offering me money if I let them use my art. Message Ive recieved off other sites. Reported, I hope they see this and now blocked. Beware #art #artists #artscam #scammers #block

I started these two paintings the other day with just three colors plus white.

I live Red Pines! When they grow on a rocky hillside or hilltop, they wrap their roots tightly and twist themselves into bends of determination.

I'm going to add color and finish these together.

#oilpainting #hiking