Frozen winter shore — snowy 
waves rolling inland — sunshinecaught in ice crystals.
A single crow flew along a rim of ice hills on the shore of Lake Michigan, Sleeping Bear Dunes, in February 2022. Eventually, it settled on one of the ice hills. Photos capturing successive patterns of its flight were selected with my friend Jenny Munten, a wildlife expert, and were assembled in Adobe Photoshop and freely painted onto a wood panel.
Sometimes these ice hills become “ice volcanoes,” with water spurting from them as waves push up through cracks and vents in the mounds. According to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore website and Great Lakes research, these formations appear when waves crash onto the frozen shore and freeze in layers, building up into small hills or cones. In March 2014, near Sleeping Bear Bay and the shorelines of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the Great Lakes saw a historic deep freeze that created huge ice mounds, ridges, and tunnels that people called “ice caves.” Local news stories reported visitors exploring the tunnels that formed inside the big piles of frozen waves.
Many years ago, these ice hills were a regular sight during winter. Now, with our warming climate, it is a rare joy to see and capture them. Still, visitors are always advised to admire them from a distance, as these mounds can be hollow and dangerous to walk on.
I feel lucky to have caught this fleeting moment of the crow and the shifting ice hills — a reminder that even rare winter scenes still find their way back to us if we look closely enough.
My Storm at Empire Village Beach painting shows the crashing waves in January, before the formation of the ice hills.
A gentler snow painting shows North Bar Lake, which I walked along to reach this part of the lakeshore where I saw the crow flying over the ice hills depicted here.
Other paintings in the motion series are
Acknowledging my friends: Dewey Blocksma crafted the panel and Jenny Munten helped arranging the flight pattern.
The painting is an incredible size. The repeating birds and white shapes in the foreground make this painting an interesting study in contrasts. The undulating foreground contrast with the strong horizon sky and water.
Would it help to lighten the water around crow pattern 7 & 8 to make them more visible such as the earlier crow flight pattern?
Beautiful! I love the contrast of the black crow on the lighter background. ❤️
Thank you, Max
What a thrill to watch the crows take flight as they have more detailed highlights…or is it the great contrast in foreground by illuminating the beach ice? Looking forward to experiencing it in person with you!
The crows do have highlights where the sun reflected off them (Rembrandt Silver mixed with Old Holland Black & either Ultramarine Blue or Alizarin Red.).