SPRING LAKE, Mich. — It’s not too often we find a nationally known figure residing in West Michigan. In this case, it’s a water-color artist that paints pictures (mainly birds) and has designed patterns for the Lenox China Company.
Catherine McClung has been painting for years. Her house is surrounded by nature, set just off the lake in an area where wildlife thrives. Originally from Toronto, she came to appreciate birds in particular at an early age. In fact, the inspiration started with a Baltimore Oriole.
Catherine studied Chinese water color painters who typically produce simplistic nature shots with plenty of birds. She begins by sketching the subject(s), fine tunes it to the way she believes it should look, then eventually transfers it to water-color paper for painting. She paints the light tones and progresses to the darker colors from there. It’s layers upon layers of color.
Catherine was selected in 2007 as the Tulip Time artist of the year in Holland, and was also voted number one out of a pool of 1,000 entries worldwide for an exhibition that’s been running for some 37 years.
Her biggest project is currently underway and will take two years to complete. It’s called birds of the bible and will contain 49 birds, 33 species, and measure seven by nine feet when completed. She about halfway through the process of transferring the sketches to water-color.
Catherine has also put her name as a designer on 10 different Lenox China patterns. She was contracted in 1990 (as an artist) to design nature pictures for dinnerware, pitchers, cups, bowls, and mugs. These paintings are fabulous! Her most popular was something called Winter Greetings…see it here.
Catherine’s work is also on display from time to time around the area, plus she frequents the Ann Arbor Art Fair every year. It’s a huge event! Ann Arbor is located just outside of Detroit.
If you’d like more information on Catherine McClung and her artwork, click herefor her website.
