By LISA PERKINS
Herald staff writer
While on a trip to the Florida Keys, Merrily Bauer was inspired by the beauty of the ocean — and its fragile state. She shared her inspiration, and her love of art, by teaching 200 local children to paint the ocean and the life that fills it during Art Camp
2001.
Last week, those young artists displayed the results during a showing at the Grand Traverse Area District Library.
“I was snorkeling in a reef, looking at all of the beauty, when a sail boat drifted through and destroyed a large section that had taken years and years to create. I thought about how important it is to save our oceans, and how I could share my concerns through art,” Bauer said.
“I also took inspiration from Wyland, the artist who is famous for the whaling walls he has painted throughout the country, trying to raise people’s awareness of the ocean and its importance,” she added.
Bauer, who teaches creative child art classes sponsored by the Grand Traverse Art Center, decided to use the ocean as the theme for the 2001 Summer Art Camp series. A grant from The Michigan Council for the Arts and the Traverse Arts Council provided funding.
Fittingly, watercolor was the chosen medium for the artists who participated in five sessions throughout the area last summer.
Area children from age five to 14 took part in the camps, creating paintings that featured exotic fish, octopi, squid, mermaids, snorkelers and the like.
“I really liked the watercolor painting. You put water down on the paper, then the paint, and you can make really pretty designs,” said six-year-old Kayla Cragg.
Thirteen-year-old Gretchen Hein, a two-year veteran of Bauer’s art classes, said she really liked the ocean theme because she could use such beautiful colors.
“Gretchen is just amazing,” Bauer said. “I show her a technique once, and the next time I look, she has it mastered. She paints circles around me!”
Bauer enjoys sharing her creative abilities with aspiring artists. “The Art Center is all about older artists supporting young artists,” she said.
These young artists also received support from an unexpected source, as well.
“I wrote to Wyland, telling him about what I wanted to do, and he sent us quite a bit of information, as well as certificates for each of the participants,” Bauer said.
“Wyland’s theory is one person can make a difference — be that person. I agree with that,” she noted.
For information on Creative Child art classes, or Art Camp 2002, call the Grand Traverse Art Center at 941-9488.