What's new with Mary Blocksma?
Since moving Beaver Island Arts to Bay City two years ago, Mary has been at least as productive as she was during her many years here. Her most recent book, Necessary Numbers, has arrived in bookstores. This fascinating volume explains the numbers used to measure everything from sunscreen to sandpaper to cholesterol levels, so that those who read it will know what they're talking about when they say they use 87 octane gas in their car or mention that the latest California quake was 6.1 on the Richter scale. The book provides hundreds of sources for additional information, many of which are accessible through the internet.
 Another of Mary's books, Lake Lover's Year, was named second-best memoir of the year by the Independent Publisher's Association. A copy was picked up by the editor of the magazine Watercolor Magic, who was so impressed she commissioned her to write an article about switching media for the October issue. Still another book, Great Lakes Nature, will be published in a new color edition by University of Michigan in April of 2004 (the old version is still available, as are all of Mary's books, cards, prints, and posters, through her web site, beaverislandarts.com).
In September Mary accepted an offer from the Glen Arbor Art Association to act as artist-in-residence for ten days; plenty of time to paint the beaches of Sleeping Bear Dunes. She will be at the East Jordan Holiday Fair on November 9th, the Saginaw Hollyday Fair on December 11th, and hold an Open House at her Bay City studio on November 16th and 17th, where the first 30 visitors can choose a piece of free original art!
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