East Arm Grand Traverse Bay

We drove over to Traverse City for a vacation in a terrific thunderstorm. The next day we found ourselves in and out of rain as we explored the the Mission Peninsula on Grand Traverse Bay. This clump of maple trees had held on to its orange, green and yellow leaves but lost nearly all the red in the storm. The sky was clearing overhead and raining on the Elk Rapids side of the bay. I had time for a quick sketch, and a backup photo and then we found ourselves in rain. When we returned home I considered working out a small study but the idea called for a large painting that started out square and ended up slightly rectangle.