Mary Blocksma has been looking for galleryspace since she moved 
to Bay City from Beaver Island six years ago, and
now she has found it in the Gypsies building at Third and Madison in
Bay City. “It’s wonderful to display all my work in one space,”
Blocksma says. “I’m so prolific that no one else’s gallery can begin to
represent the variety of things I do.”

Blocksma, who has published three books since moving here—Great Lakes
Nature (University of Michigan Press, 2004),  What’s On the Beach: A
Great Lakes Treasure Hunt (Beaver Island Arts, 2003), and Necessary
Numbers (Portable Press, 2002)-- is also a painter. “All my work will
be available in my new gallery,” says Blocksma. “There are still many
original watercolors I’ve done of the Great Lakes, as well as Great
Lakes posters, prints, and notecards, and two posters I did last year
of Bay City—one celebrating twenty-four homes on Center Avenue and
another picturing fifty-seven of Bay City’s bars.”

Blocksma appears most excited, however, about her new work. “I seem to
have found a mysterious passion for fish,” she confesses. “I’m not sure
where it came from, since I do not fish or scuba dive, but this past
year, while most of my strength went to dealing with treatment for
breast cancer, I painted fish just for fun. I was too tired to get
serious about anything, so I simply amused myself and my beautiful fish
turned into a vibrant series of acrylic paintings.” Although half the
fish paintings have already sold, all of them are available at
Blocksma’s gallery as prints and notecards. 

“I even have room to show my quilts,” says Blocksma. “Most of them no
one has ever seen. I didn’t even have room to show them in my house.” 
Pieced and hand-quilted original designs, Blocksma’s quilts add texture
and unusal patterns to a gallery of framed art, posters, cards, and
books. One quilt, called “Summertime,” even celebrates fish.

The Mary Blocksma Gallery, located in the Gypsies building at the
corner of Madison and Third Streets in Bay City, is now open daily from
10 to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Her Grand Opening reception and
Fourth Annual Open House, is scheduled for Sunday, November 13, 1 to 4
p.m.