[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Meet Madeleine Schooley! Madeleine is an artist living on the shores of Lake Michigan, she is a proud mother of five children and nine grandchildren. She came to teaching through the influence of her first art teacher Dorothy Linstrand, and has taught art for 43 years since. Retired now, Madeleine is concentrating on her own art endeavors.
Her own acrylic style of painting is representative of curvi-linear objects, stained glass windows, and the art-nouveau period with influences from Matisse, Tiffany, and Klimt. She also works in collage and mixed media.
What brought you to the dunes?//How long have you lived here? My husband’s job brought us here 53 years ago in 1964. We wanted to live near the lake. That’s just where the house was that we found at the time, we didn’t know what opportunities would be open to us because of that decision. We bought one home in the neighborhood and loved the area so much that when we upgraded to a bigger home. As our family grew, we stayed in the same neighbourhood just a couple blocks down and we’ve lived there ever since.
What’s your favorite thing to do in the area? We collect crinoids at the beach and we like to go antiquing in the area and up in surrounding cities in michigan. We just drive and stop where we see one. As an artist I like to go to art galleries along highway 12. Favorite spots are Sawyer antique mall and the antique market in michigan city, coachman antique mall in laporte. I also love to watch the sailboats. I have a series of paintings inspired by them. I was on the beach with my children when they were little watching the sailboat race from Chicago to Michigan and the designs really caught my attention. This is where the inspiration from my three sailboat paintings came about.
Tell us a secret about the dunes? They’re called the Singing sands dunes, only dunes like them in the world.
Called that because they have silica in the sand and when you walk they make a unique sound.
Give us your top three “hidden treasures” (restaurant, shop, trail, beach, event…really anything!)
a) Mucho Mas is now my favorite restaurant. The food is fresh, great service, generous portions for the price. We love taking family there when they visit from out of town, it’s my oldest daughters favorite when she comes to town. Great atmosphere.
b) Love shopping at Revive and Hoity Toity in the Uptown Arts District. They have great deals and have all kinds of collectables, and at Hoity Toity we see all kinds of things from our childhood back when we were growing up. They’re very unique places to shop.
c) First Friday is my favorite event in Michigan City. It’s a great chance for me to mingle and see all my fellow artist friends, and also to share my art with the community. Plus it’s always exciting preparing new work for the next show each month.
What would you like teach people about the dunes? There’s a lot of indigenous plants and wildlife in the area to explore, so DO IT.
I always tell my kids at school; art is everywhere. Man made or “created” they can’t look at anything that hasn’t been made either by nature or by man-it’s all art. “Creativity comes from deep within our soul and it is ever changing” this is a quote i think of often in my own work. Living in the dunes has served as that inspiration for me and I encouraged my students to do the same, and now i encourage you.
Anything else?
You can see my artwork at MadeleineSchooley.com and starting Oct. 2, 2017, I will be teaching private art lessons to children ages 5-13 from the convenience of their homes. Perfect for homeschooled children or art enthusiasts that want to further their art education after their own school hours. You can also find me on Facebook! [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7cR059_aRI” el_width=”70″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]