Original oil paintings · Leland, Michigan
Maren Hollis paints the water, weather, and shoreline of northern Michigan — one canvas at a time, from a barn studio outside Leland. Every painting exists once.
“North Light, Sleeping Bear” · oil on linen · 32 × 48 in
A note from the studio
“Some kinds of light last a minute or two and are gone. The paintings are a way of keeping a few of them.”
01 — The collection
Originals only — each painting exists once, and new work is released to the letter first. Prices include a handmade maple float frame and insured shipping in the US.
“Every guest stops at it. It’s the first thing our home says about us.”
Collectors of “The Bay Before Rain” · Chicago
02 — The artist
Maren Hollis has painted the Lake Michigan shoreline for more than two decades — first from a sketchbook on the Petoskey breakwall, now from a converted barn studio in the hills outside Leland.
Each painting begins outside: small oil studies made on the beach, in the orchard rows, on the harbor at night — painted fast, before the light moves. The large canvases are built slowly back in the studio, layer over layer, until they hold what the study only pointed at.
Her work lives in more than three hundred homes across fourteen states, and she still thinks of every canvas as a letter to one particular wall she hasn’t seen yet.
— Maren
03 — Commissions
The most meaningful paintings in the studio’s history started as someone’s idea — a shoreline, a cottage, the water where something happened. Maren takes on a small number of commissions each year.
A thirty-minute call about the place, the wall it will live on, and what you want the painting to hold. Photos help; stories help more.
Maren paints two small oil studies exploring different light and compositions. You choose the direction — the studies are yours to keep.
The full canvas takes shape over eight to twelve weeks, with progress photos along the way. It arrives crated, framed, and ready to hang.
Commissions begin at $1,800 (18 × 24 in) and are quoted by size. Half on booking, half on completion. Current wait: about ten weeks.
Collectors
“The commission was the most personal purchase we’ve ever made. Maren painted the shoreline where we got engaged — I cried when we uncrated it.”
Emily R. · Grand Rapids“It arrived crated like a museum piece, frame and all. It’s the calm center of a loud house.”
Daniel & Priya S. · Chicago“I bought a small study as a gift, and my mother stared at it for a full minute before she said anything at all.”
Kate M. · Traverse City04 — Questions