The Most Beautiful Sunrise at Windmill Island, Holland, Michigan
by Liesl Walsh
Title
The Most Beautiful Sunrise at Windmill Island, Holland, Michigan
Artist
Liesl Walsh
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photograph
Description
There is an interesting story behind this windmill. It's named De Zwaan, which in Dutch means "The Swan" or "Graceful Bird". It was first built in Krommenie, the Netherlands, in 1761 and later moved to Vinkel, the Netherlands. In the United States, there is a town with many Dutch immigrants from the late 1800's. It's Holland, Michigan. Each spring Holland, Michigan hosts the very popular Tulip Time festival. Two residents of the town, Willand Wichers and Carter Brown, wanted to bring a Dutch windmill to Holland to pay homage to the city's Dutch heritage. But many windmills in the Netherlands were damaged in World War II, and the Dutch government put a ban on selling them outside of the Netherlands. But Wichers and Brown were able to get around that by purchasing a very heaviliy damaged windmill, the De Zwaan, which had an uncertain future. So the Dutch government sold it to Wichers for $2800, and it was the last windmill to leave the Netherlands. So in October 1964 the De Zwaan was transported by the Prins Willem van Oranje ship to the harbor of Muskegon, and then by truck to Windmill Island in Holland. It took around 6 months to reconstruct the mill, and in April 1965 it was dedicated. Windmill Island sits on 36 acres of reclaimed swampland on the eastern end of Lake Macatawa. De Zwaan is 125 feet tall and its blades are 80 feet long. It is still in use today. De Zwaan windmill is one of the prominent landmarks of Holland along with the Big Red Lighthouse which sits at the opposite end of Lake Macatawa at Lake Michigan. This photo is an HDR.
SOLD:
30 x 19 Matted and Framed Print to buyer in Grand Haven, MI on 2-1-2023. Thank you!
Contest Wins:
First place in Windmills contest on FAA 5-1-2023
Featured in the following FAA Groups:
Fine Arts Professionals 2-1-2020
Exploration Photography 2-1-2020
World Art Spotlight 2-1-2020
Digital Paintography 2-1-2020
Mind-Blowing Photography 2-2-2020
USA Photographers Only 2-2-2020
Your Very Best Photography 2-2-2020
Light Rays and Lightning 2-2-2020
HDR Photography 2-2-2020
New FAA Uploads 2-2-2020
The Niche 2-2-2020
Your Story of Art 2-2-2020
Moves in the Wind 2-2-2020
Created By Southern Artists 2-2-2020
Just Perfect 2-4-2020
Art From The Past With Human Touch 2-4-2020
Orange Yellow Red Photography and Paints 2-4-2020
Paints and Art Photography 2-4-2020
Daily Promotion 2-4-2020
Lady Photographers and Artists 2-6-2020
Forward Exposure 2-6-2020
International Images 1-7-2020
The Best 30000 Artworks 1-7-2020
Roar 2-9-2020
No Place Like Home 2-19-2020
Travel Art 2-29-2020
Camera Art 3-7-2020
Art Forever With You 3-11-2020
Shadows Silhouettes and Reflections Outdoors 3-30-2020
A Woman's Touch 2-1-2023
10 Plus 2-1-2023
500 Views 2-21-2023
Uploaded
February 1st, 2020
Statistics
Viewed 1,265 Times - Last Visitor from Cupertino, CA on 03/19/2024 at 12:44 AM
Embed
Share
Sales Sheet
Comments (23)
Jurgen Lorenzen
Wonderful sunrise composition, Liesl, congratulations on your win in the WINDMILLS contest!
Robyn King
Congratulations Liesl your gorgeous artwork is being featured in 500 Views Share Group & Shared:-) Please take a moment to add your beautiful art to our archives in the message area and have a wonderful day!
Liesl Walsh
Thank you to the buyer from Grand Haven, Michigan who purchased a 30 x 19 matted and framed print of this image on 2-1-2023! I hope you enjoy it very much!
Rainbow Artist Orlando L
Wow this image is so stunning Liesl!! marvelous composition and scenery. the display on the sky with the light and colours is absolutely divine and beautiful. the historic windmill looks exceptional in this amazing sunrise capture!! sharing!! L/F/FB
Jan Mulherin
Congratulations!! This stunning image has been selected to be featured for the week in the “Art for Ever with You” Group Home Page. You are welcome to add a preview of this featured image to the group’s discussion post titled “2020 March: Stunning Group Featured Images and Thank-you’s” for a permanent display within the group, to share this achievement with others. Also feel free to post your feature on our group Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/296998814248643/ Thank you for your participation in the group! ~Jan (March 11, 2020)
Maria Faria Rodrigues
Beautiful Scenery! Congratulations, on your Feature, in "International Images", "Roar", & "The Best 30000 Artworks", groups!