"The Magic Hour of Autumn II" — Original Oil Painting by Christi Dreese | 36"×24"

"The Magic Hour of Autumn II" — Original Oil Painting by Christi M. Dreese | 36"×24" | Oil on Canvas

There’s a particular stillness that settles over Lake Michigan in autumn — when the light turns golden, the air sharpens, and the shoreline blazes with color. The Magic Hour of Autumn II captures that fleeting moment: a crisp walk along the water’s edge, the sky wide and blue, the season at its most vivid.

Painted with loose, confident brushwork, this piece brings the energy of the Great Lakes into any space — coastal, contemporary, or warmly traditional.

Studio Story

The Magic Hour of Autumn II was inspired by a walk along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Norton Shores on a cool fall day.

The air had changed, the trees were beginning to turn, and the lake looked cold and restless. I wandered along the beach bundled up against the chill, which always feels a little unnatural after a summer spent near the water.

There’s something bittersweet about the lake in autumn. The colors are beautiful, but there’s also that feeling that the season is slipping away and winter is coming.

Maybe the lake wasn’t angry that day.

Maybe I was. The inevitable winter was coming. 

Either way, I wanted to capture that mood—the beauty, the movement, and that unmistakable shift from summer into fall.

Details:

• Medium: Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas
• Size: 36" × 24" × 1.5"
• Signed: CMDREESE on the front
• Ready to hang
• Ships with full tracking and insurance
• Custom framing available upon request

Shipping & Presentation

This original painting will be carefully packaged and shipped stretched and ready to hang.

Original paintings up to 30 × 48 inches are typically shipped stretched and ready to hang. Larger works may be removed from their stretcher bars and shipped rolled for safer and more economical transport.

Custom framing options are also available upon request.

About the Artist

Christi Dreese is a Michigan contemporary impressionist artist whose paintings are inspired by the landscapes, shorelines and natural beauty of the Great Lakes region. Her distinctive painting style combines expressive brushwork, rich color and glimpses of dark underpainting to create landscapes filled with movement, depth and light.

Each original Dreese painting is created individually in the artist’s Michigan studio and is one of a kind.