Wednesday, February 4, 2026

🏢 When a Town Changes, What Stays With Us? 🏢

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


This drawing holds a chapter of Muskegon history that many people remember in their bones. The Russell Block and the Century Club stood through the 1970s transformation when Western Avenue was roofed over to become the Muskegon Mall and surrounding blocks were cleared for parking. What had once been an open street of storefronts and daily movement turned inward and dimmer. When the mall eventually closed in the 2000s, the city began the slow work of uncovering the street again, restoring light, walkability, housing, and the older rhythm of downtown life. These buildings endured all of it, quietly waiting for the street to breathe again.

Drawing this scene was a way to honor that patience and resilience. It is not just nostalgia for how things used to look, but respect for how places adapt and survive while holding memory. For those who grew up here, passed through on a Great Lakes cruise, or moved away and still feel a tug toward Muskegon, these facades carry stories of loss, renewal, and return. 

When you think about this street, which version of it lives most clearly in your memory?

🏢 Western Avenue In Muskegon, Michigan 🏢
Museum-quality posters made on thick matte paper
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To keep a special place with you, please visit:
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Friday, January 30, 2026

💙 What would it feel like to live with this kind of calm? 💙

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty 


Where this path will end is a mystery. The trees rustle in the breeze stirring up the aromas of the forest. A freshness one always has to remind themselves of in civilization. The light refracts in strange ways at this time. It's when the surreal becomes the real.

Is there a place you go to relax? Is it wide-open or cozy? What do you see, hear, smell, and feel when you are there? Is it a place where you can be by yourself? What about it makes you feel good?

💙 Twilight Woods 💙 
acrylic paint on canvas board
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
202107054
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To find more calm in your space, please visit: 

This piece would look best in a small-to-medium space that is red, orange, yellow, green, dark blue, purple, beige, black, white, grey, or wood.


I’m Mike Kraus, a lifelong artist who believes color, movement, and curiosity can quietly change how a space and a day feel. More about me at: https://mikekraus.blogspot.com/p/bio.html

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Wednesday, January 28, 2026

💜 What does a Free mind feel like when it is surrounded by beauty, not fear? 💜

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


Our bikes race up and down the gentle hills of Provence. Everything has a distinct texture, the colors are vibrant, and the perfume in the air is intoxicating. Every twisting road reveals new rows of lavender stretching endlessly under the sun. I will never forget the fields of France.

This little painting is small, simple, and easy to bring into your life. It fits in almost any room and ships securely to your door, ready to brighten your space. No stress and no extra steps. Just color and memory waiting for you.

Art is more than something pretty on a wall. It carries feelings, memories, and a little bit of hope. If this piece speaks to you, it may be because it already belongs with you.

This piece would look best in a space that is red, orange, dark yellow, light green, dark blue, purple, white, black, grey, beige, or wood.

💜 Lavender In Provence 💜
Museum-quality posters made on thick matte paper
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To enjoy more relaxation in your home, please visit:
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Monday, January 26, 2026

👁️🌳 What Is Aware Of You In Your Environment? 🌳👁️

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


At first glance, the scene feels quiet. A single birch stands centered and upright, rooted between color and shadow. But the longer you look, the more you sense that this is not a passive landscape. The tree sees. Each eye holds a different way of knowing alert, tired, patient, aware. Together they reflect the many ways we learn to remain steady in a world that rarely slows down. Surrounded by vivid fields and sheltered by the forest, the birch does not react or retreat. Its strength is presence. This piece is for those who understand that awareness does not have to be loud and that stillness itself can be a form of resilience. 

What does it mean to truly see while remaining at rest?

👁️🌳 Being Aware 🌳👁️
acrylic painting on canvas board
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
202107058
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To purchase, please visit:

This painting would look best in a small-to-medium space that is dark red, orange, green, blue, purple, black, white, grey, beige, or wood. 


I’m Mike Kraus, a lifelong artist who believes color, movement, and curiosity can quietly change how a space and a day feel. More about me at: https://mikekraus.blogspot.com/p/bio.html
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Friday, January 23, 2026

💜 In the age of anxiety, what deserves our attention? 💜

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


Our bikes race up and down the gentle hills of Provence. Everything has a distinct texture. The colors are vibrant, and the perfume in the air is intoxicating. Every twisting road reveals countless rows of purple and blue lavender. The Mediterranean sun presses warmly against our backs as we pedal toward the village of Sault. I will never forget the fields of France.

Some days call for stillness rather than stimulation. When life feels slightly out of balance, our surroundings can help us breathe again. This painting was created to hold that feeling of ease, movement, and warmth. A quiet place for your eyes to rest when the world feels loud.

Are you looking for a piece that brings color, motion, and a sense of grounded beauty into your space? This may be the one.

💜 Lavender Farm 💜
acrylic paint on canvas
16" x 20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm)
2021070063
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To add calm to your space, please visit: 

This piece would look best in a small space that is red, orange, yellow, green, dark/light blue, dark purple, white, black, grey, beige, or wood.


I’m Mike Kraus, a lifelong artist who believes color, movement, and curiosity can quietly change how a space and a day feel. More about me at: https://mikekraus.blogspot.com/p/bio.html
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Tuesday, January 20, 2026

❄️☃️ Would You Follow This Path? ☃️❄️

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


I followed the path because it was still there, pressed into the snow between bare trees and a blue winter sky that felt brighter than the cold beneath my feet. Each step revealed earth under white, a quiet reminder that warmth does not vanish, it waits. The woods were still and honest, far from the noise of civilization, a place where the light softened everything and asked nothing of me. Walking there, I felt alone in a way that steadied me, unhurried and unobserved, a place I could return to whenever the world felt too loud. 

If you stepped onto this path, what would you hope to leave behind, and what would you want to carry with you?

❄️☃️ The Silence That Endures ☃️❄️
acrylic paint on canvas board
8" x 10" (20.3 cm x 25.4 cm)
202111102
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To enjoy peace and quiet, please visit:

This painting would look best in a space that is red, yellow, orange, purple, green, brown, beige, grey, white, black, or wood.


I’m Mike Kraus, a lifelong artist who believes color, movement, and curiosity can quietly change how a space and a day feel. More about me at: https://mikekraus.blogspot.com/p/bio.html
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Friday, January 16, 2026

🌳 Where Does This Path Take You? 🌳

Brightscapes: The Way To Beauty


Where this path will end is a mystery. The trees rustle in the breeze stirring up the aromas of the forest. A freshness one always has to remind themselves of in civilization. The light refracts in strange ways at this time. It's when the surreal becomes the real.

Is there a place you go to relax? Is it wide-open or cozy? What do you see, hear, smell, and feel when you are there? Is it a place where you can be by yourself? What about it makes you feel good?

🌳 Twilight Woods 🌳
acrylic paint on canvas board
16" x 20" (40.6 cm x 50.8 cm) 
202105036
© copyright Mike Kraus Art Inc.
To relax in a beautiful place, please visit:

This piece would look best in a space that is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, gray, or wood.


I’m Mike Kraus, a lifelong artist who believes color, movement, and curiosity can quietly change how a space and a day feel. More about me at: https://mikekraus.blogspot.com/p/bio.html
at No comments:
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