Lake Winnebago, WI, Circle Tour

06/08/2026

My artwork, "On The Ledge Niagara Escarpment De Pere WI" is now available through Fine Art America in many print sizes, sizes, categories, bags, mugs, t-shirts, ornaments, etc., etc., etc. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more information.

The Niagara Escarpment as seen along Highway W in rural De Pere, Wisconsin.

From WI LEDGE: Wisconsin’s Niagara Escarpment: https://www.wiledge.org
“WHAT IS THE Niagara Escarpment?
The Niagara Escarpment is a 430-million-year-old, over 1,000-mile-long geologic feature of global significance grounded on its unique ecological diversity and cultural heritage. Its Western boundary emerges in the Kettle Moraine State Forest in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, extending northeast along a "Great Arc" through the Door Peninsula, continuing via Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and then arcs into Ontario, Canada, traveling eastward as the iconic Niagara Falls and beyond in New York State.
The Niagara Escarpment's cliffs represent the outer edge of an ancient shallow sea. The cliff faces exposed along the basin connect Wisconsin regionally, nationally, and internationally to a fascinating history, culture, and ecology. With over 430 million years in the making, it's a landscape like no other.”

From Wikipedia: “The cliff-forming rock exposed along the escarpment is a belt of limestone and dolomite of the Lockport Formation of Silurian age. The Niagara Escarpment is the most prominent of several escarpments formed in the bedrock of the Great Lakes Basin. The Niagara Escarpment traces, and in part shapes, the individual basins and landforms of Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan."

Digital artistic filters have been added to enhance the image.
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/on-the-ledge-niagara-escarpment-de-pere-wi-barbara-smits.html

06/03/2026

My artwork, “Farewell Cherished, Small Family Farms,” is now available through Fine Art America in many print styles, sizes, prices, categories, mugs, t-shirts, bags, ornaments, and many more choices. Click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more information.

The small family farm rests in the distance with a small creek and growing crop fields in the foreground. The small family farms are disappearing in Wisconsin, giving way to huge business owned farms.

From Wisconsin Public Radio, January, 2026
“Wisconsin has its fewest dairy herds in decades — and about the same number of cows. The number of dairy farms in Wisconsin is in decline as farm consolidations continue:
“For decades, the number of dairy farms operating in Wisconsin has been declining. The latest licensing data shows there were about 5,100 dairy herds operating in the state at the start of 2026. That’s just over half of the number of farms operating ten years ago, and roughly a third of the number of farms that were licensed two decades ago.”

Digital artistic filters have been added to enhance the image.

Farewell Cherished Small Family Farms Digital Art by Barbara Smits

06/01/2026

My artwork, "Lady In The Red Hat," is now available in many print styles, sizes, prices, bags, mugs, ornaments, categories, etc., through Fine Art America. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more details.

A woman wearing a red hat and comfortable clothing sits with crossed legs on a white park bench in summer at Rock Island State Park, Wisconsin. She is nonchalant and peaceful, thoughtful and resting, enjoying her visit to the park. There are large green trees growing behind her and wildflowers growing in the foreground.

Digital artistic impressionistic filters have been added to enhance the image and give it a fine art feeling.

Lady In The Red Hat Digital Art by Barbara Smits

05/20/2026

My artwork, "Sunlit Kitchen," is now available through Fine Art America in many print sizes, styles, prices, categories, mugs, bags, t-shirts, puzzles, etc. Just click on the link below to go to Fine Art America for more details.

A young woman works in an old-time kitchen, baking pies, with sunlight streaming though a large window. There are old style pots and pans hanging from the wall, and an old time kitchen table holds a large bowl and other baking tins A soft sunlight filter has been added to digitally enhance the photo. It is a very sunny scene to hang on a kitchen wall! Old World Wisconsin Historical Museum, Eagle, Wisconsin.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/sunlit-kitchen-barbara-smits.html?newartwork=true

05/18/2026

My artwork, "Ojibwe Summer Birch Lodge," is now available through Fine Art America in many print styles, sizes, prices, categories, mugs, bags, t-shirts, etc., etc. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more details.

At the Grand Portage National and State Park in Grand Portage, MN, an Ojibwe Native American woman works outside her summer birch lodge in the forest, surrounded by nature. The birch lodge is open to allow the summer heat to escape and the cool breezes to enter. Eight or twelve long poles are stuck in the ground in a circle, meeting at a point at the top, where they are all fastened together.

An artistic filter in the style of Pino Daeni has been applied to enhance the photograph.

Ojibwe Summer Birch Lodge Photograph by Barbara Smits

05/13/2026

My artwork, "Wild Horses At Little Bighorn Battlefield," is now available through Fine Art America in many print sizes, styles, categories, prices, t-shirts, mugs, puzzles, ornaments, and many more choices. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more information

Wild horses graze on open prairie grass near the site of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Crow Agency, Montana. The site is alive with history that can be felt as you walk the trail. To see the wild horses grazing near the graves of Custer and the 7th Cavalry was very moving.

Digital artistic filters have been added to the photo to create an impressionistic effect.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/wild-horses-at-little-bighorn-battlefield-barbara-smits.html?newartwork=true

05/12/2026

My artwork, "Palo Duro Canyon Texas," is now available through Fine Art America in many print styles, prices, sizes, categories, mugs, bags, ornaments, etc. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more details.

Palo Duron Canyon State Park, as viewed from the parking lot above.

Wikipedia: Palo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment located in the Texas Panhandle near the cities of Amarillo and Canyon. The second largest canyon system in the US, it is roughly 25–40 mi long and has an average width of 6 mi, but reaches a width of 20 mi at places. Its depth is around 800 ft, but in some locations, valley bottom to surrounding hills increases to 1,000 ft. Palo Duro Canyon (Spanish meaning "hard stick") has been named "The Grand Canyon of Texas" both for its size and its dramatic geological features, including the multicolored layers of rock and steep mesa walls, which are similar to those in the Grand Canyon. It is part of Palo Duro Canyon State Park.

Human habitation of the canyon dates back about 10,000–15,000 years, and it is believed to have been continuously inhabited to the present day. Native Americans were attracted to the water of the Prairie Dog Town Fork Red River, as well as the ample game, edible plants, and protection from the weather the canyon provided.

European explorers, the Coronado expedition, visited the canyon in 1541. Apache Indians lived there at the time, but they were later displaced by Comanche and Kiowa tribes, who had the advantage of owning horses brought over by the Spanish. The Mescalero Apache refer to the canyon as Nił'e'agutel or "canyon in the plains." They had contact with traders, called Comancheros, in nearby New Mexico.

A US military team under Capt. Randolph B. Marcy mapped the canyon in 1852 during their search for the headwaters of the Red River. The land remained under American Indian control until a military expedition led by Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie was sent in 1874 to remove the Indians to reservations in Oklahoma. The Mackenzie expedition captured about 1,200 of the Indians' horses and slaughtered them in nearby Tule Canyon during the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon. The Comanche and Kiowa conceded and left the area.

In 1876, Charles Goodnight and John Adair established the JA Ranch in Palo Duro Canyon. Col. Goodnight helped manage the ranch until 1890. Over the next half century, the canyon remained in private hands, an increasingly popular tourist spot for residents.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/palo-duro-canyon-texas-barbara-smits.html

05/06/2026

My artwork, "New Life By The River," is now available through Fine Art America in many print sizes, styles, prices, categories, t-shirts, bags, mugs, ornaments, and many more choices. Click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more details.

Vibrant green leaves dangle from the branches of a tree, illuminated by the soft light of the sun. The gentle blur in the background suggests a serene waterside location. New green leaves emerge on a tree branch in spring, with an out of focus river in the background. It is a scene of joy and new life emerging!

Digital and artistic filters have been added to enhance the image and remove scan noise from digitizing my original film negative.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/new-life-by-the-river-barbara-smits.html?newartwork=true

05/04/2026

My artwork, "Crabapple Blossom Bouquet," is now available through Fine Art America in many print sizes, styles, categories, bags, mugs, t-shirts, ornaments, puzzles, stickers, and many more items. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more details.

I have used Adobe Firefly ArtificiaI Intelligence software to create an AI image of beautiful pink and red crabapple blossoms in bloom on a tree branch in spring in Wisconsin. Delicate crabapple blossoms in shades of pink and fuchsia are set against a soft, blurred background of greens and blues. Vibrant leaves intersperse the blossoms, adding depth and contrast to the scene.

Digital AI and artistic filters have been added to enhance the image.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/crabapple-blossom-bouquet-barbara-smits.html

04/29/2026

My artwork, "Embrace Innocence And Beauty," (with and without text) s now available through Fine Art America in many print styles, sizes, prices, categories, bags, t-shirts, ornaments, etc. Just click on the image link below to go to Fine Art America for more detail

Two tiny fawns peek out from among the wildflowers, curiously watching visitors passing by along the Fox River Trail near De Pere, WI. One is eating leaves from a small branch, and Mama Doe is nearby in the tall grass. “Fawns Among the Wildflowers” is one of the images from my EPUB book, “Living The Good Life With the Beatitudes.” Digital artistic water color and poster filters have been added to enhance the image.

Excerpt From: Barbara Smits. “Living The Good Life With The Beatitudes.” Apple Books.

“Oblivious people sped by on their bicycles, moving too fast to notice, walking and talking on their cell phones, or discussing trivial matters important only to themselves...too bad that they missed such important matters happening right in front of them, if they had only been aware!”

Digital artistic software has been used to enhance the image.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/embrace-innocence-and-beauty-barbara-smits.html?

Embrace Innocence And Beauty Photograph by Barbara Smits