Woman, 89, readies her china for Spring Lake Senior Art Mixer

She's almost 90, but Arlene "Bonnie' Bonner still has a lot on her plate. She also happens to have a lot of plates. The Lloyd's Bayou Senior Apartments resident will enter one of her handcrafted china plates in the Spring Lake Heritage Festival's Senior Art Mixer, scheduled for June 16 at the Holiday Inn, 940 W. Savidge St. The event is open to artists age 50 and older.

Marie Havenga

Spring Lake

May 11, 2011

Bonner’s entry is a kiln-fired ceramic plate that she painted with a floral motif. It’s one of many she has on display in a lighted glass cabinet in her first-floor apartment.

But the 89-year-old does more than the dishes when it comes to art. Her walls are decorated with scenic oil paintings, ranging from a covered bridge and Lake Michigan beach scenes to still life strawberries and roosters.

“I’m not doing the china right now because I don’t have a kiln here,” said Bonner, who moved to Spring Lake Township from Florida in May 2010 to be closer to her son, Jim Bonner.

To read more of this story, see today’s print edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.