leland visit

 

Above, my father, all tanned, was kneeling on the sand of Van's Beach, Leland, Michigan. That photo of him painting his watercolors was taken in June of 1948. Please notice the wooden shanties of Fish Town in the background. Beside my dad in sunglasses was Helen Galoff, a student from East Lansing, who was in Leland for the summer art program offered through Michigan State University. (collection of Sally Chadwick McKenzie, Harbor Springs, Michigan).  Double click on images to enlarge.

My wife Jan and I visited Amanda Holmes and her husband Dan Stewart for three days in Omena, MI as part of our ten day summer vacation. Here are a few things we saw in Leland.

Jan Marxhausen and Amanda Holmes

Dan Stewart and Karl Marxhausen

The south end beach, above, and the wonderous Michigan sky, below.

Above, the jail Dad would have seen, still standing in town. Below, the charcoal sketch he did in his sketchbook.

Above, the fishing nets drying in Fish Town. Below, the sketch my dad made in 1948.

The Old Art building, above. This was where the summer art students between 1939 and 1989 gathered at the end of each day to see each other's hard work.   The day I walked through the front door, a three day painting class with adults was in session. The instructor told me participants worked from their own reference photos they had taken, below video and photo.

Two minute walk through.

Above, this was once the fisherman's house where gals in the art program lodged. Retired art teacher Sally McKenzie of Harbor Springs had identified the location during my research phone call in 2015. She remembered meeting my father when he was passing through Leland. http://karl-marxhausen.blogspot.com/2015/04/out-on-rocks.html.

The Carson family continues its fishing business down in the Fish Town area. Click on http://www.carlsonsfish.com/carlsons/  The whitefish we ate at Dan's house the first night had been freshly caught at Carson's.

Holmes entreated me to visit the Fish Town area. Take time to drink in the surroundings that my father had been taken by. I had brought my paint kit along for this journey. What might I choose to paint? The boardwalk? The boats at dock? The swell of the Carp River beneath the pilings?

This was one watercolor Dad had painted. "Fish Town," watercolor in mat by Reinhold Marxhausen, June 1948 (Marxhausen Estate)

Video view of the Carp River that flows through Fishtown.

I found something near Omena, across the Leelanau Peninsula from Leland. It was on Dan and Amanda's property.

Amanda showed us her office inside the Leelanau Historical Museum. Four minutes. One staffer named Summer made my day over the phone when she recognized my last name and then said this of my father:

"Your Dad was the plein air artist!" 

Holmes told us over dinner about the diabolical otters that were tearing apart some of the foundations of Fishtown structures. To which I offered installing "titanium mesh," which otter teeth would not penetrate. To my knowledge there is no such material yet on the market.

At her house Holmes showed me the works of others who had been in the summer art program, which have been added to her own collection of art. Double click on images to enlarge.

Beach Scene by unknown student, 18 x 24 inches, 1949. Collection of Amanda Holmes. Signature, next.

Boats of Fish Town by Arthur Hill, Oil, 18 x 24, in frame, 1955, collection of Amanda Holmes. Signature, next.

Above, across the Carp River at the Leelanau Museum we saw ink drawings by Keith Burnham, a local who wanted to record the local fishermen and their livelihood, below.

Four minute walk through Leelanau Museum.

**********