june drawings 2019

   It's June 2019.  Photos from my Nebraska days at the Centennial College are not clear enough to use for the upcoming reunion. Vicki Van Steenburg phones me from California. A former Centennial College alum she likes my idea. I had talked about doing an inked drawing from photos I had. That way the artwork could be new and original. Her subsequent phone calls kept lighting fires under me. Energizing me. 

Here are my new drawings from that montage. Double click on images to enlarge.

(fellow student with clamp light and black hat. student with wrestling T-shirt. strips of torn paper dancing above our heads. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(Centennial friends in Commons Lounge watching unfolding tableau. Student on hands and knees, paper torn from discarded Lincoln phone books, A work in progress illumined by light. Staged in Love Hall next to the Neihardt Residential Center, University of Nebraska - Lincoln in 1976.  Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(Centennial student pinching strips of paper, released to flutter, watching the ballet drift to the floor. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(four UN-L students at Student Union, building with wood blocks. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(student with wood, with wall sign. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(Centennial student building his tower. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)



Vicki is pleased with this contribution. Two ink montages will be on display at Love Library at University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska during Centennial Reunion October 11- 12, 2019 



Schedule and details for October Reunion 

The ink work fuels me with joy and giggles ...... as my research continues to unfold.........

walk with long string -- drawing 2019

      One day when I was a student at the Seward Public High School -- some classmates of mine went with me at the City Park in Seward, Nebraska -- to walk with a long string. My father recorded the event. Double click on images to enlarge.

A follow-the-leader activity. Everyone holds on to the long string and goes for a walk.

 
City Park, Seward, Nebraska. Circa 1973. (photo by Reinhold Marxhausen)

My classmates Jeff Bowman and Herb Jensen lead the rest.


Three years later --- in 1976 I attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. I lived in a dormitory on 16th Street. The Centennial Educational Program was housed in Love Hall, next door to the Neihardt Residential Center. I took independent study classes thru Centennial.

On afternoon in 1976 --- a dozen students from that complex met together to go for a walk. A walk around the campus while holding a long string. Dubbed the "String Walk." It was ad-lib. Impulsive. Creative. Something us centennial-ites enjoyed doing. Laughing. Exploring.

There were no photographs of that outing.    It was spontaneous.

When I talked with Vicki Van Steenburg over the phone 43 years later -- the fun and excitement of my Centennial years came back to me. Energy from those wonderful memories egged me on to do a pencil composition at my desk.

Last month the inked 18 by 24 inch illustration was complete and mailed to the planning committee in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Here are portions of that work.

 (rampark parking garage and elevator. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(up and down front steps of Nebraska state capitol. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(front door to back door, through department store. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019) 

 (the string itself. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(going through Nebraska football fans, outside the Lincoln stadium. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)

(starting at the beginning, front steps of the Centennial College. Ink on paper. Karl Marxhausen. 2019)


Two ink works will be on display in Love Library on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Centennial College Reunion will be held October 11 and 12, 2019.

The two day reunion with full details CLICK here.