The early home of Leelanau County’s first settler, Carsten Burfiend, a Prussian immigrant pioneer, still stands, unoccupied since the 1970s. Mr. Burfiend built two farms in the late nineteenth century close to the shores of Lake Michigan just four miles east of Glen Arbor. The farm, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, sits modestly on a dirt road, almost hidden from view, a half mile from the main road to Leland.

As I wandered the county’s dirt and gravel roads along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, it was a compelling scene reminiscent of elements found in the landscapes of the American Realism painters (that is, Wood, Hopper, and Wyeth). It was late May and a small bloom of wildflowers punctuated the foreground as a natural “gesture.”

Year: 2011
Location: Port Oneida, Leelanau
Collector’s Edition of 10
Dimensions: 11" × 16.5"