Ortonville- Sue Howard was downsizing the number of items in her village home when she came across a file drawer full of photocopies of original pen and ink drawings she had created years ago.
She briefly contemplated their fate? should she toss them? Put them in a garage sale?
Fortunately, Howard decided to donate the collection, which documents real locations in the area including homes, businesses and historic buildings, to the Old Mill Museum.
‘There is no value, but I thought maybe someone would see one of the buildings and be interested,? said Howard, who also donated several of her children’s school yearbooks.
Judy Miracle, president of the Ortonville Community Historical Society, is delighted with the donation.
‘Sue is well-known in the area for her talents and it seems many people have used her services, as the collection is extensive,? said Miracle. ‘The museum is in the process of cataloging these drawings for research by those who are interested… Thank you, Sue, for sharing your life’s work with the community, it is a treasure.?
Howard and her husband Fred, who have been married for 62 years and have three children, moved to Ortonville in 1961. Sue Howard earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from DePauw University in Indiana, but did not pursue an art career while raising her children. Later on, during what she calls a teacher shortage in Brandon, she took an opportunity to teach art in the district for about six or seven years.
‘It was the most fun in the entire world teaching elementary art,? said Howard. ‘I would walk into the room and get applause because they didn’t have to do math or English.?
When the teaching shortage was over, so was Howard’s stint in the classroom, but a former student’s request that she draw his parents? home gave her a new direction to go with her talent.
Howard embarked on a career as a freelance artist and was commissioned to do dozens of original pen and ink drawings, the photocopies of which she donated to the Mill last month, complete with dates, locales and clients.
Her work process entailed taking photographs of the buildings, then returning home to draw rough sketches and finishing it in ink. Some works were done in pencil or watercolor. Most pieces were finished in four to six hours.
She recalls that many people who moved to Florida wanted a picture of their Michigan home in the winter so they remembered why they had relocated. Howard often interviewed clients to discover what was meaningful to them about a property? sometimes learning they enjoyed the beauty of a tree, or feeding birds, or a dog that lived there, and she would add creative details accordingly.
One of the most memorable drawings she has donated as a photocopy to the Mill is of the Ortonville High School, erected at the corner of Ball and Cedar Streets in 1911 and demolished in 1963. In her first rendering, however, she left off the old fire escape, a covered chute, because she didn’t think it was elegant.
‘I was so pleased with the drawing, it’s a beautiful old school building with maples around it, but there were complaints from some who attended the school about the lack of the fire escape, so I did another drawing with it on there,? she said.
Howard also has donated photocopies of her drawings of the Masonic Temple and several downtown retail buildings, including the former Marilyn’s Frame Shop (now vacant) and the building where Art of Life is currently located. She has also drawn the Ortonville United Methodist Church, the Seymour Lake United Methodist Church, and St. Anne Catholic Church prior to its addition. She enjoyed drawing the Uloth house (now South Street Consignment), and of course, she has drawn the village’s most famous building, the Old Mill, which will now house all her drawings.
‘I’m so glad they have my drawings,? said Howard. ‘There needs to be a place in every community where you can see the history and look up old maps and artifacts. I hope newcomers to this area will take a look and appreciate the Mill and the history of the area and what the Ortonville Community Historical Society has done.?
Due to arthritis and unsteady hands, as well as vision that is not what it once was, Howard no longer draws, but she satisfies her need for art by putting paint to paper.
‘It may not look like anything but pretty colors, but that’s good enough,? she said and as she gazes out her window at a spring-fed lake that shimmers in the summer sunshine, adds, ‘I sit and look at the beauty in other things.?