Remembering Robert Ekholm

“Surely joy is the condition of life.” – Henry David Thoureau

Robert Ekholm and his wife Judi were the subjects of a Door County Living article a few years back. I accompanied our photographer, Dan Eggert, to the photo shoot for the article. Bob and Judi’s new house and studio were under construction in Fish Creek, so they were painting in the studio above the Peninsula School of Art. We climbed the stairs, set up, and took pictures. Bob moved about the room, checked the light, checked the angle of the paintings and tried to find the proper pose. The room was filled with paintings. Bob and Judi had been working all spring. We were surrounded by fields of flowers, rolling wheat fields, poppies, familiar spots at Peninsula State Park, and images of Door County’s back roads. The sun was out on one of spring’s first warm days and it made the paintings glow.

There was no gloom, doom or melancholy in Bob’s work. He found joy in life and in those around him. He lived happily and put his happiness to the canvas to share with us all.

His paintings have a contentment about them – picturesque views across fields, marshes and lakes with the sun at its highest, rising and setting. His nationally-known landscape oil paintings were frequently on display at Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek. I encountered him at many of the gallery’s openings, where he would always greet me with a hearty handshake, a big smile, and a quick, witty, sarcastic challenge. We would then begin a contest to see who could sneak the most cookies from the hors d’oeuvres table without being caught by Judi or Krista (my girlfriend).

Robert Ekholm died Tuesday morning, February 23 at age 84. He will be missed, but he has left behind many beautiful visions and memories.

A memorial service for Ekholm will be held at Shepherd of the Bay Lutheran Church in Ellison Bay on Saturday, March 6 at 1 pm.