Robert Mullen
Catalog Number: 2021.016.01
Drive north or south of La Crosse along the river these days, and you will see many signs of one of our area’s favorite winter recreations, ice fishing.
The thick ice created by February’s stretch of below-zero weather has brought many intrepid fishermen onto the frozen river. It’s a good time to chill out, breathe in the fresh winter air of the Upper Mississippi, and get away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world.
The basic gear needed for ice fishing is simple: warm clothes, a fishing pole with line and bait, and an auger to cut a hole in the ice. Those high-tech electronic fishing devices are not necessary to have an enjoyable day, whether or not any fish are caught.
This watercolor painting depicting ice fishing on Lake Onalaska was painted in 1987 by local artist Jean Amundson. It shows an unidentified person in a heavy parka and boots sitting on a plastic bucket and holding a short ice fishing rod. An ice strainer, a bait holder, and a bucket for holding the day’s catch lie next to the fisherman.
In the background is an old, well-used wooden ice fishing shack standing on the solid river. A chimney from a wood stove pokes out and up from the wall and a small supply of kindling sits outside the open door, though no smoke appears above the stack. It must have been a warm day because the fisherman, perhaps the artist herself, is sitting outside the shelter. The painting captures a reflective moment of ice fishing on a quiet, overcast day.
Jean Amundson was a popular actress in the La Crosse Community Theater for many years, but she was also an accomplished watercolor artist who painted local scenes and showed her work in area venues.
She and her husband, Herbert Amundson lived in La Crosse, but had a second residence in Dakota, Minnesota near the Mississippi River and Lake Onalaska. Herb’s name appears on the primitive sign hanging on the ice fishing house.
Jean Amundson passed away in 2007, but her paintings still hang in many area homes. This watercolor was recently donated to the La Crosse County Historical Society and is now a part of their collection of works by local artists.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on February 26, 2021.
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