Month: January 2019

I met Victor Hayes probably about the time he drew the outhouses that were on the t-shirt. I was a high school kid from Grand Rapids, MI. My parents were teachers and we lived in Elk Rapids during the summer.

I don’t remember where he lived in the Fall, Winter, and Spring, but he rented a tiny white cabin, across from the Elk Rapids Golf Club, for the Summer. He would sit outside his tiny cabin and paint. He had his art displayed, for sale. I think he rented that same little cabin for multiple years.

He was known to be kind of a jerk. If a golfer hit a ball across the street, and near into the little cabin resort, Victor would grab it and wouldn’t give it back.

I somehow got ahold of him and made an appointment to meet him. I was hoping to get some advice and encouragement. I wanted to be an artist (I ended up not a painter, but a graphic designer). I don’t remember what he told me (or didn’t tell me), but I remember going back to our cottage and telling my mom that he wasn’t encouraging and that he was kind of a grump. He wasn’t very nice.

A few years later I heard that he died in a car accident. He used to drive an old Chevy Impala. I think it was a ’64. It was copper color or medium brown metallic.

That’s my memory of Victor Hayes. I liked his art, he did a lot of fall-color landscapes in watercolor. He was a good artist, but not such a nice guy.

Regards, Brek R.