Kathleen Elsey painting,
”China Camp, Looking East ” California
30“ x 40“ signed by Kathleen Elsey, artist
This is one of my favorite locations to paint, China Camp, just north of San Francisco on the Bay. Kathleen Elsey, California fauve
After the gold rush and the completion of the transcontinental railroad, demand for Chinese Laborers abated. The McNears leased some land to a man who sublet it to Chinese shrimp fishermen. Most of these fishermen had come from Canton in the maritime province of Keantung, China. By the 1880’s, China Camp was one of many coastal fishing villages in the bay area with nearly 500 residents. San Pablo bay’s mud flats provided an ideal grass-shrimping location.
China Camp’s population began to decline after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 182, which forbade new Chinese laborers to come to the U.S. In 1924 Quan Hock came from San Francisco to run a seaside general store. His grandson, Frank Quan, still lives at China Camp.
In July of 2012, the state of California will close this park and 70 others to shave $22 million off the budget. That will be a sad day if it happens. And 85 year-old Frank Quan, who has lived there for years in a ramshackled fishing cabin will also have to leave. In this painting you can see the restaurant (white building) which will close also. I hope our state can find other ways to spend less, rather than closing this historical location. I have been painting here since 1994 and hope to make many more paintings at this peaceful bay. |
