Wednesday Already

The weather has been clear this morning. We went out again on the
kayaks. The water was so still it was more like being on a pond than
the ocean. It is clouding up again and could rain.

Shane's Mom is coming over this afternoon. She lives about an hour
and a half away. We'll take her out to dinner and we hope it will be
nice enough weather to enjoy the porch.

After kayaking, we took a walk down Snowman Drive, a private road just
up the hill. There was a house for sale that is way above our means.
He wanted to take a look anyway.

Shane found out, by talking with some of our neighbors, that the guy
that owns the house we're staying in owns 25 acres on Snowman Drive.
Shane's scheme is to write to him and ask about the possibility of
selling a few of his 25 so we could someday build on Little Deer Isle.

The road is very secluded and wooded. Some lots have a water view,
but I'm sure that would be too pricey for us. Even a wooded lot with
no view would be just a short stroll to an amazing view.

Hump Day Art -- A Founder of Impressionism

On a visit to the Blue Hill Bay Gallery, in Blue Hill, Maine, this painting was on display, but was just sold for (listed price $4,500). It is by Charles-François Daubigny, a French artist that lived from 1817-1878. He was one of the painters of the Barbizon school (not to be confused with the modeling school), and is considered an important precursor of Impressionism.

Daubigny was born into a family of painters and initially he painted in a traditional style, but this changed after 1843 when he settled in Barbizon to work outside in nature. On his famous boat Botin, which he had turned into a studio, he painted along the Seine and Oise, often in the region around Auvers. From 1852 onward he came under the influence of Gustave Courbet.

In 1866 Daubigny visited England and met Claude Monet, and together they left for the Netherlands. Back in Auvers, he met Paul Cézanne, another important Impressionist. It is assumed that these younger painters were influenced by Daubigny.

The director of the Blue Hill Bay Gallery told the story that the idea of using his boat for a studio to capture the changing light of the landscape was imitated by Monet, who did the same thing, but with much greater success. The historical significance of Daubigny's work is its influence on these great Impressionists. This landscape depicting a sunset was professionally laid onto a canvas by a restorer, probably in the first half of the 20th Century. It was sold in its original gilded frame. The photo was taken with my iPhone. It is an oil painting on canvas (relaid onto canvas).

We purchased a painting from this Blue Hill gallery on Monday. More about that later.