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Wilderness Artist part 2

Love the second reflective painting with the blue canoe.. Something to think about..the next canoe color..sky perhaps?
 
I viewed the video, and wondered about this guy. After the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] part, it occurred to me M Roy and his art reminds me of an artist my wife and I met years ago. My wife and I had just moved to the charming little village of St Adolphe de Dudswell. It was filled with friendly and charming people, but none as friendly and charming as Francois.
He was the Postmaster, and I saw a lot of him that first winter. Firstly, he was a mine of information (gossip) about the community, such as where do I order wood or get my car fixed? Secondly, the snowplow driver delighted in burying both my car and mailbox, with every pass. Most days I simply gave up trying to find our mailbox, and just paid a visit with Francois. One snowy day (the mailbox was still nowhere to be found) I screwed up the courage to ask Francois about all the wood- carvings all over the shelves in the post office. He became shy and embarrassed “No, no, it’s just a little something to amuse myself with. They are nothing.” We asked to buy some, but he was far too humble to imagine such a thing. They were intricate wood carvings of habitant life; old couples by the fire, he with his pipe, she sitting at a spinning wheel, or the bucheron (woodcutter) with his axe over his shoulder smoking that pipe again. I’ve seen many carvings just like these in nearly every flea market anywhere. Although beautiful, they looked much like so many others.
One afternoon in springtime I quietly entered the post office (my mailbox had finally appeared from the melting snow, but visits with Francois were far more interesting) and saw him sitting in his back office bent over his next piece in total concentration. That’s when I understood why he was filling shelves with his “little nothings.” Monsieur Roy, just like Francois, may not be the first to carve, paint, or even canoe trip in a certain style. But when you immerse yourself in a passion, you make it your own.
Thanks for these links Murat and Robin. They’re wonderful.
 
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