So Many Questions

In June I went to a juried art show and discovered a watercolor painter whose subject was Maine. 

Other artists painted boats, but he captured the soul of the sea.  Who built the boats, who sailed, who never came back?

While painting realistically, the paintings move beyond a slavish record of the scene. They remind me of Hopper's paintings-- beyond realism.

This afternoon we stopped to see a small juried art show. I strolled past a number of middling paintings-- many of Maine, but not  capturing the feel or soul of the area.

Then I stopped at a painting of three 
wooden dories tied to one another and anchored.  The entire landscape wears a mist glaze.

It provoked questions-- who built these dories? What hands put together her skeleton? When did she first enter the water? Who will return and hoist up the anchor?

Same June artist--same soul  of Maine.

I told the artist that I loved the painting. " It's evocative. If this was a story I'd say it begins in medias res."