We lived in Rockport, and Gloucester was right next door. In East Gloucester there is an art colony. One day I visited a studio there and enjoyed the artist’s paintings from the 1940s. Regional painting is one of my favorite styles (Thomas Hart Benton, &c.) We talked. He said when someone wants to buy one of his older paintings (hung high out of reach in the studio) he would call his wife first and they would talk about it. They liked to hold onto that work, and I don’t blame them. : )
This painting, above, is of course not in the regionalist style, but the scene caught my eye. It is from Gloucester and was painted probably the same week that I visited Chip Pelletier at the gas station and painted his portrait, below:
This is the only photo I have of the painting of Chip at the gas station. It was taken at an art show at Salem’s old custom house and someone called it the gem of the show. It sold to a friend of mine. I liked the picture.
