The Coeur d'Alene press. (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) 1906-1907, 1907-03-07
PAINTING UNDER A f:
DOUBLE INSPIRATION :

LOriginaLI
In InteTiakGn, at the bass 81 the |
Swiss Alps. one gets fine view Of I
the Jungfrau raising its head, yelled /
with snow, In apparent close proximi- |
~. One day a girl sat before an easel
endeavoring to transfer the mountain |
to canvas. Whether 1t was that she |
had little artistic talent or was a be-
ginner, she did not succeed in making |
an imposing picture.
The girl drew back TO have a look at |
her work, sighed and dropped her pal
cite.
"Mademoiselle seems discouraged"
said a voice behind her In French.
She turned and saw the pale face of
a young msn evidently in poor health.
Il only speak English" she said II
am an American"
"Oh, an Americana! So am l." And
he repeated what he had said in his
native tongue.
II shall never learn to paint" said
the girl despondently
Perhaps you have been too long at
work Why not leave Off and begin
again in the morning when you are
fresh?"
THAT'S a good suggestion. began
the picture In the morning"
''In that case / would certainly rec
ommend you to work on 1t only before
noon"
why?
swell, the mountain is under differ
ent light in the morning. Besides, usu-
ally ones best work is done in the
early part Of the day"
"Are you an artlst?"
II paint, but every one Of an ideal
temperament either paints a little or
dabbles in writing verses or something
of the kind"
Every morning after that the girl
aat before her easel and often the
stranger, who sojourned-for his health
lat the same hotel as she, strolled by,
looked at her work and spoke to her
about 1t, now and then venturing q
friendly criticism. But the only words
OF encouragement he gave her were:
Don't work too long at one time
When your work looks unsatisfactory
to you, leave it, and likely You will
be better pleased with 1t when you
have rested" And what the stranger
said proved to be true. In the morn
ing she was surprised that she had
been dissatisfied with her work of the
previous day. She would sit down be-
fore her canvas, and after spending a
couple of hours with her brushes It |
would seem that she had undone all
she had achieved the previous day.
Then the stranger would come along
and remind her that In the morning
when refreshed she would likely again
see her painting under different influ- f!
ence. eco take walk this afternoon"
he said. paint In the morning: stroll
In the afternoon"
In this way the picture grew day by
day like the mountain. The darker
shadows grew deeper, the lighter blend
ed more perfectly with them or the
white snow. Every morning the artist |
noticed some beauty that had appeared
commonplace to her the night before.
and finally the whole assumed a gran
deur which delighted and surprised her.
But she was now painting every day
with the stranger beside her There
was something in his dark, dreamy
eyes, his intellectual brow, his pleas
ant voice, his kindly sympathy, that
charmed her. Then came a revelation,
She was painting under the inspiration
Of love.
The picture was finished The girl |
needed money. and the stranger ad- |
Vised her to take 1t to Paris and offer
Il for sale. She determined to do so.
and the stranger promised to meet her |
there and, II possible, assist her In dis
posing of It. They met one morning
70 an art store where the picture had |
been sent before them. There it stood
on an easel, and when the dealer Joined |
them he said:
AS soon as l looked at the canvas |
! pronounced II a DemOnd. Demond
had picture hung last season In the
salon, Mont Blanc, which ia not
equal to this. Besides, the style is
Misunderstanding, tone, values, all.
When came to look at the name and
saw another's was surprised,
The girl whose work had been mis-.
taken for that Of successful artist
was oengnted. A color rose to her
cheek. light to her eye; a happy
smile played about her lips.
What would the picture be worth
with Demond's name on ltT'' asked her
friend.
Twenty thousand francs"
~And with Demond's name as collab-
orator."
in that case would not give more
than $4,000 francs for It."
On shelf near by lay palette and /
brushes. He who was befrlending the /
girl took up brush and. stepping to /
the picture, wrote under her name that |
OF G. DemOnd
The tahleau that ensued was that OF
one quiescent figure and two who were |
astonlshed. The girls face especially
showed wonder. but at look from her
companion she refrained from speak.