Original sentence: During Wood's youth, Montpelier was not likely to inspire a man to paint.It was a small town of practical people, lacking in the means of art culture and instruction in art.The hills and valleys, however, were beautiful, filled at all seasons with a wonderful light, and these had and continued to have for Wood an inspiration and influence throughout his life
Edited sentence: His early surroundings rendered it certain that in whatever form his work should find expression, that form would be simple, solid and true, founded upon study and directed by a conception of the principles underlying that work.It was a small town of practical people, lacking in the means of art culture and instruction in art, a place in which social conditions were yet arranging themselves into more permanent forms.Montpelier at that time was not likely to inspire a man to paint.The hills and valleys, however, were inexpressibly beautiful, filled at all seasons with a wonderful light, and these had and always continued to have for Wood an inspiration and influence from which he never was free.Wood, born of this self-reliant ancestry and directed by a strong father and a pious and prudent mother, was destined for a vigorous and persistent effort