When my wife and I visited Vermont and Massachusetts a few years ago, little did I know that one of the paintings I’d create from that trip would result in an unlikely connection. (Click images to enlarge)
“Cruising Vermont’s Backroads” – 64″ x 48″ – Oil
“Cruising Vermont’s Backroads”, which I recently posted on Facebook and Instagram, was noticed by Facebook friend Bob Ray. Bob wrote in the comments block that he knew that house and exactly where it was. He also knew the owner, Tad Kinsley. How amazing is that?
Bob showed the image of the painting to Kinsley, Tad then contacted me, and the unlikely connection was made. Since the painting was already sold, Kinsley ordered a canvas print of the painting. During our communication, he sent me a photo of the house. After a little research, I discovered the following:
The building as it was on July 4th, 1920. It looks like the whole town of Londonderry turned out for the celebration.
From 1883-1922, there was a newspaper that served southern Vermont’s West River Valley called the Londonderry Sifter. The paper was founded by George T. Shanks. The word “sifter” was taken from a poem by John Dryden. Shanks “sifted” through the news before publishing his weekly paper. Shanks and his paper became very popular, and Shanks himself eventually became known as “Sifter John”. After renting a building for his newspaper business for several years, in 1900 George Shanks built this house for his printing and newspaper business. The building became know as the “Sifter”.
Here’s another view of the “Sifter House” from the opposite direction.
So, how about that? All, such a wonderful experience and just another of many fine experiences and relationships created through the arts. Thank you, Bob Ray and Tad Kinsley.
If you would like to see how “Cruising Vermont’s Backroads was created, HERE is a link to a former blog post describing it.
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John Pototschnik is an Art Renewal Center Living Master. To view his art and bio, please click HERE
