A PAINTER'S JOURNEY PART 3: The Studio Boat

In this seven-part series, artist John Hulsey takes you on a visual journey through his outdoor and studio painting processes.

Shortly after moving to Argenteuil in 1871, and inspired by his friend Charles-François Daubigny, Claude Monet purchased a boat that he converted to a bateau-atelier, or studio boat, so he could paint the views and reflections from out on the water. The ethereal views of the Seine, Oise and Epte rivers that he painted are some of his most loved paintings today. His example inspired me to buy a used jon boat to serve as my own modest outdoor painting studio when I work on the large pond near my studio. After a thorough scrape-down and repaint, I named the boat after my nickname for my wife: “Annabelle.” The boat is now equipped with an electric motor, oars, two anchors and a pair of swivel seats, but actually has built-in seating for five people, plus dogs. It has a flat bottom and when anchored fore and aft it is a very stable platform for painting, even in the wind. In fact, I wrote this article while sitting in my boat out on the water.

The pond sits in a bowl of mostly heavily wooded land, which has been returning to a natural state for over 40 years. I have been painting this pond and forests for three decades now, primarily from the shore. Painting on the water is qualitatively different from working on land. Loading the boat and moving up the channel to the main pond always feels like a relaxing journey to somewhere new. The experience of sitting out on a large, flat surface filled with light and beauty opens the mind and imagination. The views from the water are strikingly different than on shore, and seasonal changes affect the subject matter and the way light works its magic there. Perhaps the biggest compositional difference is that, when on the water, one is floating on a kind of mirror. There is no “ground,” and on very still days, it can sometimes be hard to distinguish sky from water. Monet especially loved playing with this visual confusion in his water paintings, and I feel the same.