As many of you know, over the last three years Ray and I have developed a fondness for the Group of Seven Painters. So, when we were planning our road trip we began to investigate whether or not our journey would intersect any of the locations where the Group of Seven Painted. We discovered that in the 1940s Jackson spent several spring seasons with his brother Harry in St. Aubert Quebec. In fact, his painting Sugar Shanty L’Islet (1944) is believed to be based on his Spring visits to the many Maple Syrup producers in the area. Well, we thought, wouldn’t it be great to visit a sugar shack in St Aubert that may have been an inspiration for A.Y. Jackson? This is when we began our correspondence with the friendliest municipality in Quebec. They wrote back with an offer to reach out with a post on the Municipal FaceBook Page: The folks of St. Aubert began to respond. We immediately knew we had to make this part of our visit to Quebec. Some had connections to Naomi Jackson Groves (A.Y. Jackson’s niece who was also an author and artist). Many suggested a cabane just down the road from where the Jacksons had lived in the 1940s. Then the magic happened—we received a private message with an address we would surely visit.
Fast forward to September. We headed off of Autoroute 20 hoping we could make this happen. When the GPS said we had arrived it didn’t look like a Sugar Bush, but rather someone’s home. Across from the house was a shop. Why not stop and ask? I struggled with my rusty French to explain what I was looking for. I was excited to learn that the sugar bush belonged to my very kind new friend Monsieur Pelletier and that he lived in the house across the road. He gave us instructions and permission and how to find the cabane and we headed off on foot. We found it! The cabane was built by Monsieur Pelletier’s grandfather. He agrees that structure is very similar to the one in Jackson’s painting. Now, can we guarantee that we found the actual cabane in the picture? Probably not, but we do believe we travelled in the footsteps of Jackson. And we can guarantee that we probably discovered the friendliest municipality in Quebec. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Note: If you want to read about more of our Group of Seven Adventures click on North America>Canada>Group of Seven
6 Comments
Mrs. Bridge
9/12/2022 06:06:48 am
Bonjour encore!
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Diane
9/12/2022 09:33:25 am
à bientôt
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Mme Bridge
9/12/2022 07:32:10 am
Bonjour de FSF 1D. Avez vous vu l'interieur de la cabane a sucre? C'est vraiment similaire de la peinture!
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Diane
9/12/2022 09:32:24 am
ce n'est pas la saison du sirop d'érable. on n'a pas vu à l'intérieur de la cabane à sucre
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Diane
11/9/2022 05:22:17 pm
Merci. C'est très intéressant.
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