Look at me! No girl who’s out in all weathers roaming about with the flock has a complexion like that. Mr Knight’s given me such rosy cheeks, made my hands seem delicate, and I never wore a blouse so white except Sundays. He had me pose in his studio in Poissy, painting in the background later from sketches he’d made on one of his excursions. They say he’s fond of pretty girls from hereabouts, and is always putting them in his pictures. I felt nervous when I went, but there wasn’t any funny business, not like you hear about with some of them. Perhaps it’s just this kind of painting sells. I wonder who buys them and what they see in them. Do they think I spend my time daydreaming? I’d happily swap with them.
Simon Collings
Painting Daniel Ridgway Knight
The Shepherdess of Rolleboise
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