Bodies of water, like a river or small lake, figure prominently in Margit’s paintings. You may think, “No wonder, she grew up in the “Land of 10,000 lakes”. Except Margit is from the hilly SE part of the Minnesota, where lakes are few. You might find cow ponds among the fields of Highland Prairie, for example, but no lakes. Of course, some of her waterways could be rivers (though they don’t look like the Root River, much less the Mississippi).

The following rivers or lakes often show a small watercraft, which can be convenient to convey scale. Though she probably liked the graceful lines of the canoe, her unfamiliarity with its use may have led Margit to treat them like rowboats. She never drags the empty canoe up on shore, so they look like they might float away.

Also, note that only the earliest painting shows people. People frequently appear in her early work (albeit at a distance). Before long she stopped including people—and so all those empty canoes!

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Insert 65-14??? “Birch by lake”

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