Monhegan Island, Maine

Visiting on Monhegan Island is one of the most inspiring places to connect with other artists. I am speaking of the artists that started coming to paint since 1850. From Rockwell Kent who illustrated Moby Dick and his teacher Robert Henri of the NY Ashcan School, to Jamie Wyath and Don Stone who now maintain residences with studios that are frequently open to the public there, it has it all. From sweeping rocky mounts like Blackhead to lush rain forests called Cathedral Woods, a quaint village sits as a throw back to the 1940's. Quaint and rustic, it is stopped in time and respected by all who dwell or visit to maintain its complexion. Only one and a half miles wide and two miles long, its downed coast from majestic peaks, its fog, its grandeur and intimacy create an edge of land and sea that is a microcosm of a continent. You get into the scene very quickly with recycling and water usage respect. Its intimacy is not high end, it is island time and place. To sit and paint on a hillside is spiritual. To follow the island's history at the Lighthouse Museum is appreciated. Eating fresh caught lobsters beachside, bringing your own wine to watch the sunset, is magical. I want to return often, and only with artists so we can sit for hours together collaborating on a special scene, watching for hours the show of nature and trying to capture one moment in time! From crashing ocean waves across shimmering light streaks in cobalt waters to gulls and chickens roaming with an occasional pheasant, the island makes you appreciate time well spent! Walking home from dinner at one of the four restaurants is a lightshow of interior lflickering homes, many by gaslights, casting theatre shows echoing our own illumination from our flashlights. To be a part of the cast of thousands of artists have graced the island makes me feel a part of America's significant history of art and exploration. Monhegan served as an important stepping stone of European colonization of America beginning around 1608. The rich stock of fish and a small snug harbor 10 miles off the coast of Maine secured Indian attacks from the mainland. A plague commemorating the fisherman carries this tribute, " to fishermen of all times and of all countries, whose courage and faith made discovery of the North American continent possible, this history of one of their safe havens is dedicated." The first artists that sailed over in the late 1800's spread the word that it had it all to paint. The ritual has began and still today, it is only traveled to by boat. We took the ferry from Booth Bay, a lovely harbor town. I laughed and bonded with my special artist colleagues in a gas lighted summer rental, visited the summer artists studios, made new artists friends in the gravel streets while painting and sketching, joined them for wine and talk, and shared works in progress. Our artist neighbor, Paul Niemiec, a water colorist and etcher, shared his spectacular views from his place and made us feel a part of the current art scene with his one man show at the Island Inn. I can see why Rothwell Kent described Monhegan Island "enough to strart me off to feverish activity in painting as I have ever known." As Robert Henri said in his book,"there are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day when we seem to see beyond the usual."