MONHEGAN 2010 WITH THE MAINE LANDSCAPE GUILD

Monhegan finally!!! We left Sunday from Port Clyde on the ever reliable Elizabeth Ann owned by the Monhegan Boat Line. I just love the familiar sounds of the engine and know it means we will be there soon. Eliza Auth, Nancy Bea Miller and Mary Walsh and I are making the crossing. Alex Tyng will be coming later as she is in a show and new to our group is Elaine Lisle!! A nice crossing just a few rolls at the end. We are 12 miles out to sea on an island roughly a mile and a half by three quarters of of a mile. Monhegan comes from the Algonquian word Monchiggon which means "out to sea island". It is amazing to think that Samual de Champlain and Capt. John Smith all visited here along with the many artists who first popularized the island as an artist community.

Arrival at Johnson Cottage

We are staying on top of Horn Hill in the Johnson Cottage on the left. It is that sweet little cottage that is in every view from Horn Hill. We are really living well this year with our own rooms and no water leaking through the ceiling!! My room has a sweeping view of the Island Inn on one side and the marsh on the other. What has struck me the most this year is the sound of life of Monhegan. Children back to school, padlock discussions, and fire powered hot tubs being opened for the season.

View from my Room

It was a grey day yesterday and I blocked in the view from our porch. A word to all artists- I left for two minutes and noticed a seagull out my window. When I returned he had just enough time to peck through my windsor green. So if you see a green beaked gull then you know where he has been. Poor baby!

Today grey cast on Monhegan, but I hiked to Burnt Head and painted Gull Rock. I am always awed by the mammoth size of the rock. We took a boat around the island and I saw there were large crevasses on the side of Gull Rock. Hoping for sun!

Painting Gull Rock