Monhegan is my touchstone. I travelled there for the first time in 2018, and the experience was life changing. Being in the same place, and seeing the very same vistas as my painting "ancestors" and heroes such as Hopper, Kent, and the Wyeth's was a powerful experience. Each time I have visited the island since, besides being infused with a sense of peace and belonging, my painting ability has advanced, almost as if the air there is magic. This year, Monhegan is grappling with the very difficult decision of how to transport visitors to the Island safely on what are, typically, ferries packed with people and their luggage.

A trip to the island this year, the thought of which has sustained me during the stressful months of dealing with the threat of COVID for my pregnant patients and their babies, now seems quite uncertain. Gazing at Monhegan Blues brings me right back to the feeling of peace and optimism that I feel when I have stood looking at that majestic view. I feel the solidity of the island, and its timelessness. The world and its problems feels very far away.