Inside Cathedral Woods - original poem

Inside Cathedral Woods 

by Bruce McMillan, 9/10/2026

(a sixteen line poem to take you there...)

On an island, Monhegan, tall 
spruce trunks form a high canopy, 
as shafts of sunlight slant their way 
through.

While one's eyes are drawn up, skyward, 
underfoot, fallen spruce needles 
form a soft carpet, a light red 
hue.

Serene quiet fills the moist woods. 
It invites a pause to embrace 
the stillness; its calm envelops 
you.

Standing among greens, moss, ferns, and 
sprouting seedlings, the future woods 
invites a close look, the coming 
view.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Inside Woods Color Rhyme

Through 

hue 

you 

view.

Photo (July 31, 2026 ) and text copyright Bruce McMillan 2026

Inside Cathedral Woods Study 2

Inside Cathedral Woods Study 2

On Monhegan Island, Maine July 31, 2026, painted September 6, 2026, 12" x 9" (w x h) using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

Cathedral Woods - Robert Henri Visual Essay

 Robert Henri 10 Paintings

Cathedral Woods, Monhegan Island, Maine
1918-1919
with quotations from:
The Art Spirit, Robert Henri (1865-1929),
collected by his student, Margery Ryerson
J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1923

1
"A tree growing out of the ground is as wonderful today
as it ever was. It does not need to adopt new and startling methods."
The Reader in the Forest
Monhegan Island, Maine
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on wove paper, 13" x 20" (w x h), 1918
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX


2
"We read books. They make us think. It matters
very little whether we agree with the books or not."

The Art Spirit,
Robert Henri (1865-1929),
Margery Ryerson (1886-1989),
J. B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1923

Robert Henri's philosophical and practical musings were collected by former pupil Margery Ryerson and published as The Art Spirit in 1923, a book that remains in print today, over a hundred years later. Henri's other students include George Bellows, Arnold Franz Brasz, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent, John Sloan, Minerva Teichert, Margery Ryerson and many more.Margery Ryerson's art is included in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and had a 2025 retrospective exhibition at the New York State Museum: Margery Ryerson: Art is Contagious Gallery Opening. She lived to be 102.

Jackie

(Student and Quotation Collector)

Margery Ryerson (1886-1989), American

dry point, Smithsonian American Art Museum 

3

"No work of art is really ever finished.
They only stop at good places."
Cathedral Woods, Monhegan Island
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Oil on canvas, 26" x 32" (w x h), 1911
Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, OH

4
"Art need not be intended. It comes inevitably as the tree
from the root, the branch from the trunk, the blossom from the twig."

Edge of the Island Woods, Monhegan
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 19" x 12" (w x h), 1918
Alexandre Gallery, New York, NY

5
"It is harder to see than it is to express."
Through the Trees, Monhegan Island, Maine
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Oil on panel, 20" 15" (w x h), 1913
Christie's 2021 auction sold $162,500 USD

6
"The effect of brilliancy is to be obtained principally
from the oppositions of cool colors with warm colors,
and the opposition of grave colors with bright colors.
If all the colors are bright there is no brightness."
Under the Trees, Monhegan
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel, 1918

7
"A great painter will know a great deal about how he did it,
but still... will say, 'How did I do it?' The real artist's
work is a surprise to himself."
Maine Landscape
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel, 1919

8
"Those who cannot begin do not finish."
Woodland Scene, Monhegan, Maine
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel, 1918

9
"Whatever you feel or think your exact state
at the exact moment of your brush touching the canvas
is in some way registered in that stroke."
The Woods at Sunset
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 20" x 13" (w x h), 1918

10
"Keep your old work. You did it.
There are virtues and there are faults in it for you to study.
You can learn more from yourself than you can from anyone else."
The Woods, Monhegan Island
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on canvas, 13" x 20" (w x h)
Sold, Questroyal Fine Art, New York, NY

11
"Brilliancy is going toward color, not toward white."
Sunlight in the Woods
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 19" x 15" (w x h), 1918
Alexandre Gallery, New York, NY

12
"There is no art without contemplation."
The Reader's Tree
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Pastel on paper, 12" x 20" (w x h), 1918
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Pulpit Rock Standing View Underfoot

Pulpit Rock Standing View Underfoot

on the northeast shore, Monhegan Island, Maine, painted August 31, 2026, 14" x 11" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$600

Above Pulpit Rock Study 2

Above Pulpit Rock Study 2

painted August 19, 2026, 14" x 11" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$600

Pulpit Rock Study 5

Pulpit Rock Study 5

on Monhegan Island July 31, 2026, painted in my studio August 18, 2026, 14" x 11" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$600

That Cliff Rock - Essay

That Cliff Rock beside Pulpit Rock
(to the right of Pulpit Rock, land view)

Untitled, from the Monhegan  series 

Morris Kantor (1896-1974), Russian-American
Pencil on paper, 14" x 11" (w x h), 1944
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC

This is the standing rock to the right of Pulpit Rock when looking down from land. This photo view's perspective is to the right of Morris Kantor's drawing view. He drew it in 1944. Ironically, I photographed the same rock in 2026, though I didn't discover Morris Kantor's drawing until after I returned to the mainland when I was perusing online Monhegan art files in the Smithsonian American Art Museum website.

Above my plein air setup is Pulpit Rock. To the right is the unnamed cliff rock that Morris Kantor chose to draw from approximately this perspective.

In the summers of 1916-1919 when Edward Hopper was drawing and painting on Monhegan Island, in this drawing he included this rock as a bordering rock on the right when he made this drawing of Pulpit Rock at the center.

Study of Rocks at Monhegan (Pulpit Rock)

Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American

Lithographic crayon on paper, 16" x 10" (w x h), circa 1916-1919

Josephine N. Hopper Bequest to 

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Morris Kantor, born in Russia (Belarus), was a painter. In 1906, at 10-years-old, he was brought to New York City where he learned to support himself at a very young age. By the time he was twenty, he'd saved enough money working in the garment district to enroll at the Independent School of Art in New York. Kantor went on to become a prominent artist and teacher in New York City. He taught at the Art Students League for thirty years. He continued to travel and study, and in 1928 married fellow artist Martha Ryther, a recognized master of painting on glass. A prolific artist, Morris Kantor produced a diverse body of work, exploring many styles ranging from abstraction to realism.

Today, Seagulls still visit this Morris Kantor drawn rock and paint the leading seaside viewing edge in accented-edge-white, though it isn't an archival white.

Above Pulpit Rock Study 1

Above Pulpit Rock Study 1

painted August 13, 2026, 14" x 11" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$600

Pulpit Rock Study 2

Pulpit Rock Study 2

painted plein air on Monhegan Island July 31, 2026, 12" x 9" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

My plein air setup
above Pulpit Rock, Monhegan Island

Pulpit Rock Paintings...early 1900s

 Pulpit Rock Paintings by Noted Artists

in the early 1900s by
George Bellows, James Fitzgerald,
Robert Henri, Edward Hopper, and Leon Kroll
plus a photo from the Marjorie Bouvé collection

1
Pulpit Rock
George Bellows (1882-1925), American
Oil on wood panel, 20" x 15" (w x h), 1913
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT

2
Surf at Pulpit Rock
James E. Fitzgerald (1899-1971), American
Watercolor, 13" x 10" (w x h)

3
Pulpit Rock Gray
Leon Kroll (1884-1974), American
Oil on canvas, 25" x 30" (w x h), 1913

4
Rocky Coast, Monhegan Island, Maine
(Pulpit Rock)
Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), American
Oil on board, 12" x 10" (w x h)
Gift of the artist to Mary Kelsey, Monhegan Island, Maine.
By descent from the above to the present owner
Sotheby's NY 2008 auction sold $6,875 USD

5
Rocky Promontory, Monhegan, Maine
(Pulpit Rock)
Robert Henri (1865-1929), American
Oil on canvas, circa 1903
New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA

6
Rocks and Waves (Pulpit Rock)
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Oil on composition board, 13" x 10" (w x h), circa 1916-1919
Josephine N. Hopper Bequest to
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

7
Study of Rocks at Monhegan (Pulpit Rock)
Edward Hopper (1882-1967), American
Lithographic crayon on paper, 16" x 10" (w x h), circa 1916-1919
Josephine N. Hopper Bequest to
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

8
Pulpit Rock, Monhegan, Maine
Marjorie Bouvé (1879-1970), American
Photograph, circa 1895-1918
Marjorie Bouvé papers, Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Ocean Drive Rocks

Ocean Drive Rocks

along Kennebunkport, Maine's seaside on July 24, 2026, painted July 28, 2026, 12" x 9" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

Pulpit Rock Study 1

Pulpit Rock Study 1

painted plein air on Monhegan Island July 31, 2026, 12" x 9" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper.
$400

My plein air setup above Pulpit Rock.

Pulpit Rock Study 4

Pulpit Rock Study 4

on Monhegan Island July 31, 2026, painted in my studio August 4, 2026, 14" x 11" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper.
$600

Always Waiting

Always Waiting

painted July 11, 2026, 16" x 20" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on Arches 100% cotton, 140 lbs. cold press rough watercolor paper, framed.
$900 SOLD - It was as one of the first paintings sold.

Art in progress...

The Yacht Club Boathouse building (left)
and the River Club Casino building (right),
both Kennebunk River Club art venues
displayed 175 works of art where 75 sold.

My art in the River Club Casino building

Inside the The Yacht Club Boathouse building

At the River Club Casino building.

Wave Between the Margins

Wave Between the Margins

painted plein air along Marginal Way, Ogunquit, ME, June 24, 2026, 12" x 9" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$400

The plein air set up along Marginal Way

Over the Fogg House

Over the Fogg House

Beside the William Fogg Library in Eliot, Maine, painted plein air during the library's plein air event June 27, 2026, 14" x 11" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed,
$600 / donated to the William Fogg Library

​My plein air setup

under the shade of an overhanging sugar maple

The Wind's Blowing This Way

The Wind's Blowing This Way

Lupine flowers at Tynemouth, New Brunswick, Canada during the Fundy-St, Martins Plein Air Festival on June 13, 2026, 5" x 7" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper.
$150

​Over There

​Over There

Lupines flowering, pointing, at Tynemouth, New Brunswick, Canada during the Fundy-St, Martins Plein Air Festival on June 13, 2026, 5" x 7" (w x h), using Daniel Smith, Schmincke Horadam, and Winsor & Newton watercolors, all selected for light fastness and permanence, and Uniball waterproof fade proof ink on 140 lbs. Fabriano Artistico cold press rough 100% cotton extra white watercolor paper, framed.
$150