My daughter lives in Montpelier, Vermont and has taken hundreds of photos, in all seasons, of the North Branch of the Winooski River. Several bridges span the river in the town, and she crosses over it while walking my grandson to and from school. There are several collections of the photos on her Instagram and I decided work from these to create a series. The river flooded in June 2023 and wiped out the downtown. It made national news. It took over a year for most of the businesses to reopen, and some just shuttered for good.

I've done some plein air paintings from a couple of the bridges while visiting, and on one occasion, an elderly gentleman talked to me at length about how special the river is, how it is central to the town's self-image. Another time, a woman stood behind me and simply said "Thank you."

I'm inspired by its different moods, as revealed by the seasons, and hope to capture the beauty, and in some cases, lack of beauty. That will be more difficult!