Marsh View

24x36

oil/canvas

Eight straight days of rain!! Definitely time for some serious studio projects. One interesting kind of studio work is to do larger works based on smaller field studies. This particular piece is an enlargement of the top third of a plein air painting. Then original painting was done in September and showed the change in colors from the verdent green of summer to the drier yellows and ochers of the changing season. However in the larger piece I wanted to capture the lush, calming, cool greens of high summer, and the hazy feel in the sky and the distance. The salt marshes here in coastal Connecticut are protected environments. They are free from human traffic and support an amazing variety of wildlife. When you're looking out over the marshlands in the early morning they vibrate with vitality and life. They radiate with living energy, a tribute to God's awesome creative powers. I'm afraid some of the vitality and movement in the piece created by many broken brushstrokes and the variety of greens are somewhat lost in the photograph. However, seen in person I'm happy with the amount of livliness I was able to convey.