Spring Snow at the Audubon

In Marshfield, there are two Massachusetts Audubon areas.   The one closest to me is the Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, a 475 acre parcel of grasslands, woodlands, and wetlands.  For birders, there are observation blinds overlooking a shallow wetland that attracts herons, egrets, and shorebirds, and -allegedly - muskrats and mink.   For landscape painters, there are many picturesque scenes, that can include distant, mid-range, and closer terrain.

Whenever I have painted at the Audubon, I usually set up right at the car, because even from this small unpaved lot, there are plenty of scenic vistas.   This is both for convenience and personal safety, although I have observed many women walking the trails alone.  You are in for a treat if you have never been there; the varied trails can be walked in less than an hour.   If you do venture out onto the trails, wear some water resistant boots because there are many water saturated dips in the trails. 

Audubon Tree at Secret Path

The painting to the left is from the junction of the Pond Loop and the Secret Trail, a south facing path.   The areas shaded by last year's tall swamp grass are the last to melt after the moderate snow squalls that blew through.   On the tree, the branches on the far side are bluer and almost transparent against the late winter sky.   The branches that are brightly lit on this side are dappled with the shade of other branches.     For the foreground grasses, I used a shabby old brush with sideways bristles, dragged it through my Naples yellow/Cad Red piles, then applied scumbled wisps of dry grass that aligned with the bright snowy areas. 

I'll pay a return visit to this one.   As I post this photo of the painting I realize that the shadow of the main tree is not dark enough across the far end of the path. 

The March sun has already melted the snow here at home.   This snowscape will go dormant for Spring and Summer with the other recent snowscapes.   I'll critique and revise in September with fresh eyes.