Audubon Marshfield Hills

North River Wildlife Sanctuary

North River Wildlife Sanctuary

I've done several paintings at the Daniel Webster Wilderness Audubon in the Green Harbor section of Marshfield, but this day we drove to another Audubon in Marshfield, near the mouth of the North River.     Within the first ten minutes, we saw turkeys, hummingbirds and woodpeckers, proof that the wildlife got the memo.  Add to that all the azaleas and white flowering dogwoods and you've got a miniature natural paradise.


I set up facing north looking at the rain garden which has flat roofed building wing just behind it.  I worked on matching the colors of the vegetation, cool blue-greens for the distance, bright vivid cool greens on the left, and bright cool pinks and yellows for the flower beds.   I also included the bench that overlooks this serene setting.

The perennial flower beds had patches of color but certainly not to the degree that I painted it.  I am addicted to buttering on a palette knife full of blooms, so I took liberties.  The building facade started out in shadow but by the time I finished up for the day, it was sunlit.   As you can see I "chased the light" and the building is sunlit in the painting.

Here is the scene as it stands right now and the following is a list of issues I think I should address.   If your more objective eye spots anything else, let me know.

1) In the middle window, the far side window was visible, (the odd looking blue rectangle).  I don't think it adds anything and, moreover, it does not read correctly.

2) The grass is too cool and almost whitish.  Although the color harmony is cool light, warm shadow, the grass needs more yellow.  Sometimes painting in the bright sun will cause me to make this mistake.

3)  The building looked more stately and provided a better backdrop when it was in shadow.   By repainting it and making it sunlit, the focus was changed from the bench and flowers to this bold, bright architectural element.   And, what possessed me to make it so pink?

Maybe a trip back to this spot is in order as well.   The next time you see this one will be on my website.  Comments welcome as always.