Special Olympic Park

Special Olympic Park - First Cliff

 After crossing the bridge on Edward Foster Road, there is a small triangular traffic island as you enter the First Cliff area.    There is a sign that names this lovely spot, Special Olympic Park.   It's part of the "Adopt a Lot" program where citizens or organizations take responsibility for a public land parcel.   I had trouble uncovering who is tending to this particular spot, but the person(s) is doing a fantastic job.   I set up under the big old apple tree which has two benches and beds of flowers under it.  One purple iris bed was in spectacular full bloom.  In the course of the two hours I was painting, two groups of people came along and sat for a few minutes, no doubt enjoying the view of Scituate inner harbor, and the cool comfort of an old shade tree adorned with surrounding flower beds.   I was doing the same!

Grassy Side of the Harbor

Grassy Side of the Harbor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One side of this Scituate waterfront scene was an industrial plateau of trucks, granite, hot top and metal railings, while the opposite side was a lush, verdant and overgrown jungle.  For this plein air painting, no-brainer; I let the marshy green side dominate!    I did not paint fast enough to capture the high tide at the start in which the tallest boats and dock cranes were breaking the horizon line.   By the time their turn came, the water level had dropped them into a less dramatic position.  That's the challenge of painting live-and-in-person - change can be hard!  haha.

If you are interested, enlarge the dock scene.  The rope barrels, traps and fishing gear in the mid-distance which looked - in person - like a congested collection of chaos, would have to be tamed into a coherent and recognizable element of the painting.   It was an exercise in discipline.  How to make this complex part of the scene look realistic without too much tedium?  It took three steps.  1) Several colorful dots were applied in a straight horizontal line, 2) their colors were then pulled down into the (already painted) water below for reflection, and 3) a long narrow dark stroke cut through that for the underside of the dock.   A typical New England dock in an abstract sort of way.

Besides painting, the most pleasant part was observing the ducks wade around.   Their preference was also the green side - that is until the people with stale bread appeared at the parking rail.