Brown marsh on Quiet Evening ACE Basin 12 X 9 "

The amount of marsh in the ACE basin is enormous and its size may be observed best by the satellite images on Google Earth. Made up mostly of Spartina or Cordgrass, the marsh, nevertheless, is never uniform in color.  The flooding and emptying of these extensive grasslands provides and ever changing environment for the life that makes this place home. Creatures move in with the tidal water to exploit all the changes that occurred when the water receded. Nutrients come in and nutrients move out. What moves in does not necessarily come out and what comes in may not return. Virtually every creature in our local waters spends some time in here. Lots of stuff happens in here!

Not only is this marshland extremely valuable to all creatures, but it is so lovely as well. Many things we need are not beautiful to the eye and we accept those things for their value to us. But the marshlands give enormously in both categories.

 This late afternoon was notable for its tranquility as the ever present breezes subsided and the water became glass-like. Only at the edges of the marsh could one see that there was little movement. The grass appeared orange-brownish in color. The clods took on a bluish-purple color.

This 12 X 9 acrylic was painted on canvas.