"Hint of Spring"

Oil on gessoed hardboard panel - 10x8

Completed 03/04/2010

Not for sale

After one of the longest and coldest winters I can remember, the promise of spring seems to be in the air. One of the first hints on the marsh is the sprouting of green in the spartina grass near the open water. It is usually windy, and the water, even in the sheltered areas, is ruffled by the breeze.

This scene is looking from the JTB causeway across the marsh toward the Intercoastal Waterway. I removed some of the trees and other details to capture the sense of space and openness in the marsh. Almost all of the prominent lines are horizontal or vertical except for the tidal creek in the foreground. I wanted that area to be seen as the liveliest in the painting.

Rick Petersen