“Roaring Brook”, this is a small painting, 6″ x 8″, oil on canvas panel. This painting has SOLD.

I titled this “Roaring Brook” and not “The Brickyard”. It was there first. I had to watch my footing crossing over it in the twilight at the end of my session with my heavy gear in hand. As the stream flows out of the woods and fields, and into the sand and boulders between it and the sea, it doesn’t look like much. It mostly goes down and through the sand, but what remains atop the beach made the cobblestone size rocks wet, slippery and uneven with pools between. It was not a good match for the dry boots I had on. (I always wear a pair of tall, old cowboy boots when out in the woods and grassy areas. I find the ticks do not climb too far up once they examine the dense leather they have landed on. I can easily pick them off my light colored work pants as they go back around the cuffs and upward on the outside of my pant legs. The boots are also especially good with all the poison ivy and briars I tend to encounter in my wanderings.)
While painting, I became aware of a pair of eyes watching my limited movements. It took me some time to pinpoint them. The tide was out and larger, dark, seaweed coated boulders were in the intertidal zone. At first I wasn’t sure as the skinny black head would slyly peer out from behind a dark shape. I myself, except for painting arm and head, was fully hidden from its sight by a very large stone behind me on top of which I had parked my gear. As I turned back to clean a brush I caught its silhouette against the wave between two rocks and knew it was a Canada Goose. Probably it was damaged in some way as it seemed to want to, but would not, come any closer, nor try to fly or float away. My heart reached out to it, but what could I do. Race after it and try to capture and bring it way back up into the woods to my van. Then on to my friend Joannie the animal officer’s house? I’ve done that with screech owls, but this was a large bird, near dark and I was unprepared. I had to let it be…