Mill Creek Marsh Paintings

Mill Creek Marsh Paintings

"SOPO Sunrise"   oil     Diana Johnson

I used to do outdoor art shows. Since we had to set-up at the crack of dawn I looked forward to a proper sunrise. My last show, six years ago, was at South Portland's Mill Creek Park. I got there extra early so that I could walk over to Mill Creek marsh and watch the sunrise and take some photos. My first painting from that experience was a small oil called "SOPO Sunrise".

"Just Before Sunrise"  pastel     Diana Johnson

A  few years later, while looking back at the photos, I decided to do another impression of that morning. This time it ended up being a pastel called "Just Before Sunrise".

This view point, from the marsh looking towards Portland, is so easy to get to. Just park at the Mill Creek Hannaford and it is right there! This is a great place to start a walk on South Portland's Greenbelt Walkway. Just follow the path and you end up at Bug Light Park. 

"Summer Marsh"  pastel  Diana Johnson

Taking that walk one afternoon, I took some more photos of the marsh. This time it was mid-day on a warm summer day. You would never know it was the same place that I got the sunrise reference photos from. Change the time of day and you get an entirely different effect. "Summer Marsh" was the mid-day painting. 

This brings to mind Monet's Haystack Series in which he painted the same scene repeatedly at different times of the day as well as in different seasons.

I also can't help thinking of the song, "What a difference a day makes...24 little hours..."

Enjoy your day!