Spring Greens and May Gardens

It's still chilly here on the Maine coast. It always is cooler here in spring and summer than the rest of New England.

With longer hours of daylight and liberal rain showers everything is turning green!

Bright green!  There is so much green its hard to adjust your eyes to it.  Plenty of yellow too. A huge meadow in Berwick, Maine was filled with about a million dandelions.

I stopped to sketch the view.  The farmer stopped by to see what I was up to. He thought I was an agricultural agent taking notes...I guess sketching looks like note taking!  He wasn't too happy to see a million dandelions growing in his newly seeded meadow. 

This property is part of a very old farm.  A row of ancient maples on the edge of the  road were turning a bright chartreuse green.

I wanted to visit a number of different locations today, so I sketched and colored as we traveled. 

I used my water color pencils to mark some color notes. These pencils are great for quick studies. I get the basic info down while I'm on the go. At the end of the day I pull out my watercolors to fill in my notes.

The clouds moved in and out all day. 

2x3 watercolors, Rives BFK

Hamilton House  in South Berwick had misty green veils of leaves everywhere.  Everything was thriving and budding.

It has been a rough winter.  The barn at Hamilton House was missing three panes of glass from its high loft window.

The cherry tree in the barn yard was beginning to blossom.  

Big old trees that were growing near the house last summer are now gone. It made the house look bleak and a bit like "Wuthering Heights."

I sat down to sketch a cluster of tulips in a small walled garden.

 Three clusters of red tulips bloomed in a warm protected area near the stone wall.

The hum of a lawnmower filled the air. At the edge of the formal garden a landscaper mowed the steep hilly lawn.

The house and gardens overlook the Salmon Falls River. The river is tidal in this area below the falls.  It is often windy and cold here.

Clouds and steeple. 2x3 watercolor, Rives BFK 

Dandelion meadow. 3x4 watercolor, Rives BFK

Old maples. 3x4 watercolor, Rives BFK 

Island pond. 2x3 watercolor, Rives BFK 

Salmon Falls River at Berwick. 2x4 watercolor, Rives BFK 

Tulips. 3x4 watercolor, Rives BFK  

Salmon Falls River Island. 2x4 watercolor, Rives BFK