Salt Marshes

Like estuaries, salt marshes are also located in the intertidal zone. In my neck of the woods, these dynamic biological communities are marked by salt-tolerant vegetation often found among a mosaic of meandering tidal creeks.

Glaciers scoured the Northern Massachusetts coast thousands of years ago and mud, silt, and clay sediments settled out of the water to form extensive mudflats in many of the protected areas of the coast. Twice a day at low tide, in what became a perpetually repeated process over millennia, portions of these mudflats were exposed to open air. Seeds from Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens took root in the mud. As grasses sprouted and spread through underground rhizomes, the thick growth began to trap more sediments and organic matter which raised the level of the marsh. The organic matter and dead spartina grasses accumulated underneath the new growth as peat. Over time, rich, complex, interconnected living ecosystems evolved.

Um, is it just me, or does this sound like my painting process?!

You Need Only Breathe In, Breathe Out
10.5 x 13.5"; acrylic, latex, ink, collage, and oil pastel on drawing paper
abstract landscape
2019