By Melissa Kim, Maine Audubon
“If I’m an artist, then Scarborough Marsh is certainly my inspiration,” says Reed Shaw, retail associate at Maine Audubon’s Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center. “Eight months out of the year, I do not think of myself as an artist,” Shaw says. “During the school year, I work with computers and ensure all the lights in my school’s theater spaces are plugged in and where they’re supposed to be. But when spring turns to summer, I become one of the Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center’s go-to painters.”
It started in 2024 when Shaw was tasked with re-painting a mailbox that had a beautiful marsh scene on it. They were able to recreate the original work and bring new life to the scene. From then on, they were given all the painting jobs that required any amount of artistry. “As I found myself taking on more and more projects and developing my creativity and skills,” says Shaw, “I started thinking of myself as an artist. Scarborough Marsh is the perfect place to find the inspiration to start. The winding river, dancing grasses, and ever-changing nature of the marsh produce a beauty so compelling that even people who shy away from a brush are drawn to create.”
Find inspiration with us for Brush With Nature Day on Saturday, August 8, as we celebrate art and nature at the marsh all day long. Four Maine artists will lead workshops and we’ll have family crafting activities and Maine artwork for sale in the Nature Store.
“There’s a stillness in the marsh that makes you slow down and really look at the way the colors shift with the tide, the small movements of the birds, the textures in the grasses,” says artist Kristin Fuhrmann-Simmons, who will lead a Sunrise Watercolor workshop from 8 to 9:30 am. She will demonstrate watercolor techniques and show how to create a composition inspired by the marsh.
Next, join Maine artist Rebekah Lowell on a canoe tour through the marsh from 10 to 11:30 am for Nature Sketching by Canoe. Artists of all ages and abilities will have a unique opportunity to sketch from a different perspective in a beautiful aquatic environment. “The life that exists in the marsh is varied and unique, creating a never-ending source of wonder,” says Lowell.
Bird Warde, who is leading a workshop on Nature Journaling for Birders at 2 pm, says, “Scarborough Marsh has such a special place in my heart. Countless friendships have started here over finding new birds, chasing vagrants from far away countries, and sharing stories of the marsh’s past. I feel so lucky to live so close to such an amazing place full of personal and artistic inspiration.”
Daisy Hutt of Tannery Brook Studio will lead Sculpting Nature from 5:30 to 7 pm, where participants will work with natural elements and clay to create one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by the Scarborough Marsh. Hutt says, “The [marsh’s] diverse and abundant wildlife population become the subjects of many of my pieces. The colors of the water, sky, and flora are often the blueprint for my palette, and the overall landscape is a great reference for my abstract patterns and shapes.”
EVENTS
Family Nature Walk | Wednesdays, 10:30 am–12 pm
Cat Tales Story Hour (ages 3-5) | Aug 13; 10:30-11:30 am
Exploring Nature Through Art (ages 5-10) | Aug 11 and 25; 10:30 am–12 pm
Tiny Tot Tour (ages 3-5) | Aug 4 and 27; 10:30–11:30 am
Salt Marsh Explorers (ages 8-11) | Aug 20; 10:30 am–12 pm
Clayful Creations: Nature Pottery (ages 8-11) | Aug 6; 10:30 am–12 pm
Fantastic Flying Friends (ages 5-10) | Aug 18; 10:30 am–12 pm
Scarborough Marsh Audubon Center
92 Pine Point Road | 207-883-5100
