Salt Marsh Ecosystem, 2025 28x32 watercolor and gouache on watercolor paper

Nelson’s Sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Semi-palmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla), 2025, 5x7 watercolor

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes), 2025, 10x14, watercolor

Saltmeadow cordgrass (Spartina patens), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Glasswort (Salicornia europaea), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Carolina Sea-lavender (Limonium carolinianum), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Common Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Sea-Run Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax), 2025, 5x7, watercolor

This series of paintings was commissioned by the Downeast Salmon Federation for their salt marsh restoration project on the West Branch of the Pleasant River, located in Addison Point, Maine.

In addition to providing vital habiat for a multitude of plants and animals, salt marshes are carbon sinks: marsh grasses (such as Spartina Alterniflora and Spartina Patens) absorb carbon from the air and keep it trapped within their root mass inside the marsh peat. Salt marshes remove 10x more carbon from the air than rainforests.