Can you see her?

With over 450 acres, Maudsley State Park in Newburyport would seem to be a perfect place to find a quiet spot far from any distractions for a brief interlude of painting rhododendrons, azaleas and laurels in full springtime dress.

Well... while painting in my quiet zone, there were the ticks and mosquitoes, inquisitive unleashed dogs, forest rangers tromping through the brush tagging trees needing to be culled and joggers who tell me they have observed multiple sightings of  painters dotting the woods and fields.  Is that right?

And then there comes a moment when all is quiet,  I look up from my work to assess my painting progress. Not more then twenty feet from my easel, a tawny doe quietly steps and passes through my picture plane.  Right there between the scraggy rhododendron and trees hither. Can you see her?

You won't be the first not to see her. A few years ago, a trail guide was taking me through the woods at Ipswich Sanctuary. He abruptly stopped on the path and pointed. Do you see them? What? The deer. Right there! No, I don't see any deer. Are you fooling with me?  In the next few minutes I tried my hardest to see those animals camouflaged in the woods.  Frustration set in.  I clearly couldn't see what the guide saw so plainly.  Maybe I should of been painting at that time?