You Can Observe a Lot by Just Watching - Yogi Berra

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

Sunrise River II Oil John Hulsey

I learned a valuable lesson one day as I was sitting on the boardwalk in Constitution Marsh, on the Hudson River near where we used to live. I hadn’t started a painting yet. I was just sitting quietly soaking up the scene—one I had painted many times before. Some people came noisily along, looked around for a few moments, and finding nothing to entertain them, left. A moment later, a large Osprey swooped down right in front of me, plucked a big fish out of the water, and headed off down river. Although it only took seconds, it seemed to happen in slow motion. I could see every feather on the big raptor as he executed this move in perfect rhythm, never breaking stride. It was a moment I’ll never forget and an impressive instruction to sit quietly and let Nature come to us. I also learned that by sitting motionless for a time, we become more or less invisible to wildlife, and they will sometimes get very close t…