A Place to Rest

Artist: Pam Haunschild

Format: Watercolor on board, varnished, black wood float frame

Dimensions: 16" x 20" x 2"

Description:

A washed-up tree root on Bandon Beach becomes something almost cathedral-like in this piece — its branches rendered in interlocking lines of slate blue, rust, and violet, more architecture than driftwood. Pam Haunschild photographed the original snag and then spent the painting following its patterns outward, letting the wood's natural geometry carry the composition. Tucked into the structure, a small shorebird pauses mid-journey. "These snags and piles of wood are important for birds to rest on during their long migration journeys," Haunschild notes — and they shelter other wildlife too, quiet infrastructure in the beach ecosystem that's easy to walk past without noticing. This piece asks you to notice.