The turtle stands watch over the garden. A small waterfall trickles down, grass waving lethargically in the breeze. A stone path leads out of the garden. All in watercolors.

Garden Sentinel, a painting by Alice Shire currently on display at the Marion Art Center as part of the Watercolors! exhibit, evokes a clam tranquility ideal for the watercolors medium.  Watercolors! features the work of local artists Alice Shire, Veronique Bale, Marian Christy, Judy Carver and Sarah Brown and is on display until July 19. It consists of 56 paintings, three of which are displayed in the Marion General Stores’ front window.

“Watercolors have been my first love since my first class at Mass Art,” says Shire, a Marion resident and retired art teacher who worked for 39 years in the Duxbury schools.

“We usually do a watercolors show every year,” says Deborah Bokelkamp, director of the Marion Art Center.  “Watercolors are a medium that speaks to everyone, the paintings are beautiful.”

“There were about 100 people at the opening,” Bokelkamp continues.  “We’ve had significant traffic here since as well.”

With paintings of beachscapes, country homes and rustic gardens the exhibit strikes a chord with small Oceanside town residents.  With the vibrant watercolors bringing the shades of summer to life, the exhibit has experienced brisk sales and high traffic.

“It’s the beginning of summer so things are picking up around here,” says Bokelkamp.

Preparations for the exhibit began several months ago, well before summer was in full swing.  A call to artists went out and the five artists featured were then selected.

“Deborah asked me if I wanted to be in it so I said okay,” says Shire.  “I had to create maybe five or six new pieces over those several months.  I don’t go start to finish though.  First I sit and let what I have dry and then I come back. I try to work everyday.”

With each picture providing a snapshot of life common to Marion it is no surprise that sales have been strong and the exhibit is considered successful already.

“Sales have been wonderful,” says Bokelkamp.

“A painting should be like a poem,” says Shire.  “You can break a poem down line by line and create a new poem.  A painting should be the same, you should be able to break it down and get a new painting.  That’s what I strive for in my work.”

Watercolors! will be on exhibit at the Marion Art Center until July 19.  For more information call 508-748-1266 or email marionartcenter@verizon.net.