Cardinals at Rest

In Cardinals at Rest, Merrill Coffin captures a serene winter moment where color, light, and life coexist in quiet balance. Two brilliant male cardinals and a female cardinal perch gracefully among the branches of a birch tree, their scarlet and tawny feathers glowing against the pale bark. A fourth male cardinal rests nearby on the wooden post of a barbed wire fence, his vivid red plumage providing a striking focal point against the muted winter tones.

Beyond the birds, a golden field lies lightly dusted with snow, its soft texture shimmering under a gentle winter light. Young saplings, touched by snow, rise delicately in the mid-ground while the fence trails off into the distance, leading the eye toward a backdrop of birch and pine trees fading into a misty grey horizon.

The composition reflects Merrill Coffin’s gift for observing nature’s rhythm — finding beauty in stillness and warmth in the cold. His handling of tone and texture evokes the hush of a late winter morning, where every sound is softened and every color feels sacred.

Cardinals at Rest is a quiet celebration of companionship and endurance — a portrait of nature’s resilience through the long Western New York season.

Private Collection of Daniel and Sandy Nagurney