Painting at Raes Creek Park in downtown Augusta

Sunday morning the other Margaret, Alma and I went watercoloring at the Raes Creek Park almost in the heart of Augusta. Who knew this was there right by the Augusta Canal??? The Augusta Canal was built in conjunction with industrialist from Lowell MA and Charles Olmsted (he of Central Park Fame) to bring water to the cotton mills that were in downtown Augusta...at the time i am sure this was on the outskirts of town.

Raes Creek is a huge creek that also feeds the Augusta National...winding across the famed 16th whole in Amen Corner as well as feeds a large lake named after Mr. Olmsted not far from the Masters...

In all the years i have lived in Augusta which is TOO many I have never heard of this place...and there was a great waterfall there as well as a swimming hole! This is a watercolor and photo journal of our morning there...mine ended in great gales of sneezing which still has not stopped despite my inhaling of antihistamine...this plein aire is NOT good for the health:> So did i paint the waterfalls...not really....i painted the ferns...on Fabriano Artistico with wc pencil and finished with WN watercolors. I really need to learn how to keep the background paper white...MAYBE taping it first?? be less messy? And then i painted a small portion of the waterfalls... the rocks were mostly black so did i use purple or blue as i normally would have NOPE...next time i will...did you know that water falls are REALLY hard to paint when you dont have any masking medium in the middle of the woods?!there were several large gears on this bike path over the canal...evidently this is part of a lock which SOMEONE opened about one oclock and tried to flood us out...read on!!! A shot of the waterfalls from the bottoms ...arent they gorgeous...this might be Augustas best kept secret...there was only a handful of people there enjoying the perfect 80 spring weather

The ferns on the rock wall that i painted

We were hoping that this did not meant that someone was murdered here since the park is in whats considered a rough part of town.

Incredible knarled tree roots

the coolest tree that was at the top of the falls...i had to lighten this shot because it was too dark to really see the tree

My ferns are at the top of this side fall

the falls from top to bottom

The pool at the bottom of the falls and the race that leads up to the canal

More scenery...alot of that famous Georgia granite...probably from the same seam that runs up to Stone Mountain

about one pm SOMEONE opened those gears...remember that big gear that i posted at the top of the page?...and water started pouring down the race to the pond...we thought it MIGHT fill up the falls too so I had to pack up ...i was on the far side of the falls and would not have been able to cross had it filled...the hazards of plein aire!

From the top of the race

A wide shot of the race boiling into the pool where kids had been happily swimming moments before!

Long forgotten lovers carved their intials on this tree

King Mill an old now defunct mill two blocks from what was considered the heart of Augusta. Embellished with crenellations and towers it was built from the bricks of the old Confederate Powder works that stood at this site.on the Augusta Canal built by Chinese Laborers in the 1800s.

All that remains of the Confederate powder works.