I started this riverscape yesterday evening … prep sketch for the “Sandbar” commission I’ll start later in the week. This picture is 24x20, much smaller than the commission will be, and covers only the focal point of the scene. As simple as this composition appears to be, it’s still vital to work out any drawing problems before ever starting the larger picture. No matter how beautifully rendered, a representational painting with underlying drawing deficiencies will never suspend the disbelief of the viewer.
This storied location is beloved to me. You are looking due north up the Chattahoochee River where it forms the border between Georgia and Alabama — Georgia’s west coast — the view from the bridge connecting Fort Gaines to, a few miles away, Abbeville Alabama. My studio was atop the bluff that rose 80 feet above this sandbar. The little studio building, constructed of reclaimed materials from the region, was outfitted with wavy glass windows all along the river side and the longer north wall. The windows came from a restored Victorian … why they wanted to replace the beautiful old ones still baffles me … but I was happy to have them. I did some good work in that studio, and still miss the place.
Years ago the sandbar was a forbidden destination for adventurous teens. Most of the locals have tender memories of the place … coming of age, party stories from a different time. I hiked down there once or twice, but the old river road, abandoned years ago, is almost completely covered over, and was passable (with difficulty) only in winter. In the early 1900’s Fort Gaines was a thriving river port, and the bluff was buzzing with wharfs and warehouses … and, from what I have heard, lots of border-town style misbehavior. After all of that …. the sandbar remains. I think that’s why I love rivers so much … they just keep going where they’re going, with the glorious indifference of purpose.
