Recently I posted a poll asking the members of the Summerville Artist Guild what their favorite local plein air locations were. Hands down, there was a resounding vote of “Edisto” with one mention of Mepkin Abby and Magnolia Gardens. Their “Edisto” vote was referring to the beautiful beach area at Edisto Island about an hour from Summerville. It is lovely. It's my favorite beach too.
As I was painting this week, I thought of how much I like Edisto. Not Edisto Island or Edisto Beach, but the other Edisto. The one none of the other artists around here seem to notice. The Edisto. The Edisto River is the longest unobstructed free flowing blackwater river in the world. The Edisto, with its tea colored water, flows quietly past Givhans Ferry State Park, about 10 minutes from my house.
Givhans is the same place where I have been enjoying the Edisto Blackwater Boogie for the last four years.
Coincidentally, the Blackwater Boogie usually happens during the same time as the Edisto Plein Air Paint out, which is held on Edisto Island. Every time I talk about Edisto, my artist friends think I am talking about the island or beach.
As I worked on my latest watercolor scene, just left of the boat ramp at Givhans Ferry along the Edisto, I mused that maybe I should be the ambassador of the “other Edisto.” I wasn’t plein air painting. This week was too cold for all that. I took some fall photos of the river while I was at the Edisto Blackwater Boogie in November. I painted one scene on location during the music festival. It is gradually turning into one of my favorite subjects. https://open.substack.com/pub/jadedjoyologist/p/musings?r=18rxe0&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
