"Givhans Ferry Community Center"
18" x 24"
Plein Air Oil on Canvas
copyright by Artist, Brenda Hofreiter
This painting was completed on location at Givhans Ferry State Park in Ridgefield, South Carolina during my artist residency there. In it's early days, overland travelers used an old ferry crossing on this site to go to and from Charleston. Givhans Ferry State Park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's along the limestone bluffs of the Edisto River. The cabins they built are still in use at the park today. The building in this painting is now the park office and community center and during a tour of it during my residency, I explored the vestiges of the old ferry consession downstairs. The Edisto is the longest free-flowing blackwater river on the continent, and this state park sits along the 56-mile stretch known as the Edisto River Canoe and Kayak Trail. The park’s riverbanks are protected as a Heritage Trust site and it is situated in the National Heritage corridor that extends more than 240 miles through the state. You can find out more about the park's history, etc. by clicking on this link: http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park/1219.aspx
This is one of 4 paintings I created during my week-long artist 's residency at the park. The Park Department chose my painting of the Edisto River canoe river landing for their perminent colletion. I'll put up the others on the site in the months to come for you to see. This scene caught my eye in the early morning light. The old oak cast lace-like light patterns on the wall of the Community Center and the sunlight filtering through it's branches caused bits of the underbrush to burst into the light. It had rained the night before, and the morning mist was rising from the river bank creating a shimmering dreamlike distance and setting the building in sharp relief. The 18" x 24" size presented a challenge in capturing the rapidly changing shadow patterns and mist before the climbing sun could burn it off. But I'm a sucker for a challenge, and I like the way it turned out, don't you?
