Angel and Panther Falls

Angel Falls, Acrylic on Paper, 9×12″, 2/18/19
Panther Falls, Acrylic on Paper, 9×12″, 2/16/19

Those of you who who talk to me often may have heard me mention that time in the basement of the bank has a tendency to drag. I admit occasionally I wish I could be using those 40+ hours a week in a different way. However my friend Tony has helped me think of it from a different perspective. He said that as American artists we cannot expect to have patrons like some other countries still do. (Though I am not sure that there is anywhere today where patrons like the Medici, the Catholic Church or royal families are commissioning grand pieces.) He believes we should consider our day job as our patron. He has shifted his thinking so that instead of considering his non-art work as preventing him from creating, he appreciates that it makes his art possible. He also pointed out that this gives us total independence to focus on the art we are moved to make. No one is going to force us to paint ceilings when we would rather be carving marble. I have made a concentrated effort to adopt this view.

Moss covered wall near the beginning of the trail

This shift in thinking is made easier when a bank holiday gives us a three day weekend. A full extra day to do with as I please is such a treat. There was no question in my mind that what I wanted to do with this most recent one was hike and and make art. Last week I checked the forecast over and over hoping and praying that it would stop calling for rain and clouds all weekend. The forecast never really improved, but luckily the weatherman was wrong. We got an absolutely gorgeous day on Saturday and Monday morning was clear and sunny as well. I was able to go back over to Lake Rabun and do the hike to Angel and Panther Falls and paint there twice.

The trail is an easy mile from the Lake Rabun Recreation Area to Panther Falls, then a more challenging half mile up to Angel Falls. It stays close to the water almost the whole way, and there are tons of rhododendron, which are difficult to paint, but lovely to look at. I painted the lower falls Saturday and the upper ones Monday. It is interesting that looking at both of them propped up next to each other back at my house they look very similar, but the experience of painting them was remarkably different.

On Saturday there was a fair amount of drama along the edges of the day. Two coworkers and I has planned the outing together, unfortunately one of them had a fender bender on the way and had to cancel. The other hit traffic, but Google maps and I did a much better job with navigation than the last time and I was able to get there in just over 30 minutes. I got there half an hour early and saw that the recreation area was closed. (for the winter?) I parked at the alternative trail head and as soon as I got out of my car I realized I had made a mistake. It has been raining in Georgia for weeks on end and I had placed my poor little red car in extremely soft ground. I tried to go ahead and move but the wheels just spun. I do not claim to know very much about cars but I do know that continued spinning will just make things worse. I walked down to the closed parking lot and filled my pockets with gravel. I brought it back and placed it behind the wheels and then decided to do my best Scarlet O’Hara impression and not to think about it until later. I did not even mention it to my coworker when she arrived with her cute little dog in tow. I had honestly forgotten about it by the time we crossed the first little foot bridge. Since I have gotten used to hiking by myself it took me a few minutes to remember how to be a considerate hiking companion, but we found our pace.

There was a family with children playing at the first falls when we got to them so so we just rested for a moment and then continued on up the trail. Not far above Panther Falls there are some shoals that are dramatic enough that I thought maybe they were the second water fall. We almost did not continue up the trail, but neither of us wanted to risk missing anything so we kept going. Angel Falls is much taller but there are so many rhododendrons that you cannot even see it all at once. There was a couple about half way up in what looked like a very picturesque spot. I tried what looked like might be a trail to the left of the falls but soon found that I was mistaken and slid myself back down to safety. A second couple then showed up and made their way up what looked like a trail on the right side of the trail. When they did not immediately come back down we decided to follow them. Because of the challenge of the little dog my friend turned around. I made it up a bit farther, pulling myself up on the larger rhodedendrens, when I came up across the second couple trying to turn around and head back down.

We carefully traded spots on the steep slippery slope and I continued climbing until I came to a beautiful little hidden cascade on a stream that runs parallel to the one feeding the large falls. It was a magical feeling spot, the light flickering through the leaves, the sound of the water. I let myself get a bit mesmerized and while moving closer to get another picture slipped and slid down the bank. I was not hurt, but it was sobering and I was reminded (again) I need to stick to well-established trails. I had carefully made my way about halfway back to the deck at the base of the falls when I realized my phone was no longer in my pocket. I climbed back to where I had slipped, found it waiting patiently in the leaves, and then did what was really just a controlled slide back down to the trail.

Walking back to Panther Falls and finding a spot to paint was uneventful. We sat there for about 1 1/2 hours. My friend was very patient and told me stories about what is going on in her life while I worked on my painting. Other hikers stopped by and a few checked out my painting and seemed to like. Several asked if I sold them. I did not have a good answer, but I am going to work on that. After a while the sun went behind the clouds, it started getting cold, and as soon as the painting was finished we packed up and hiked out. It was not until the parking lot was in sight that I remembered about my car and the mud. It will come as a surprise to no one that the amount of gravel that fits in my sweatshirt pockets was not enough for my tires to get traction, but luckily there was a wonderful group of people coming off the trail at the same time who helped me enormously. I was so grateful I did not have to spend the evening sitting there waiting for AAA to send a tow truck to rescue me.

Sunday rained just as much as the weather man had warned. I taught Sunday school and went to the tattoo shop, but Monday once the kids were off to school all I wanted to do was go back and paint the other waterfall. Having my coffee I decided that even if it was cloudy if I bundled up I would be fine, so I went, but the layers were not needed. The sun came out, the sky was clear and I parked in a very solid parking spot. I made great time to the very top of the trail where I experimented with a blissful little practice my friend Richard had talked to me about, then I painted for 3 full hours. There is an observation deck with a bench is very comfortable for someone whose back and shoulders might have been a bit sore from some sliding. The finished piece may not really show it, but I laid down layer after layer of different greens to try and get the feel for the rhododendrons on either side. I found the end result very satisfying.

I am so thankful to my patron day job and the forces behind the weather for such a delightful weekend.

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