Ravine Gardens Entry

Posted on by Thor

Ravine Gardens State Park was a Works Projects Administration (WPA) project completed in 1933. Located at 1600 Twigg St, Palatka, FL, this 152 acre park is a real gem. The park contains steep head ravines surrounding Whitewater Branch, a spring-fed stream that flows east into the Saint Johns River.

I did this sketch of the entry walkway after a long day of hiking on the Azalea trail. I was sweaty and exhausted and needed a rest so I sat down and sketched. I figured out the movement of the sun to be sure I would remain in the shade for the duration of the sketch.

The stone work on all these trellis columns is identical to the stone work on the front facade of the Yalaha Studio. There must be about 25 sets of columns on each side of the walkway because each section had a plaque with a state name and a place to hang the state flag. It must be an impressive sight when all the state flags are hung and they waved in the breeze.

There is a 60-foot obelisk dedicated to Franklin D. Roosevelt at the end of the Court of States walkway with three stone cone shapes fountains. Ravine Gardens is one of the nine New Deal-era state parks in Florida. On holiday weekends, the park displays among the stone and wood pillars the flags of the 48 states that were in the Union when the park was established.

Blue Spring State Park.

Posted on by Thor

For my birthday, Pam Schwartz got me two fountain pens to draw with.We also decided to take the day off, and go to Blue Spring (2100 W. French Avenue Orange City, FL 32763). She has a kayak and there are also rentals, so we explored the spring and the Saint Johns River. Pam had a waterproof bag to hold any art supplies and phones. We seem to have amazing luck seeing wildlife anytime we explore around Orlando. We kayaked down a tiny tributary that is not very accessible to normal sized boats. The prows of our kayaks split the river grass until the stream once again opened up. Beautiful white flowers were just opening up on Lilly pads.

On a more open stretch, we spotted a river otter swimming back and forth across the stream. He must have been on the hunt for fish and he didn’t seem to mind our presence. He swam towards us for a closer look. Large birds were building nests in the brush and I could hear the chicks as we floated by. When we paddled into Blue Spring itself, we came across a manatee that was slowly making her way out towards the open river water. The spring water is much clearer than the river water making the manatee easy to see. She approached Pam’s kayak and boop-snooted her boat to say hello. Pam got some amazing photos before the manatee decided to gently swim out to the murky river.

I had brought along my snorkel and mask and we decided to hike upstream to the source of the spring. The water is a constant 73 degrees year round. The stream is surprisingly strong. It is hard to imagine that much water gushing up from a single hole in the ground. 102 million US gallons (390,000 m3) of water flow out of Blue Spring into the St. Johns River every day. At the large watering hole at Blue Springs source, we found a large rock to sit on and I got out my new fountain pen to try out. Unknown to me, the ink was not waterproof, so when I added watercolor to the sketch, the ink bleed into each color I applied. Flesh tones quickly turned black. Rather than fight the new media, I just let it be and applied very light washes. Back at the studio later, I replaced the ink with Noodler’s ink, which is waterproof, and now the pen is in constant use every day.

Swimming over the Blue Spring itself is amazing. You have to kick hard to go against the stream. I dove down to a tree trunk which had fallen over the stream below the water’s surface. Water pressure in my ears kept me from going down any further, but I could see scuba divers down below me exploring the depths. I much prefer exploring above the water where pen lines and washes can capture any scene in some form or another.