County Road 12: The story behind the new Lake Martin mural

ALEX CITY, Ala. (WSFA) - The ride to the lake just got a whole lot more exciting in Alex City. Get ready for a big welcome if your’re heading to Wind Creek State Park on Lake Martin.

″I’ve never done one quite this big I don’t think," said artist Charles Forbus. “I would guess it’s 200 feet to the end of the wall.”

It all started when the owners of this new Patriot Fueling Center came up with an idea.

″I’d been looking, really dreaming of doing something like this, a Lake Martin mural. Rodney Walker and his partner Larry Morris had this wall they wanted to do something to besides concrete," Forbus said.

So they exchanged ideas, and then section by section, artist Charles Forbus went to work.

″Once I did the first section and realized I wasn’t a quarter of the way through, I realized I was going to be here awhile. I probably had 12-14 days doing it," Forbus said.

It shows off the best Lake Martin has to offer: Chimney Rock, Children’s Harbor, Hank Williams overlooking Kowaliga Restaurant, water sports, fishing, and a whole lot more. It took a lot of paint.

″Some things I would spray, some I would airbrush, some I would paint brush, and other things I would just roll," Forbus said.

The mural is done, the gas station should be open in mid June, so what does Forbus think about the finished product?

“I had been here and seen the sun come over the building and my wife wanted to see it. We pulled up and I was like ‘I did that,'" Forbus said.

He sure did, adding an exclamation mark to one of the entrances to Lake Martin.

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