cabinart weblog

Just wanted to say HB to 2 dear friends with whom I have shared many wonderful times and am hoping for many more!

While at the family reunion in North Carolina, I had a most interesting conversation with Cousin Don. He said his dad, Uncle Lank (derived from Langston), managed apple orchards at the Moses Cone estate. It is now a part of the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park (or is it a monument?).  There are miles of trails that used to be carriage roads. Cousin Don told me the apple orchards aren’t there any more and that it is “all grown up” so one can’t recognize where the orchards used to be. I thought about it, and asked him what he meant by “all grown up”. He  said that the orchards had reverted to the native trees and other growth. I told him that “all grown up” in California means there is now a subdivision or a mall or a freeway where an orchard used to be. Isn’t North Carolina refreshing?? Here is one of the apple barns where Uncle Lank worked:

(told you it was foggy!)

After a very productive week in the studio, I returned to the wall today and was greeted by this sight:

This is Channel 26’s Great Day camera man and reporter Clayton Clark.

Clayton did a fake-out while I was unloading my supplies.

He wore a little thingie in his ear so the folks back in the Fresno studio could communicate with him. He did a little “teaser” every so often, and then interviewed someone every 15 minutes.

Here they are with Randy Groom, the new Exeter City Manager.

Clayton did some actual painting and enjoyed it enough that he painted when the camera wasn’t even on him. Made me feel like Tom Sawyer.

I let him add his name to the helper signature section. While there, I found a message from Marilyn and the Uganda ladies! Made my day!

These folks saw us on teevee and stopped by to help.

This was definitely the most social and least productive day yet!

Didn’t want you all to think all I do is stand before an easel - I DO have a life. Sort of. Okay, maybe it is more of a Cat Disorder, but it is MY Cat Disorder and I am quite content with this state (even though I know I can’t just quit anytime I want.)

Kaweah Kitty hates it when I take a break and is always on hand to help me find my way back to the painting workshop. (try to be polite about her tail - she can’t help it)

She has a tendency to lie underfoot - obviously she feels quite safe despite the fact that I might accidentally squash her when I step back to view the easel contents.

Butch just hunkers down in the RV garage and yells when I walk past. Poor little guy is an orphan and we don’t know what happened to Cashmere and O’Reilly.

Sometimes he comes outside, but he is skittish in the extreme. We can pet him now, but only on his terms. It took from November until May - that is a record! (not a good one - no idea how we will get him “fixed”)

Check out that non-tail. It’s why we call him Butch. Looks like a Manx, talks like a Siamese, acts like a psycho.

Exeter’s murals are really special, and it is due to a very dedicated team of volunteers. They do extra things that keep Exeter ahead of the pack. Last night the finishing touches were added to Mineral King: In Our Back Yard that really set it off. Look at these fabulous, over-sized, three-dimensional photo corners!

Now, when visitors ask me, “How’dju git them pichers on there?” I will simply say “With them there corner thingies!”

The German Shepherd is named Dante, and there is no rush, thank goodness! I’ve never painted an animal before, so I’ll need all the time that the customer will allow me to learn how. The almost blank canvas will become redbud blooms. And the dancing feet deserve their own photo, because this is a special little project for my dancing friend, Sierra Swinney.

Sierra has been accepted into some Big Deal Ballet Thing in Alabama this summer and it will cost her a ton of money. When this 4×6″ painting is finished, I will auction it on eBay and the money we earn will help her get to the Big Deal. (Yes, I know it is called something else, but more will have to be revealed in a later posting.)

Every time I paint this bridge, it sells. Obviously I am not alone in my obsession with it!  This is from photos provided by my dear friend Marilyn, taken when the redbud was in bloom. This is the first time I have painted it in a horizontal format. This is the largest I have painted it (18 x24″).  My plan is to finish it for the Creative Center show (June 24-August 21)

This isn’t exactly about designing the mural, but perhaps you’d like to see where the next mural will be. It is the 100 block of North E, but it is in an alley/parking lot and I don’t have an exact address. So, a picture or 3 might help:

It is on the north facing wall of the same alley where my previous mural is!

Do you remember my posting about the fat girl inside screaming to be left alone? You can see it here: http://cabinart.net/wordpress/?cat=6&paged=3 (Scroll down to “inner slob” posted on May 31) Now I have the solution to those flimsy chairs:

  These redwood chairs are made locally by Bob Kellogg of Three Rivers and when I sit in this, my legs stick out like Alice in Wonderland!

The new mural has been in the planning phase for over a year. It was requested that a mural be painted to the correct scale so that a person can stand in front of it and appear to be at the actual scene. To do that, I had to have people with me each time I visited a lake with a dam. There are 4 lakes with dams out of Mineral King. I knew that Eagle Lake most likely would not make a good candidate, so I only visited the other 3. My friends and family know that I am always working - thinking, planning and designing - so they have become accustomed to participating in rather unorthodox ways upon request. Here is Phoebe at Crystal Lake:

It is a fabulously beautiful place, and it might have worked for a mural. The dam is on the lower of the 2 lakes, and we all (Michael, Phoebe and I) prefer upper Crystal.

Here is Michael on upper Monarch Lake:

This lake is sort of hard to get to since there isn’t an exact trail. It would be good to know how the mules carrying all those sacks of cement got there!

This is the other JB at Franklin Lake. We were there in late August, and by then, I knew this would probably be the best candidate for a mural that could meet the specifications. It has a trail leading directly to the dam and there was a great photo available of the building process in 1904.