cabinart weblog

This is French for “on site” and means you paint outside while viewing your subject in person. I tried it a few times but couldn’t get my colors mixed fast enough. (and no one talked about all the bugs that prefer a non-moving target)I ended up with a morning view and an afternoon view. Both sold, so someone liked my efforts!This past weekend up in the Land of No Electricity I did my own version of plein air painting - paint outside, but work from photos. This is because I have certain things that need to get painted, I’d rather be up the hill when it is hot, and there is better light outside than inside. Plein air, sort of.

Wow, that was a great turnout last night! Thank you for coming! Those who came heard that there are 12 hidden things but only were shown 4 of them. They also learned of the 2 dumbest questions and the 3 most annoying comments. I could have gone on about the mural for 3 hours, but it was kind of hot out and the food would have run short before I got any. (no starving for this artist!) Wish I had had the opportunity to speak with every one there and name each person who helped make the mural happen. There will be a little 3-dimensional effect, and possibly a larger 3-dimensional effect. More will be revealed. Meanwhile, have a look at some hidden items:You probably can tell the first is a coffee pot; the second is NOT a purse but a fishing creel; the third is NOT Sasquatch but a running girl. She isn’t fat - that is her sweatshirt billowing. She isn’t holding a scarf - that is my attempt to blend her into the snow patches in a natural manner.

The simplest things can really make me happy. The building where I paint is developing into a great studio space with the help of my dear hubby. Yesterday he installed some pegboard so there is more space for hanging paintings in progress, AND he cleared out a few more shelves so the mural paints can be put away instead of stacked on the floor. Wow!

You may notice there is a bridge theme; currently all three of Tulare County’s beautiful bridges are in progress in my studio. (I do love those bridges!

You can see that there are quite a few new ones in progress. Sometimes I just draw them on with a paintbrush first; The one on the righthand easel is an example of that. Then I begin painting from front to back as you can see by the finished sky here. Other times I just start painting and do the entire piece in one day.  The lower painting on the bottom pegboard photo (phew, did you follow that??) is an example of an all-in-one painting started and finished today. This is called Long Way There III; I have painted it 3 times before, but one didn’t get titled (I hope).

“. . . and I have this project.” Those words can be a big OH-OH or they can signal an adventure on the way. Now that I know how to paint, those words are most often in the adventure category. When you are an artist, especially one who makes her living rather than being a hobbyist, people ask the strangest things! Here is my latest adventure:This is not a funny looking tablecloth but a patio umbrella! It has some sort of water resistant stuff on it, so it has to be rather forcefully persuaded to take the paint. Several layers into the process it gets easier to spread the color around. It needs more, but I ran out of workday today, as usual.Remember this? It sold today.

Painting and talking is harder than walking and chewing gum. When my studio was public, it was almost impossible to carry on a conversation while I had a pencil in my hand. Necessity dictated that I learn the skill, because if I spent the day visiting with customers and didn’t draw, there would be nothing to sell! When I started teaching drawing lessons, it was really hard to complete a sentence with a pencil in my hand. (No, I wasn’t having a conversation with the pencil - I should have typed “while holding a pencil in my hand”!) It took practice. Now I find it delightful to have visitors to my studio, especially if they have lots to talk about. It is like talk radio minus the commercials and with people I know and love! (thanks for coming by this week, Gina and Ashley!) This was a prolific week, but I will only tease you with one painting at a time! I know I showed this to you earlier, but now it gets a “real” photo because it is really finished except for a bit more drying time.

Tunnel Log, oil on wrapped canvas, 12″x16″, $200

I never tire of these poppies!

 Thank you to those who have inquired about purchasing mural merchandise. I have contacted the Mural Team to see how they would like to handle long distance orders. I have learned that the tee shirts are $18, the mugs and mousepads $7 apiece. If you are in California, there is also (astronomical) sales tax.  I hope to learn soon if they will take orders by phone and do the shipping. . . more will be revealed!

How can it accurately be called an “unveiling”? Okay, it’s not! It is a celebration of the completion of MINERAL KING, IN OUR BACKYARD! That is the name so aptly coined by my husband, Michael. Here are the details: Thursday, June 25, 6 p.m. at the mural. It is in the 100 NORTH block of E Street, between Pine and Palm in downtown Exeter. Dinner (tri-tip sandwiches) will be available to those who arrived there first for a minimal charge. You will have the chance to buy mural merchandise, as shown here:Mouse pad, mug (2 sides of the same one shown), and tee shirts available in 2 colors. The only price I know is that the tee shirts are $18 each. The picture is on the backside and it says Exeter, A Festival of Arts on the front. 

Did the title worry you? Blue is my favorite color, not my state of mind! When I was new to gardening, I looked and looked for blue flowers. There aren’t very many in the domestic gardening world, which I found to be a bit disappointing. However, there are lots of blues in the wildflower world, a surprising number! Here are 3 I saw over the weekend in Mineral King (and on the way up). There were more, but my camera wasn’t always with me or the road wasn’t safe for a photo shoot at that site.Penstemmon encompasses many different colors and types, but this one is my favorite!Languid Ladies are also called Sierra Bluebells; they are profuse this year! Sometimes they come in pink or white, but “whitebells” or “pinkbells” just don’t sound right.Sierra Forget-me-nots are an unforgettable blue; they are also called Sierra Stickseeds because the seeds stick to your boots. Sometimes they also come in pink. 

These are all Crescent Meadow and its surrounding areas. There is so much to see there, so many interesting sites and sights. I painted these 4 (of which you have seen 3 in previous postings) to be hung as a grouping.  They are each 8×10″ and on that thicker canvas. The fence is right next to Tharp’s Log where Hale Tharp spent his summers near Crescent Meadow. I have seen the meadow in all seasons and find it most inviting in the summer as you see it here.