Jul 31 2010
On day 2 in Mineral King, S’s younger daughter woke up very excited to go fishing with Michael. She is highly competitive and it is reported that the first words from her mouth that a.m. were “I’m going to smoke that old man!”
“That old man” had to get his fly rod ready for the challenge. (He wasn’t worried.)
The girls used live crickets (gross!) and worms (also gross!)
“That old man” smoked the girls!
Jul 30 2010
If you have been a follower of this blog for 2 years, you may have read of my good friend S. (Did some painting in her dining room, and called her when I had a huge rattler that I was too weenie to deal with). We made arrangements for S and her 2 daughters to spend a few days with us in Mineral King. (Don’t worry about Mr. S - he was fishing in Alaska!) Wow, I sometimes forget how fun it is to see a newcomer’s excitement! S has been up before, but her daughters were in a state of high enthusiasm for the place. We first visited a waterfall that has a mining tunnel at the base:
The maps call it “Black Wolf” - we call it “Monarch”. Unless you have followed the somewhat sketchy trail to its base, you probably won’t recognize it from this angle.
It was creepy, slimy, dark, wet and cold in the tunnel. Doesn’t that sound inviting? 
Saw a wild rose, which isn’t all that common in Mineral King!
We barbecued pizza for dinner and enjoyed it around a warming fire. It is so shocking to want a fire when it is 100+ degrees down the hill!
Jul 29 2010
There is a flower that blooms in profusion in Mineral King. It has been incorrectly called “mule ears”, “arnica” and “sneezeweed”. I know all those, and this isn’t them. It appears to be in the sunflower family and always looks scraggly, even when first in bloom.
I tend to think of it as “oh, that yellow thing”. But look at That Yellow Thing in a group:
Jul 28 2010
Jul 27 2010
This is the before and after of today’s painting session:
Doesn’t look as if there is a great deal of real estate to be covered here. Looks can fool you! Because each photo was taken from a different vantage point, I keep getting confused as to which level of rocks, individual rocks, trees and shrubs are coming from which photo!
My back sort of hurts from shoving that boulder over. It is a weird shape now, but my photo has it cut off. I’ll work on a more believable redesign tomorrow, along with finishing all that white space and getting the trail to turn to the left.
Jul 26 2010
One day I was just speeding along my walk, minding my own beeswax, trying to keep up the pace, and WHAM! I threw on the brakes and went marching up to the kitchen window of some friends’ house because I recognized my own paintings! Just kind of surprised me - like unexpectedly seeing the face of a long lost friend.
Jul 25 2010
One of the best things that ever happens to working artists is receiving a check in the mail for paintings sold, especially when one has forgotten about said paintings! I sent 6 paintings of beachy things to Lady Spencer in Cayucos, California. Gina is an old friend from Exeter, and her store is full of lovely items from various artists. We’ve talked for years of her selling my art, and it took years for us to find the right plan. (Of course, by dragging it out, each time I visit the Central Coast I had an excuse to see Gina and call it a business trip!) She believes that more than just beachy subjects will have a market; I trust Gina’s instinct and experience. Here is what I am sending her next:
Okay, they are just begun in this photo. The flag will be a gift for someone who has gone above and beyond the call of volunteerism on the mural. The large poppy painting is a commission. (K, are you reading this??)
Jul 23 2010
South facing murals fade the fastest. The Exeter Mural Team has this magic stuff that causes the color to return to its original brightness. I was stunned at the brilliance and the renewed contrast in this mural after they juiced it up!
Jul 21 2010
This week I met several mural team members at The Wall to discuss our options in dealing with our mechanical snags. We formulated a plan, and after they do what they have to do, I’ll be back on the wall. While at the wall, I did a bit of sketching because I was there and the only thing worse than getting up at 5 a.m. is wasting it! It is a little risky, because my historical consultants and I aren’t entirely convinced that this is the original Mt. Whitney Power Co. cabin. It appears as such on the Mineral King Preservation Society website. The question is that it also looks like the type of cabin built by Windy Stevens, about whom I do not have adequate information. . . perhaps he wasn’t around when the Mt. Whitney Power Co. was. Perhaps the MWPC used his plans. More will be revealed (if I am diligent AND lucky!)
First I painted it in green. It was wrong, so I repainted it in brown. (Hard to tell the difference in color here!)
Jul 16 2010
I have decided that there are 3 kinds of sky colors applicable to my painting:
Blick.com had a great sale on 10×10″ canvases. Since I have enjoyed the 6×6″ squares so much, I decided to try these. There may be a show in Sequoia over Labor Day, and it makes sense to paint subjects that are relevant to that area. These are all from photos that I have used in the past, but the square format adds a challenge and makes them look new.
