Today my dear sweet thoughtful capable friend Ellen helped me! She really really helped me! She declined any publicity photos, so instead you can see the tremendous progress we made together. She did the base coating that has been haunting me. Yes, I know this is sort of weird and not lined up, but lookylooky! I began second coating the bottom parts, adding detail, and as is my preference, working from left to right. The overwhelming need for completion somewhere on this wall is causing me to revisit the left end (thank you, dear Ellen for the common sense suggestion and for the help!) I’m not yet doing that odd brownish hill, because it would mean the projection signers would be covered up. As per instructions from Mr. Mural Team President, that won’t happen until the very end. (Aren’t I a good girl?)
Mural, Day Twenty-four
Today my friend Sandi called. She asked what I was doing, and I said i was wiping up blue paint from the bed of the truck. You know how paint glues the lids on the containers? Well, all you have to do is WHAP the lid smartly against a hard surface and it knocks it loose, just like that! (unless it splits the lid and paint flies everywhere).
Nice color. If I sit on that exact spot, I won’t get any splinters. (There’s always a bright side!)
Today the truck went forward about 8 feet and I began rebuilding Farewell Gap. The sloppy projection is still exacting its toll from my arse, literally. I had to just sit and study this thing and the photos and try to get it right. (Sitting on the truck means splinters.) It looks right now. S brought me a Dr. Pepper, oh joy, that is my guilty pleasure, Thank You, S! And I mixed the most perfect shade of gurple, which, as you may guess, is green + purple. (Former drawing student Robert and I decided that sounded better than “preen”, which was already taken anyway.) The trees in the distance are definitely gurple in color.
Mural, Day Twenty-three
MARTA, THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL LUNCH! THE SANDWICH WAS PERFECT, MUY FABULOSO!! Today I had beautiful wonderful perfect new brushes to use! Now Cabin Group Two is completed, and tomorrow I will move the truck forward and paint Farewell Gap! (Lord willing and the creek, etc.) Wow, lots of exclamation marks going on – must have been a great day!
Compare this view to the first day on this picture (Day Twenty). Further, I HID TWO ITEMS in the mural today. You’ll have to come see for yourself, and that’s all I’m gonna say about that! 😎
Mural, Day Twenty-two
Today my yarn shop called about some yarn I wanted – having no paper or pencil, I wrote the amount on the wall! Just doing what I can to keep the economy ticking along.
Here is the day’s progress – detail in the a.m. and broader stuff in the afternoon. Betsy brought an umbrella, and as the shadows lengthened throughout the afternoon, the umbrella became more and more effective. That seam in the wall is the half-way point! (I know, I keep telling you that, but it helps me to repeat it like a little kid saying “I won, I won” until you just want to smack him.)
The details are getting better and better, doncha think?? 😎 It took great discipline to stop fiddling with it when the wall heated up. Tomorrow I will buy some new brushes so the ones that are all splayed can be used for less precise tasks. Oh, today a most thoughtful gentleman inquired if I would like a cup of coffee. He then returned with black decaf, exactly to my specifications! Thank you, Chester!
Mural, Day Twenty-one
Today it became apparent that the detail work has to happen in the a.m. The broader base-coating work is for the afternoon when the wall is too hot for my brushes to behave. This was a frustrating learning experience, but forward motion happened anyway. I moved the truck forward another 4 feet, and now I am painting at the HALF-WAY MARK!!! See that crack/seam to the left of Tulare Peak (the one on the left side of Farewell Gap)? As an aside, have you ever noticed how many people let their diesel engines idle incessantly? It occurred to me that perhaps it wasn’t good for this truck to run for 30 seconds, so I became one of Them: those people who let their noisy smelly diesels run for no apparent reason. I hate to sound like someone who makes her own yogurt (I do, but that is beside the point), but it is Really REALLY annoying to listen to and smell diesels idling while I paint! But I digress. . . here is today’s work:
Slightly better than yesterday. I found myself in that weird middle-aged dilemma – reading glasses or sunglasses?? Opted for the reading glasses and found much more information in the photo – funny how that works! Goodbye, Banjo Guy.
Mural, Day Twenty
Looks sort of icky in the early layers, but you have confidence in my abilities, right? Say goodbye to Banjo Guy – he will be gone tomorrow.
Mural, Day Nineteen
First, before showing you the day’s progress, I want to tell you about an esteemed visitor today, Mr. Ron Hughart. He has published a wonderful autobiography called The Place Beyond the Dust Bowl and is about to embark upon a book tour. I am very proud of Ron, and have to confess that he is the victim of the second portrait I ever drew, way back when. You can find his book here: http://www.amazon.com/Place-Beyond-Dust-Bowl/dp/1892622173
Today I crossed into the 2nd third of the mural. I photographed it this way because is appears further! I even pulled the truck forward. . . wasn’t sure about driving an automatic and had to call Keith to inquire about the parking brake. It was the first time I have ever driven to Sawtooth – had to go there first to make some subtle changes, which LJ coached me on yesterday. Here is the day’s work without all the porkadelia in the way. 
The sky looks pretty good in this! These photos help me understand that progress has been made, because today I was just sure that I painted the same snow patch over and over and over again.
Mural, Day Eighteen
See the vertical seam on the left? That marks 1/4 of the mural. There is solid paint on the first 1/4 of the mural now. Not all the details are completed, but visual forward motion is taking place. The truck is a FANTASTIC platform for painting! Today PBS interviewed some Exeter dignitaries and me, and filmed me detailing those trees. I’m sure I look fat, make weird faces and say stupid things, so I may not let you know what program and when. (I really don’t know!)
A Day in Mineral King
On March 8 we took the Trackster to Mineral King. There was a little traffic on the road on the way in: 
It is a small convention of the unconventional! It was fun to see Sawtooth and Mineral Peaks after painting them so recently (albeit from a different view, angle and time of year). 
It was an uncommonly beautiful day with great snow so we skied a few miles up to the place where Soda Springs is in the summer (no visible sign of the rusty spring under the snow, but we may not have gone up far enough – hard to tell with the landscape so wintry!)
After we returned to the Trackster, we cruised around a wee bit so I could photograph the Honeymoon Cabin. Thought you might enjoy this starker view than my usual depictions. 
This is how Timber Gap looked on the way out – hard to believe I stood up above it to take all the photos for the mural last June! I had to take many photos of trees this time because it is easier to see the shapes against the snow than against the dirt, rocks and other growing things. Guess you could infer from that last sentence that this was a most unusual business trip. However, the Trackster doesn’t have an odometer nor do I want to include it on my tax forms as a work vehicle!
Mural, Day Seventeen
When I got to the mural this a.m. there was a beautiful sight to behold awaiting me!
Now I can paint without bars in my face or blocking my arms or casting shadows across my work. This is WONDERFUL! (Huge thank you to Keith!) Another wonderful thing: an angel named Susan brought me some of those little handwarmer things – Wow, what a lovely thoughtful thing to do! Thank you, Angel Susan!
Next step: re-detail these mountains and snow patches, add a detailed layer to the more distant trees, and then re-detail the closer trees. Isn’t this working platform grand? 😎