Five New Little Orange Paintings

5×7″ oil paintings of navel oranges on panels, sitting on a mini wooden easel have been selling well at Exeter’s Mural Gallery. One sold, the buyer requested another, and the gallery asked for 2 more. Those sold immediately, and the gallery requested more.

You can see the beginnings here on this post from earlier in November. 

I painted five more, moved them into the house to dry, and forgot about them! They were on a piece of cardboard on top of a cabinet that was above my eye level. They were certainly dry enough to scan when I remembered them.

These sell for $60 each at Exeter’s Mural Gallery. They look better in person, because in spite of a good scanner, the colors are never quite right on the computer screen. (You might have heard that here before.)

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

To see the back of the calendar, you will need to click on the link.

Eight Things Learned in November

  1. Postal rates are tricky: mailing 1 calendar is $2.88; 2 in 1 envelope is $4.08, 3 in 1 envelope is $11. So, if someone orders 3 calendars, it costs less to use 2 envelopes for $6.96. If someone orders 4 or more, I have to figure out the various flat rate envelopes, versus packing in lots of single envelopes. Pay attention!! Nope. The first time I mailed 2 in one package, it was $4.08. The second time, it was 8.15. Never mind, Central Calif. artist: this is why the postal employees are there. And I still am not charging postage to my customers, because we all can use a little gift. $20, including tax.
  2. “The soft bigotry of low expectations” is a phrase I recently heard, and it struck a chord with me. The phrase is best used to describe treatment of some communities, as if dealing with an ignorant and unruly child. (“Soft”? Bigotry is bigotry, plain and simple, just as discrimination is discrimination, crime is crime, justice is justice. Modifiers just complicate situations.) This phrase made me wonder if Tulare County can’t get a Trader Joe’s or keep litter off the roads because we are expected to be oblivious to the finer things of life. (Wow, talk about “lowered expectations”! I am considering a lack of litter to be a “finer thing”??)
  3. When I take merchandise to a place to sell it on consignment, I need to put every item in its own cellophane bag. Thinking I was out of Wildflower books, a stack was returned to me from a gallery that had them on consignment. Yippee skippee! But, then I flipped them over, and each book has a non-removable price sticker. I tried a razor, coconut oil, and Goo-gone. Nope. Profit gone. Ouch.
  4. Then I learned that if I soak the sticker in Goo-gone and leave it overnight, the sticker peels cleanly! (This is after a bit of gouging with a razor—true price-gouging.)
  5. Found a weird word in a book: “whilom“. It means erstwhile, former, used-to-be, and is an adjective.
  6. Train Robber’s Daughter: The Melodramatic Life of Eva Evans, 1876-1970 is a very well written history book about the daughter of Chris Evans, of Evans and Sontag infamy. So many names and places were familiar, and I congratulate Jay O’Connell on an excellent book of local history, published in 2008 and still good reading. (And a place to learn new words.)
  7. After years of ignoring these, I finally learned a little bit about using Derwent Graphitint pencils, which I will tell you about next week.
  8. While sick, I realized that my infirm activities don’t differ much from my normal. Reading, knitting, emailing, texting, letter writing, writing my blog, surfing the World Wide Web. . . what differed? I didn’t get up early, walk for exercise, work in the yard, paint, draw, talk on the phone, or go anywhere.  So almost a completely wasted week, but not entirely.

Thus, we conclude another month of learning. (But is it truly learning if I can’t remember it later?)

Artistic License On a Pencil Drawing

Asking for a commission

Someone contacted me about visiting my studio, along with visiting Mineral King to find the cabin where her dad spent time as a child. I put her in touch with the current owner of the cabin, and then let her know that I accept commissions and can draw the cabin for her to give to her dad.

Gathering photos, making sketches

She was very happy with that idea, so she sent a few photos, the current cabin owner sent more, and I took a few too. Then I worked up different sketches for her to choose from. She chose A, and asked that I draw it 11×14″ instead of the original 9×12″ size chosen.

Beginning the drawing

I had a day without many interruptions, a day to just park in my studio and draw. That has become a real treat in November, consistently my busiest month. 

Instead of printing out photos or ordering good quality prints from Shutterfly, I chose to work from the photos on my laptop. That is now a regular method; it is a real bonus to be able to greatly enlarge a photo for the details.

After a full day at the drawing table, this is what I had.

Taking artistic license

There is a bit of artistic license being taken here, with permission from my customer, of course. In the olden days, I felt bound by reality, enslaved by the photos, and handcuffed by indecision when I ventured away from exactly what was there in person and appeared in the photographs. These days I feel a lot more freedom. Is it because of needing and learning to make things up with oil painting? Is it because I have so much more experience? (I’m kind of old-ish, being well ensconced in the S’s.)

Whatever the reason, the process is enjoyable and challenging. It makes me feel like a real artist instead of a copy machine. 

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

To see the back of the calendar, you will need to click/tap on the link. 

 

Better When Scanned

 

Completed Oil Paintings, Scanned as Promised

These are the recently painted oil paintings of Mineral King and Three Rivers scenes, along with some poinsettias.

Honeymoon Cabin I, 6×18″, $165

Mineral King Alpenglow, 6×6″, $65

Mineral King Nature Trail, 6×6″, $65

Still River at Sunset, 8×10″, $135, SOLD 

Summer Hill, 8×8″, $108

Alta & Moro After a Storm, 6×18″, $165

Poinsettia 1 and Poinsettia 2, 5×7″, BOTH SOLD

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

Gotta keep that back hidden from The Most Faithful Blog Commenter so you will need to click on the link to see it. 

Looking For Color While Two Shades Under

A friend’s dad once described himself as being “two shades under” when he wasn’t fully recovered from some bug. 

While I wasn’t fully recovered from my bug, I felt good enough to briefly toodle around the yard, enjoying some color, some sunshine, some outdoors with tiny hints of green popping forth. Although it was mostly red that I was seeking, it was the green that I found the most life-giving. 

That sounds all woowoo. What I mean is that I love seeing Three Rivers green instead of crunchy brown and dusty.

 

Then I went back inside and created my own bright spots of color. These were 2 small paintings begun last year, set aside, and forgotten. Worked just fine to set up in the dining area of the house and put in a few hours of productive labor.

Of course it must be said that these will look better when dry and scanned, and even better in person. They are each a 5×7″ panel that will be sold with a mini wooden easel for $60 (yeah, yeah, plus tax, sorry, take it up with Sacramento).

Getting Outside in the Sunshine of Three Rivers

Trail Guy and I took a walk with some friends. It really was just a walk, but two of us carried lunch and water for the other two. It involved some trespassing, so the location will be kept quiet, other than Three Rivers. Of course, if you live here, you will probably recognize where we were. Shhhh. . . .

It started clear, and there were a few trees in bright fall colors. This is looking downstream from the Dinely bridge over the middle fork of the Kaweah River.

From our perch, spots of bright colored trees appeared. These are primarily Chinese pistache, a hardy tree that plants itself in random places, secret spots that no one notices until early November. 

But ick, what happened to the clear day??

The elephant was visible with the new snow on Alta Peak.

Baby rattler or gopher snake? Only its tongue was moving. Trail Guy relocated it a bit using a stick, and it was really stiff. One of our friends may have screamed a little bit. Trail Guy said it most likely was a gopher snake, because they are a bit shinier than rattlers.

One last look through the smog. Haze. Smoke. something.

Three Rivers is one of the best places to live in Tulare County. I’ve lived in the country outside of Ivanhoe, in Visalia, and in Lemon Cove (which is a close second to Three Rivers if you don’t mind being in a town of 190 people). It is the closest place to Mineral King where one can live year around, and it’s where my home is, complete with 3 cats.

That is Tucker, Jackson, and Little Bucky, who is not a cat. Pippin was probably sleeping in the house, where he is NOT allowed, but Trail Guy has a real soft spot for Mr. Orange Bob Square Pants.

Calendars Available, Mineral King HIKES

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

I’d show you the back of the calendar, but out of respect for my Most Faithful Blog Commenter you will need to click on the link to see it. Sharon buys a calendar every year, and never allows herself to see what it is in it until the appropriate month arrives.

 

Thankfulness

Thank you for reading my blog, yes, you, Faithful Blog Reader, whether subscribed by email or just roaming through the World Wide Web.

Eight Things Made November the Busiest Month

Many responsibilities and opportunities in November

  1. Little Bucky
  2. Online Painting Seminar: I gave this an entire day during my busiest month and learned things that you probably don’t care about. However, this palette, made up of only 3 primaries and white is impressive. (I use 6 primaries and white, and thought that was simple!) Besides, it is pretty.
  3. Website Repairs: my designer helped me get it a bit more functional. She told me that there are things to do to improve the readership, and I told her that I don’t want to try to get strangers to find me. The people who are interested in my art and my life are people that I either already know, or people who I will eventually meet, because we care about the same things and places.
  4. The art emergency pencil drawing, which I showed you yesterday.
  5. New commissions: one pencil drawing, two large paintings all needed before Christmas
  6. Holiday Bazaar: New paintings needed, finished paintings gathered from Kaweah Arts, new cards ordered, calendars ordered. Even though I was a no-show, everything had to be packaged, priced, boxed up, hauled to the Memorial Building, set up. 
  7. There were a few more items, but they’re private, because after all, in spite of being read only by people I know, this is the World Wide Web.
  8. New Murals Coming! I bid on and designed three, was “awarded” two, and now await further instruction as to when I can begin. This is St. Charles of Borromeo, the largest Catholic Church in North America, located in Visalia, Tulare County, California. Yep, right here in little ol’ Too-larry County.

 

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

I’d show you the back of the calendar, but out of respect for my Most Faithful Blog Commenter you will need to click on the link to see it. Sharon buys a calendar every year, and never allows herself to see what it is in it until the appropriate month arrives.

Art Emergency

A long time customer has regular art emergencies. She is Important, and works with Important People. Sometimes those Important People suddenly retire, and then she needs a custom pencil drawing on fairly short notice.

For clarification: she was a friend long before she became Important, but all my friends are important to me. The friendship factor is what keeps me saying yes to her when she calls with an art emergency.

Previous pencil drawings for art emergencies

 

 

The beginnings

The request appeared one month before the piece was needed. The photos arrived about a week later. Since I didn’t take the photos, I don’t feel free to publish them. They were downright scary, but I am a professional, and I managed to suppress my fear (although I whined to my drawing students, warning them to NEVER say yes to projects like this–small size, design complications, poor photographs, tight deadline).

Here it is in progress. This is when I decided that 9×12″ is probably too small to be cramming in this many scenes, particularly with this many tiny windows. (Two years ago I decided that 8×10″ was too small.)

I felt fairly certain that the recipient of the drawing doesn’t follow my blog (our paths have crossed a few times, but he has been Important since I was a kid, so friendship isn’t a factor here.)

Finished!

I was able to finish the drawing in a timely manner, and even was able to deliver it.

Congratulations on a long a fruitful career, 31 years of serving the City of Visalia, Mr. Important Person!

 

 

Getting By With a Little Help From My Friend

Trail Guy and I set up the booth at the Holiday Bazaar on Friday night, quickly and efficiently. There was enough merchandise, and it looked pretty good. I didn’t take pictures of my booth, figuring I’d get some on Saturday with the morning sun coming through the full-color Chinese Pistache trees visible through the window, which was the back wall of my 10×10′ space.

Then I went home and developed a fever. Well, phooey. Why during my busiest weekend of my busiest month?? Life is not fair. So, instead of doing a show, I did a No Show.

A lifelong friend offered to work my booth. What would we do without our friends?? I thought to myself, “Self,” I thought, “I will NEVER get out of her debt”.

Another friend said, “Real friends don’t keep score”.

Being a Questioner, I thought about that. My conclusion is that we have built-in scales of balance, and without actually keeping score, we can tell when we are being taken advantage of, when someone is a moocher or a user. I hope we also can recognize when we are taking advantage of someone else and put the brakes on thinking we are entitled.

It is so hard to be on the receiving end of giving, so much easier to be a giver. Probably has something to do with my innate need to be self-sufficient.

No one is completely self-sufficient. We all need a little help from our friends. Thank you, MKACD!