Old and New

In 1906 the Smith Hotel collapsed. That was in Mineral King, and it was the San Francisco earthquake that caused its demise. Those Mineral King pioneers weren’t easily daunted – instead of wringing their hands in defeat, they pushed together the pieces and created the Mineral King Store and Post Office.

1969 was a heavy heavy winter, and the Store and Post Office collapsed under all the snow. Then, the Walt Disney Corporation burned the rest. (They weren’t hardy like the earlier pioneering types.) Now, all that remains is photographs, paintings and drawings.

One of them is on the wall of my giant Mineral King mural in Exeter.

Another was drawn by me back in the previous century.

This week, I finished a redo. Oh my. This is called growth. GROWTH!

This is a commissioned piece for someone who saw the old version hanging in my cabin and wanted her own. I was more than pleased to re-draw it – my eagerness could almost be classified as giddiness.

Those old drawings are embarrassing to me. And you are probably asking yourself why I am showing them if they are such a problem. . . good question. It is because humility is good. Because I teach drawing, it is good for my students to see my growth. Even if you don’t take lessons from me, you might find it interesting.

Over And Out

The show, Images of Home, is over, and I’m out of these paintings. The museum tells me that was a very good response. If you feel disappointed because your heart was set on one of these, I can paint any of them over again. Won’t be exactly the same, but it will be close. (There I go again, being pushy. Sigh. Sorry.)

My high school buddies with whom I had lunch on December 31 will undoubtedly recognize several of these, since they helped me choose the subject matter. Thanks, Redwood Rangerettes, because many of the ones you chose SOLD, as you can see!

You can also see that Sequoia trees and oranges were very popular. Hmmm, guess I’m a California Artist!

(In case you are wondering why this post looks like Captain Obvious put it together: Mr. Google Who Knows All likes to have words that match the hidden words that help him to find me. So, the silly labeling is for Mr. Google.)

Thank you for putting up with this techno-jive-stuff.

Mostly, thank you so much for taking the time to attend the show, read about it here, and buy my paintings. Without all you all, I might have to be a waitress or a secretary, so I deeply deeply appreciate you! And get this – it WASN’T all my friends and relatives because they felt sorry for me – there were some people I’ve never met who bought my work! ISN’T THAT WONDERFUL??!!! (deep breaths, calm down, breathe. . . .)

This posting is so long that I will take tomorrow off. You can read this one again, or maybe go through the archives. Or, maybe just lie down from exhaustion at all the information presented here.

Yokohl Valley

Oranges

Mineral King

Kaweah Post Office

Orange

Sequoia Trees

Sequoia Tree

Sequoia Trees

Not Out of the Woods

A friend saw a painting in a book of a deer that she just flipped over. (Not literally, thanks for your concern for her back health.) She showed it to me and asked if I could copy it for her living room wall. I could, but I won’t. There are copyright laws, and I am observant because I want others to show me the same courtesy. I love this friend. I love her a lot. She is nothing but sweetness, light, help and encouragement to me. Oh, and fun, too! Tons of fun! And wise, oh my goodness. I want to please her, but what to do, think, think, think. . .

I know! I have a great photo of a deer. Really great! I can paint that deer, and match the style of the painting in the book! Nothing wrong with imitating another style, trying out new ways of paintings, experimenting a little. No matter how hard I try, I can never truly duplicate that person’s style, whoever he or she is.

The style of the painting in the book is COMPLETELY UNLIKE anything I have ever attempted. It is loose and thickly layered and possibly completed in one time (ala prima) It is only in browns (or it that umber or sepia?) I cannot show you the photo from the book because of copyright laws. So, here is my first pass over the canvas.

I hope this hasn’t caused you to scream and smash your head on your computer or desk. I know it looks as if someone needs to put this deer out of his misery. I will, I will – next pass over the canvas, I promise!

And more on the collage

This is St. Patrick. Or, more accurately, this is a statue of St. Patrick.

This is a statue of St. Patrick with a bit of a glow, the outlines of gorse, and the outline of a headstone where the man who was born in the cottage was buried.

Land of Fruit and Nuts

Ever heard California referred to that way? My Customer-Friend/Friend-Customer has chosen the top seven fruits and nuts, the kind that are produced for food, to be painted by me for the purpose of meaningful kitchen decor.

Here, alphabetized for your remembering ease, are the top seven:  Almond, apricot, fig, lemon, navel orange, valencia orange, walnut. More of these are produced in California than anywhere else in the world. (Care to verify that, Mr. Customer-Friend/Friend-Customer? I KNOW you are reading this!)

After I painted the almonds, I ate them. I am not, nor will I ever be, Lord willing, a starving artist!

These are still drying after which they will be retouched, signed, and dry again. Then they will be varnished and dry again. THEN they will be shipped.

Too Much

Ever heard of De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis? Wish I hadn’t. It means I did too much of something. A right-hander did too much with her left hand. Now my left thumb is in a weird splint that removes the opposable function of my thumb.

It is temporary. I said, ‘IT IS TEMPORARY!” This second shout is in case the splint is muffling the ears on my thumb and it hasn’t yet heard that it needs to heal quickly.

Perhaps having 2 opposable thumbs is really over rated.

A Customer-Friend (or is that Friend-Customer?) asked for seven 2″ square paintings. He knows a lot about a lot of things, and likes his art to have significance. Because of this admirable quality, he researched the 7 top fruits and nuts produced in California and chose them to decorate his kitchen. (I know some really interesting people, by the way.)

My normal way of holding the mini-canvases on my left-hand is currently unavailable. (My normal way of doing many things is currently unavailable but for purposes of the blog I’ll just stick to the subject of painting.)

There are many little items in the workshop where I paint because I share the space with my Always-Prepared husband. These little clothes-pin-like items worked perfectly, but alas and alack – a lack of enough of them drove me to improvise.

I don’t know what these pipe thingies are but they fit just perfectly into the back of the canvases and my 4 non-splinted fingers wrap around them just fine. As an added bonus, they are free standing.

An added benefit of the little clothes-pin-like items is that I can pinch them onto the edge of a cardboard box flap. (American ingenuity at work on a Chinese box)

The paintings are not finished – they need to dry, get retouched and signed, dry again, get varnished, dry yet again and get shipped.

Irish Collage

Ever notice the word “collage” is the word “cottage” minus the t-crossing? I confused myself with my sloppy handwriting and couldn’t figure out what my notes meant – collage drawing or cottage drawing! Here is the Cottage Collage for Mrs. Bob in its current state of development:

And, for the sake of Mr. Google, this is a California artist’s report on a pencil drawing, a commission pencil drawing of several Irish scenes. Instead of being politically correct, I am trying to be technologically correct.