What’s Happening Now

The first painting to sell at IMAGES OF HOME was Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint.

To clarify the title for you: Sunnypoint was the name of a campground in Mineral King, closed by the Forest Service some time before 1978. The Nature Trail runs through it, and this view is how I wished it actually looked. Instead, Black Wolf Falls isn’t fully visible in this exact position, and Sawtooth only shows as a little point. Nonetheless, this is what we remember when we think of those 2 places, along with a full and curving stream. “We”? That would be me, myself, I, and the 4 people who bought this painting.

How can 4 people buy the same painting??

I’m glad you asked. When Person #2 said, “Oh, wow, I would love that but it is sold!”, I replied with, “I can paint it again for you.” 

This happened 3 times after the first sale.

This is what is happening now:

The top one is 16×20″; the bottom two are 11×14″.

This is also happening now:

I’ll ‘splain these to you later.  Meanwhile, my show IMAGES OF HOME is also happening now at the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter.

A Word From Captain Obvious

The blog series “How I Designed a Logo” is temporarily postponed while I keep you updated about the show, “IMAGES OF HOME” at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery. We will resume the story tomorrow (unless something show-related happens that cannot wait.)

I am painting as if I have a deadline because I do. One of the customers at Images of Home wanted to take his painting with him rather than wait for the show’s indeterminate ending. This left a blank space on the wall. 

Since it was a 12×12″ orange grove scene which sold, I wanted to replace it with something similar. (We didn’t just arbitrarily tack paintings and drawings to the wall, but instead, we grouped them somewhat by subject matter.)

This painting was already started:

I spent an afternoon refining it, doing the forbidden and frowned-upon (by The Art World) drawing with my paintbrush. (That is my preferred method of painting, and clearly, the attendees of the art show agree with me, so take that, Art World!)You can see that I ignored the eucalpytus trees in the background in the photo and substituted my favorite foothills and snow-covered Sierra.

The painting is too wet to scan (Captain Obvious speaking here), so I photographed it, carefully carried it into the somewhat warmer house (we’ve been having very mild weather this week) to get a bit drier, and then will deliver it still somewhat wet to the gallery. Since the gallery isn’t open again until Saturday, the degree of dryness doesn’t matter. I will put a “Wet Paint” sign near it.

The title is “Picking Time”, the size is 10×10″, the price is $150, and the medium is slow-to-dry oil paint.

Because I fully anticipate further sales in the next weeks building up to Christmas, I am working on these other 2 paintings to fill holes on the walls.

First, this one has been troubling me. I keep studying it to figure out how to make it better.

Okay, bye-bye stump. Yes, it tells me where I am on which trail, but it doesn’t enhance the painting. In case you are wondering, I like deer in Mineral King; I dislike them eating my plants in Three Rivers. 

This is better, but I am still not convinced that it is finished. These little adjustments are probably only discernible to me. 

Okay, enough of this painting that feels too hard for me. Time to work on something I know how to paint.

When this stage is dry, I will start the detailing that I so dearly love to do. This is the classic Mineral King scene; this time it is titled Mineral King Dusk, because it is dusk in Mineral King. (This is your captain speaking). It is 6×12″, and the price will be $125.

Do you think I should raise my prices? What would Captain Obvious say?

Never mind. Here is an updated flyer about Images of Home; both of the pieces shown have sold. (Sawtooth on the left sold four times, which I already told you, but again, this is your captain speaking).

 

Special Painting for a Special Person

Remember when I painted a Farewell Gap oil painting and wouldn’t tell you why? I said it had to be the very best painting I had ever done. The Best Version of the Classic Mineral King Scene

The painting was commissioned by the Mineral King Preservation Society and the Mineral King District Association to be a gift for Louise, someone who has been very instrumental in both preserving the history of Mineral King and developing a good relationship between the cabin owners and Sequoia National Park. 

She also happens to be one of my dearest friends, someone who coached me through my first murals, got me my first paid public mural, and has been more encouraging than anyone I have ever known. She is also an author, and I had the privilege of editing and publishing two books for her: Trail of Promises and The Visalia Electric Railroad. We work together like a well-oiled machine, one that laughs a lot while producing good results.

Here are some photos of the presentation of the painting.

I love this lady.

P.S. These came via email:

1. What a beautiful post, beautiful painting, and beautiful lady.  How is Louise doing?  She looks well. – Jon S.

2. Your “Louise gift” in this morning’s post brought tears. what a touching tribute to my very special cousin.
three cheers for a beautiful exhibit! – Bev

Well Received (Successful Opening Reception)

The opening reception to my solo show, “Images of Home” at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery was amazingly well attended. No one was counting, but I think there were at least 100 people, and everyone did NOT come at once. It was most totally excellent! 

This is the first thing you see when you step into the entryway.

This is what you see when you step into the gallery.

Here is a comfortable corner for contemplation.

These three pencil drawings of Mineral King look just right on this wall. (How would they look all together on a wall in your home?)

Sold!

These are still available.

This child was too cute to not photograph. (Her mom gave permission).

There were a few opportunities to photograph people in the gallery, but that wasn’t my real mission.

Sold!

Sold!

Sold!

Sold!

Sold twice!

Sold four times!

Yeppers, you read that right. I have to order some canvases, and then get painting. If someone expressed disappointment at having missed out on a painting, I simply said, “I can paint it again for you”. (Do other artists do this??)

 

How I Designed a Logo, Chapter 2

When my customers told me that they liked Western type, I started digging through the internet to see what was available. In general, Western typefaces are very easy to recognize, but after studying them, I realized there are many variations. (Remember when I told you a list of the goofy names of some of the typefaces?)

Those websites selling typefaces allow you to put your info into them and see what it might look like. Here are a few:

This last one is the prettiest, and it has the surprising name of “Eastwood”. I don’t associate old Clint with the description of pretty.

To be continued. . .

Coming on Sunday:

Images of Home

Exeter Courthouse Gallery, 125 South B Street

November 14 – January ?, 2022

Opening Reception – Sunday, November 14, 1-4 p.m.

Back to the Easels, the Sawhorses, and the Big Chair

Oil paintings generally happen on an easel; acrylic mural paint goes onto panels of scrap wood resting on some sawhorses. What’s “the Big Chair”? Glad you asked. Keep reading.

Sawhorse Project

Kaweah Arts requested a panel with a single redwood where the entire tree is visible. I have 2 different sizes of these panels, and instead of waiting to hear which size the customer wants, I will paint them both. These sell steadily to people passing through while visiting Sequoia. Eventually, The Park will be reopened, and those customers will resume stopping by Kaweah Arts while on their way to The Park.

I don’t think this is quite finished but I was running out of daylight.

On the Easels

These were on the easels. The top one is a bit of a do-over and the others are just the first pass over the canvas. They will help resupply Kaweah Arts after I rob them of the large paintings to take to the Courthouse Gallery for the show Images of Home.

These are ready to be varnished.

The Big Chair

A friend makes these giant redwood Adirondack chairs; I painted an indoor mural to earn a few of these. This one was in the perfect position to hold 5 paintings while they dried in the sunshine after I varnished them. Can’t even see the chair, can you?

Okay, here comes the announcement. I hope it doesn’t become invisible to you from too much repetition.

Images of Home

Exeter Courthouse Gallery

November 14 – December 30, 2021

Opening Reception – Sunday, November 14, 1-4 p.m.

Building a Coloring Book Cover, Part 2

After thinking over the title Heart of Rural Tulare County, I wasn’t satisfied.

I looked at the original coloring book, Heart of the Hills, and realized that this one needed to be Heart of the County.

That’s the ticket! My Shadow Consultant agreed, after suggesting a couple of tiny adjustments.

The idea to do this came quickly, and the retail places that sell my work want it in time for Christmas. That’s why most of the drawings are gleaned from the previous coloring books, compiling them into a broad portrait of the county’s rural places. I thought you might need to know that. It is sort of like buying a “Best of” album from your favorite music group, and then you either say, “Oh I love this song” or “Wait, I already have this”. 

Like all the previous coloring books, each page has a tiny hidden heart. 

The coloring book is $20 and is available here on my website. 

Upcoming Solo Art Show:

Images of Home

Exeter Courthouse Gallery

November 14 – December 30, 2021

Opening Reception – Sunday, November 14, 1-4 p.m.

 

Building a Coloring Book Cover

The reasons for choosing this drawing for the cover of my new coloring book of rural Tulare County were because it is representational of the subject matter, appealing, and has enough blank space for words.

I looked at the previous coloring books and did a draft for the cover. These things don’t fall into place for me in one shot – I have to think things over, and usually send them to my Shadow Consultant in Bellingham who has a great eye for design. Ooh, weird, there’s that single “eye” again, just like when something “catches your eye”.

Good enough to know that things will fit here. I got out my colored pencils, put on a good podcast, and dove in.

When you are listening to something good, even simple mundane tasks like coloring go quickly. I think it was Mike Rowe’s podcast. Great vocabulary, intriguing stories, nice voice, excellent sense of humor.

UPCOMING SOLO SHOW:

Images of Home

Exeter Courthouse Gallery

November 14 – December 30, 2021

Opening Reception – Sunday, November 14, 2-4 p.m.

Building a Coloring Book Page, Part 3

We last saw this drawing at this stage of erasing the gray background. I think it scans gray because the paper is a little bit thin, and also because that’s just the way the scanner sees things. If I lighten the background while scanning, the lines also get lighter.

After the background gray is erased, and the overlapping and gapping lines fixed, I add a border.

This is appealing (not up on blocks!), representative of rural Tulare County (yeppers, that’s the reality of any non-gentrified rural area), and has enough white space that it will be the cover of the coloring book, in addition to being an interior page.

Next step: get it printed on white paper with some substance to it at a print shop so that I can color it.

You can preorder the coloring book here: Heart of the County.

Would you believe that I love to draw, but coloring feels like a silly waste of time. It took a bit of self-talk to convince myself that this is part of my job. 

UPCOMING SHOW:

Images of Home

Exeter Courthouse Gallery

November 14 – December 30, 2021

Opening Reception – Sunday, November 14, 2-4 p.m.

Three Pears and Two Orange Groves

Three Pears

As a full time artist, it is automatic to notice subjects that might make good paintings. Experience helps me recognize these subjects, and it also helps me to recognize potential.

A friend gave me three pears, and before I took a bite or put them in the fridge, I recognized their potential as a painting subject. So, I set them up in various ways on 2 different surfaces and took a few photos. The variation in color is more noticeable now than in person, and it was that variation that first caught my eye. (Why do we say “caught my eye”? I have 2 eyes and am fairly certain that you do too.)

Since I have stopped doing boutiques, fairs, and festivals, there hasn’t been much call for “kitchen art”. But, I still gather reference material because one just never knows what might be coming next.

Two Orchards

After photographing the three pears, I returned to the two orange groves. (Orchard, grove, same thing.)

(E, is the ground looking rough enough for you yet? Fear not – the painting will keep getting better!)

I am using quite a bit of artistic license here, making this painting into something I would want to hang in my dining room because I want to hang it in my dining room. But I am going to put it in the Courthouse Gallery show in November and December with a reasonable, non-scary price-tag of $1200 instead of $10,000.

It is a little hard to tell the difference between the second 2 photos of this painting. For the curious reader, I don’t remember how long I worked on this before taking photo #2; there is 1/2 hour between #2 and #3, and another 1-1/2 hour before #3.

Then my neck tied itself into a pretzel, so I put plastic film on the palette, moved it to the freezer of the little fridge that we bought from that horrible big box store (the freezer isn’t freezing anymore, but why would it? The fridge is 3 months old already. . .), and headed back to the house to wash my brushes.

P.S. I also went to the bank and Post Office today, lest you think all I do is photography and painting. It’s all part of the business of art.