Category: General

Still painting, of course!

Lately my blog posts have been about The Art Co-op, hiking, cats, and First Saturdays in Three Rivers. Are you wondering if I still paint? Yep. See? At last count there were 14 paintings in progress, but I forgot about the 10 or so that I’ve been hauling back and forth to The Art Co-op! Have a look (and these photos don’t include the ones drying on my fireplace mantle right now).

There is an event coming in March that will require many poppies and sequoias. This is speculation painting and a crystal ball would be helpful here. Lacking that, I will just paint as if there will be many folks in attendance who like poppies and sequoias.

Haven’t touched the bridge for several weeks, haven’t touched the 2 horizontal bridges for months, am waiting for the edges of Sisters to dry so I can move it back to the bright sunlight and nitpick it to pieces. (By the way, Deanne, I haven’t really touched a thing on the shelves for weeks, so don’t bother trying to discern what is there!)

Wild cats in my workshop

You may have discerned that I have a real weakness for cats. Back in 1987, there were some wild cats living underneath Thrifty Drug Store in downtown Visalia. I shared a parking lot with these cats and fell in love with one of the little ones. A man named George fed them regularly and helped me catch the long-haired one with Siamese coloring. Turns out this is a breed of cat called “American Ragdoll”. Of course I understand that my little cat was just a lucky accident of random breeding, but she most definitely had the characteristics of the Ragdoll breed. We had Fritzi for 13 years, and she was definitely the cat love of my life. After we lost her, I began looking for a baby Fritz. We had Wilson (aka Buster), Scout and Prudence, and then Zeke and Amos. The only survivor in this attempt so far is Zeke. He is definitely NOT of the American Ragdoll breed, although he does have the coloring and the size. Last fall, my friend from the Sequoia RV Ranch http://www.sequoiarvranch.com/ told me of a litter of cats underneath one of their storage mobile homes. When she described them, I knew I was a goner. Michael told me to just go get all three, and now for about 2 months we have had a mom (Cashmere) and her 2 little boy cats living in the workshop where I paint.

One of those little guys still won’t let us touch him. Look at him:

He has no tail and he hoppity-runs like a Manx. So far we have called him Hoppy, Cassidy, Butch, Manx, Dummy, and currently, Steely Dan. (He steals around? His eyes are steely blue?) How can one name a cat who won’t respond to any overtures in a positive manner? I could call him Scairdy or Chicken Little, but I like names with a little dignity for the cats in my life. By the way, Cashmere is reminding me an awful lot of my sweet Fritzi! Her son O’Reilly is just bold and fresh, and reminds me a bit of Buster. This guy? I dunno, I just dunno. Sigh.

American Ragdoll

New subject painted!

The exclamation point is there because sometimes it seems as if I only paint Mineral King, sequoias, oranges and poppies. Here is something new for you to see:

Sold!

Random thoughts for the new year

An entire week has passed in 2010 and I have no blog posts to show for it! Here is a list:

Stacy, I didn’t forget your birthday; I just didn’t send a card. Happy Birthday, “old” friend! 8:)
Remember how I’ve told you that if one is an artist, one gets asked to do unusual things? Pay attention; a blog about one of those unusual projects is forthcoming.
The Art Co-op has new winter hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Still closed Tuesdays; my day is still Thursday.
The feral cats are getting used to me, sort of. I can pet Cashmere (the mom) and O’Reilly (the bold fresh kitten). However, Mr. Tail-less-Nameless remains afraid. He sure stares at me a lot.
Artists are wanted for the First Saturdays in Three Rivers. A poster is forthcoming.
Zeke hates it when I blog and I have to stop now or he will sit on the keyboard. He is blocking the screen at this moment.

Comments on the comments

Thank you, Mr. Stroben, for the info about the Point Bonita Lighthouse. I looked it up, and it doesn’t seem to be the same building. But now I want to visit the Point Bonita Lighthouse! And Deanne, it is easy to be a good friend to a good friend! There is a verse in Proverbs that simply says “I love those who love me”. Not that I have time to add any more to my list of paintings to be finished, but would you know of how one would find folks interested in paintings of San Francisco scenes? Marketing is every artist’s largest obstacle! Anyone else know this building? No reason, other than inquiring minds like to know. (Mark B., are you reading this??)

Merry Christmas

Dry Faster!

All the 6×6″ oranges sold out and a request came in for more BEFORE Christmas! So, I cranked out 6 on Sunday afternoon, a rare exception for me, and here they sit on the mantle, hopefully to dry in time for delivery on Wednesday a.m. to Exeter Flower Company!

Seeing Double Again

But wait! There’s more. . . this view was a huge hit in the vertical. Rather than immediately duplicate it, I decided to try it in the horizontal for a bit of variety.

North Fork of the Kaweah River – sold

North Fork of the Kaweah River II – sold

Seeing Double

Lots of the big boys back in the day (how’s that for cliches?) painted the same scenes over and over. This gives me the freedom to also paint the same scenes over and over! (If everyone else was jumping off a bridge, would you do it too? Maybe, if it were the Big Boys!)

This is how they looked hanging together at The Art Co-op. The customer saw the first one, loved it, but the size didn’t suit her. So, I offered to repaint it smaller, which did suit her. While I was repainting it, I purposely worked from the photograph and did not have the original painting near by. It was so interesting to examine them together and see the changes!

A Full and Fine Thanksgiving

We have a tradition of taking a turkey to a friend’s place in Lemon Cove where it is cooked in a deep pit over orange wood. This is Michael retrieving the bird on Thanksgiving morning.

This year my Mom wants to send a card with a photo of her family on the front. We are getting used to the fact that she no longer lives in the house where we grew up in an orange grove! (If you are on her card list, pretend like you didn’t see this.)

The Thanksgiving weekend isn’t all about family for me – it is definitely a busy working time. Here is how my studio looks in the fall with the Flowering Pear tree. (Hey Stacy, it has a serious lean but is actually growing!)

This is how my space looked at The Perfect Gift Boutique. The turnout was wonderful – non-stop traffic for 2 days! It was a great steady flow, just the right pace to visit with almost all who came into my area. Love that! (thanks for coming up, Larry and Dora! Great to see you again, Didi!)

Next? Finish those commissions and keep the stores stocked that sell my work. ‘Twill be a pleasure to just be at my easel with those precious little kitties running around underfoot.