Anyone want to guess the subject?
It is time for me to reorder Heart of the Hills, my original coloring book, AGAIN.
It is time for me to reorder Heart of Mineral King. WHAT?? I’ve only had it one week!
Hurry, hurry, step right up, order your copy today!
Feeling like a factory worker or a cog in a wheel, I mixed up some sky color oil paint so I could begin painting Mineral King. Five 6×6″ paintings, on the conveyer belt. (on the stereo, if you must know. Yes, I listen to a stereo that plays CDs. I drive a manual transmission, have a flip phone, and don’t own a microwave either.)
Okay, let’s get some other colors going. This is Farewell Gap, but not the classic scene we discussed on Monday.
(That’s the royal “we”, because as far as I know, it was a monologue rather than a dialogue.)
Oops. Forgot to photograph the in-between stages. These 2 paintings have just the first layer, and they’ll have to dry before I continue.
The morning sun hits that window with good intensity, so I propped them there. Meanwhile, the Oak Grove Bridge languishes in the background.
In the summer, the Silver City Store, 4 miles below Mineral King, sells original oil paintings for me. (For them too, because obviously they have to make money. Duh.)
The subject has to be Mineral King, (more duh, thank you Captain Obvious) and I paint the same scene over and over and over. Sometimes I paint Timber Gap, Sawtooth, or maybe a bridge or a trail. But most people just want this view, what I think of as the classic Mineral King scene:
It sells, I paint more. It sells again, I paint it again. Lucky you, if you bought it recently, because I’ve had lots of practice. This one is #20, but I didn’t always number my paintings, so I feel fairly confident in guessing that I’ve painted it 50 times. It’s on the doors of my painting studio, on the cover of the new coloring book (drawn in ink, not painted), and on the cover of The Cabins of Mineral King (in pencil, not oil paint).
Yesterday, the Mineral King coloring book arrived. Heart of Mineral King is the title, and it has 12 pages to color, plus some wildflowers on the insides of the covers. (One of the 12 pages is the title page, and 4 of the pictures are from the previous book, Heart of the Hills.)
A friend called me when I gave her a sample page of wildflowers from Heart of the Hills, because she wanted to know what color to make each one of the flowers. This made me laugh, because she had been coloring in another book, decorating owls in purples and pinks.
It also made me think that perhaps people would appreciate a hint. So this inside back cover page has a hint on the wildflowers.
Here is a peek at a brand new drawing. This is Empire Mt. (actually it is just the rock outcropping which is very visible but isn’t the peak) with some of the very charming Mineral King cabins.
Heart of Mineral King is available at the Three Rivers Mercantile and Kaweah River Trading Co. in Three Rivers. It is also available here on my website, and if you see me around, from the trunk of my car. On Memorial weekend it will be available at the Silver City Store, 21 miles up the Mineral King Road.
This one is smaller, so it is $12 rather than $15. Such a deal – a custom coloring book of everyone’s favorite mountain place in Tulare County. (Unless your favorite mountain place is Wilsonia)
This week Trail Guy went to Mineral King to see how things look in early spring. Yes, I know May is not “early spring” down here in Three Rivers, but things are different at 7800′.
These folks have some melting and shoveling to do.
The classic view of Mineral King, probably the most photographed, and definitely the most drawn and painted scene by this Central California artist. It looks wrong to me with the tall red fir gone. That remaining tall tree is a cedar juniper (Thank you, Trail Guy. The reason I mix these 2 up is that those are the names of 2 similar green colored pencils.) Farewell Gap is more visible this way.
Daffodils are not native flowers, but they are a welcome sight.
These folks have some melting and shoveling to do.
They can use the door on this side of the cabin instead of fighting all the snow off their deck.
The sunny side of the valley is where Trail Guy spent many an afternoon when he wintered in Mineral King. (I didn’t know him then.)
There is plenty of snow in the shade and on the north facing slopes. It just makes it fun for kids to make snowballs, and slippery for adults who want to walk a bit.
More daffodils. Thanks, Van and Mary, for planting these. Isn’t this a cute cabin?
Thanks, Trail Guy, for your early spring reconnaissance trip.
The road will be open to the public on Memorial Day weekend.
Whole lotta reporting going on this week.
While preparing for the Redbud Festival, I decided to add a few more oil paintings and finish the giant painting of the Oak Grove Bridge. Then I wisely decided my time was better spent elsewhere.
So, I began working on a new coloring book design. No telling how long this adult coloring craze will last, so I’d better make hay while the sun shines.
Here is the cover, version #1:
This is too hard to read, so I redesigned the cover.
Then, I finished all the crazy-making computer work, and sent it off to be printed.
It will have fewer pages and thus will cost less than Heart of the Hills. THIS ONE WILL BE CALLED HEART OF MINERAL KING.
Please excuse me for shouting at you. This is very exciting and fun.
It should be available in two weeks.
While I was painting a mural, Trail Guy (AKA RETIRED Road Guy!) went to Mineral King for a day. Every time he does that, he says, “This is weird. You’re going to work and I’m going to play.” I say, “It isn’t weird. It has been normal since you retired.”
Do not feel sorry for me. I LOVE what I do and will only retire when I can no longer paint or draw or teach people how to draw. (Or edit. Have I told you how much I love to edit?)
I know. Shut up and show us some Mineral King. I can read your minds – does this make you squirm?
This is a simple board and batten cabin in a box shape, very reminiscent of Mineral King cabins.
The owner was delightful. Her extended family has about 3 cabins, all within shouting distance of one another. We talked on the phone at least one time and she was so encouraging as I was deep into the project of making The Cabins of Wilsonia.
(It is available here at this link: The Cabins of Wilsonia)
The original pencil drawing of this cabin is available for sale.
All the drawings from The Cabins of Mineral King have sold. Most of the original drawings from The Cabins of Wilsonia are still available.
I wonder why? I definitely draw better now!
Life is full of mysteries.
Retired Trail Guy and a friend went to Mineral King in Winter. This week. Yes, winter is really happening this year!
Nice light on this cabin. People ask “How much snow?” The answer is “Depends on where you are.” Snow piles up or doesn’t pile up in different depths in different places. The best way to see how much is to check the Mineral King webcam. In the 2nd photo, taken toward Timber Gap, the striped stick is 10′ tall, and every stripe is 1′. Click here to open the Mineral King webcam in another window.
This is The Trackster. It is more reliable than a snowmobile. This is not Retired Trail Guy. It is Retired Mailman.
Retired Mailman is very tall, and he shoveled off this part of the roof.
Then he photographed Trail Guy, AKA Shoveler-on-the-Roof. Our cabin is over 100 years old, and it has survived many heavy winters. Still, it takes a load off our minds to take a load off its roof.
This is a neighboring cabin. The snow is “bridged”, so the weight isn’t as heavy on the roof.
And a view of Sawtooth on the way back down the road. It is the tiny point on the far right of the whiteness in the distance.
This week we conclude our little run of things for sale (did you notice the pattern?) with oil paintings of Mineral King.
Fridays are for Mineral King, but I haven’t been there since October. Since this is the season when people like to buy stuff, it makes sense to show you the paintings for sale.
Please forgive me if this seems sellsy and pushy. I promise I am not wearing plaid pants, waiting to pounce with false chatty cheer. I am showing you these in case you were looking for something like this. I am here to help you (and no, I am not from the government).
Mineral King Marmot, 6×6″, $60 (and no, I don’t know why it is appearing so large here).
Kaweah Headwaters, 6×6″, $60
Long Way There, 12×16″, $275
Farewell Gap XVIII, 8×10″, $125
Sawtooth XV, 6×6″, $60
Mineral King Valley, 12×16″, $275
Sawtooth XIV, 8×10″, $125
Mineral King AM, 12×16″, $275
Mineral King, 12×16″, $275
Mineral King Trail, 11×14″, $250 (It isn’t this dark in real life – my poor computer skills may be misleading you on this one.)
Farewell Gap, 6×6″, $60
Eagle Lake Trail, 16×20″, $400
These are available on my website, this page: Oil Paintings, Landscapes
There are more but this post is already crazy long. Please excuse the length and enjoy the pictures.