Category: Mineral King

A Business Trip to Mineral King

The last time I was in Mineral King, I did almost nothing. Accomplished quite a bit of knitting, but went nowhere and did nothing else. Read a little. But went nowhere.

The shadow beneath the bridge was nice. This photo has been enhanced, because the reality is that there is mostly brown, brownish gray, and brownish green in the scene. California is very brown, including the governor. Brown, brown, brown.

Sawtooth looked quite fetching on the way up the hill. (It is gray, not brown.)

There is some subtle color (enhanced browns?) on Vandever, which is the right half of Farewell Gap.

Each of these photos will make a decent painting, particularly if I juice up the colors.

Hey! I did do something. Gathering photos for future paintings is something. In fact, I think it must have been a business trip!

Mineral King in Summer

Despite the relentless heat and lack of water in Central California, it is green in Mineral King in the summer.

Here are some recent photos taken by my husband, AKA Trail Guy.

Can you see the pika? (Pronounced “PEE-kuh”)

Upper Cobalt Lake.

Wet Spring in Mineral King

The drive up the hill was sunny, clear and hot. I stopped at my favorite bridge to contemplate some rock formations that confound me each time I paint the scene. I’m not sure these photos will add any clarity.

A few hours later, it was HAILING in Mineral King. It hailed for about 3 hours.

Look at the back steps of the cabin!!

Look out the front windows. What a hardy (dumb?) bird!

When it was over, it was over. No more precipitation, no more clouds.

But look how deep the hail is on the ground!

The water was really flowing, like it does in a normal spring after a normal winter. Wait. Is normal wet, or is normal dry? The recent normal has been dry. So, I am very very thankful for all the rain and hail we have gotten so far this spring in Mineral King. VERY. VERY.

The hail turned the corn lily into shredded wheat.

Monarch Falls was charging full! It was running like chocolate milk for a little while.

The side of West Florence reflected nicely in this puddle on the road.

The following day we walked up to Crystal Creek. These are mud flows across the trail. It was a mess.

And Crystal Creek was running at a much higher volume than over Memorial Day weekend. We didn’t measure the precipitation from those storms, but this one told our rain gauge FOUR AND ONE QUARTER INCHES!!

Hail and Quail in Mineral King

Because it was almost a non-winter, we had early access to Mineral King this year. However, it didn’t act very summerish in those early weeks. (You may recall our cold, gray, overcast, foggy and rainy Memorial Weekend.)

Two weeks later I was back, and had an exciting afternoon in the cabin.

Is this hail??

It is, but the mountain quail doesn’t mind. Wow, it really piled up out there!

It cleared up for an evening stroll, so we got to see the alpen-glow on Empire (this is the rock outcropping, not the highest part of the mountain.)

Despite our lack of precipitation during the so-called “winter” of last season, these spring storms are providing water, for which we are very grateful.

Hail remained on Sawtooth for much of the next day.

If a bit of judicious pruning was done, the point of Sawtooth would be visible in this view. I have made it visible with pencils several times (all sold, no records, sigh.) I think of this as Tim and Judy’s view, because they were married close by 19 years ago. (or was it 21 years??) We’ve lost touch with several moves and 3 adopted children later, but they will remain forever in my heart.

Maybe it is time to paint this scene. Mineral King provides an endless source of inspiration.

Related link:

Mineral King opening weekend

Hiking in Mineral King

While I was painting diligently at home in Three Rivers, Trail Guy, who is retired, was hiking in Mineral King. He now has possession of the little camera that I used to carry around, so he documents his hikes for me to share with you. Or maybe he does it simply to share with me? Whatevs. Here are some photos from a couple of forays in the earlier spring months.

Trail Guy met a couple of guys from Germany. If he told me their names, I forgot. How about Gunther and Rolf? This was on the way up toward Farewell Gap.

Isn’t it cold and gray here? Brrrr.

It is actually a great time of year to see stuff when all the growth is low and the bears are out.

Hi, Bear.

Pussy Paws! (and some sunshine)

Marmot!

Evidence of human habitation, back in the mining era of Mineral King

A splendiforous view from the Timber Gap trail. Trail Guy has a couple of loop hikes that he repeats several times over the course of a summer. This one is the Empire loop.

And this is the view I used on my first big mural in Exeter, called “Mineral King: In Our Backyard” (named by Trail Guy, of course!)

Related Links:

Mineral King: In Our Backyard

Empire Hike

Painting Mineral King

Sometimes, instead of going to Mineral King, I stay home and paint it.

Sounds stupid, but it is my business. My mission is to represent, portray and show off the beauty of Tulare County.

As a studio painter, it helps me to be in the studio.

If I painted plein air, I’d be at work instead of on leisure time while in Mineral King. Forget that noise!

mineral King paintings

This is 3 paintings in progress, working from 2 photos. (The photos are the ones with the completed tall trees.)

This is on a 4×4″ board with a very smooth surface. The smooth surface gives me the option of putting in a ton of detail. It will look sweet sitting on a little easel.

Here are the 2 6×6″ oil paintings that should dry quickly since summer seems to have arrived. The one on the left doesn’t look anemic in real life.

Apparently I got confused as to which photo I was using. When scene is this familiar, sometimes I forget to look at the reference and just go.

And when I see these as photos, I think they still need more work. Interesting, because I spent HOURS on these. HOURS, I tell you! (And those were hours I could have been relaxing or hiking in Mineral King out of the heat – anyone appreciate my dedication to work here?)

More Opening Weekend in Mineral King

Mineral King was overcast, cold, rainy and foggy on opening weekend this year. Guess it makes sense to get March in May since we had May in March.

mineral king fog

What’s a Central California artist to do? How about read, knit and discuss colors? I said blue, Michael said purple, and neighbor Annie said purplish blue. (Discussing the yarn color with a purple glasses case thrown in for comparison.)

How about a some bird watching out the window? Down the hill we have California quail and scrub jays; up the hill we have Mountain Quail and stellar jays.

Is the sun starting to break out? Let’s go see!

Mineral King in fog

mineral king

Reminds me of a couple of paintings! Mineral King is definitely a major source of inspiration behind my art.

Well, oops. There seems to now be a tree missing from this scene.

Farewell Gap XVII

Farewell Gap XVII, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×10″, $100

1513 Honeymoon XX

Honeymoon Cabin XX, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $90

Relevant Links

Cabinart landscape oil painting

Tulare County Beauty

As a Central California artist in Tulare County, it is my mission, goal and duty to portray the beauty of this place I live.

Yesterday I showed you oil paintings as examples of the various subjects I paint that fall into a category I call “Because People Like It”.

However, I didn’t show you my latest paintings in several of those categories.

Let’s try this again:

Sequoia (this painting is still in progress – I wasn’t kidding when I said “latest”.)
Mineral King: (top painting – 6×6″, bottom painting 8×8″)
Citrus
Poppies
Three Rivers

Most of these paintings are available through this page of my website. Excuse me for sounding sellsy. (It is a part of the way I earn my living.)

Opening Weekend in Mineral King

Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer and of Mineral King time. Thus, you get to read (or skip reading) about Mineral King on Fridays on my blog.

This year we had May weather in March (and February and April too), so we got March weather in May. The weekend in Mineral King was cloudy, cold, overcast, foggy and rainy, with intermittent hopeful spots of sunshine.

My friend Tracy and I went to the Silver City Store to conduct a little business, which is a euphemism for deliver new oil paintings. Here is one that I am particularly fond of:

Below Atwell

Below Atwell, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×18″, SOLD

Tracy couldn’t remember ever seeing this sight, so we headed on down to Atwell Mill to take the gentle and scenic walk to the footbridge on the East Fork of the Kaweah (on the Hockett Trail for those of you in the know).

First we passed this thing. It was some sort of an engine that ran the machines for turning redwood trees into lumber.

This is one of the giant sequoias that escaped the loggers’ attention. Maybe it was too far from the lumber mill to bother with.

Here is the falls on the East Fork of the Kaweah River below Atwell Mill.

It is powerful and a bit intimidating even in a low water year. There was a little girl crossing the bridge with her parents and brothers, and she was shouting, “I’m going to fall, I’m going to fall!” They hustled her right across, and then she recovered enough for me to take some nice family photos for them. They had their dog with them and were quite surprised to learn that dogs are not allowed on the trails. Guess they didn’t see the many signs.

No matter where I stood on the trail, I couldn’t find the exact view of my painting. Guess I took some artistic license. This is good to know, because it says I am not a slave to my photos.

Come back next Friday for more pictures and chat about opening weekend in Mineral King!

What Shall I Paint?

Have you ever wondered how an artist decides what to paint?

Me too.

What I paint falls into 4 categories:

Things I know will sell
Things I want to paint
Commissions
Reworking old paintings

Category #1 includes Sequoia scenery, anything Mineral King, citrus, the Kaweah Post Office, the Kaweah River, the Oak Grove bridge and poppies.

sawtooth XI

Sawtooth Peak, 8×10, sold (Mineral King)

Category #2 can be flowers, fruit, an experiment, something with great light or a color that makes my heart sing, a gift for someone, or something so beautiful that I cannot resist.

Category #3 is anything a customer has requested, usually paid for up front, and sometimes working from his photos.

Sequoia painting in progress, sunflowers because I want to paint them, Buckeye Bridge as a commissioned piece.

Category #4 happens when I look objectively at a painting that’s been hanging around for awhile (literally) and decide that I paint better now.

Lake Kaweah

Lake Kaweah, or perhaps Kaweah Lake, 16×20, $350, repainted, revised, and revisited more times than I can remember. The constant improvement is bound to catch the eye of a customer. Oh – it is called “Lake View VII” on my website!