Which end is up?

There are several commissioned paintings that need to be done before the mural begins. This is not one of them – it is a commission, but the commissioner said, “No Hurry”. (music to my ears!) He has a great 16×20″ photo of Sawtooth with Mineral Peak behind it and has been wanting a painting. His vision is a panorama shaped painting on wrapped canvas. I looked up available sizes, and he chose 18×36″. I cropped his photo using brown craft paper and began to outline the shapes in a gray-blue color.

 

img_3715.jpg

 

Next, I turned both pieces upside down, changed to a reddish brown, and corrected the shapes. Sounds crazy, but it works! Why? When it is right side up my brain tells my eye “You know what Sawtooth looks like; just draw it!” When it is upside down, my eye says “A little longer here, a little wider there, this is in line with that, that is to the right of this. . .” while my brain says, “Hunh?”

img_3719.jpg

Designing a mural, part 2

After I recovered from the enormous overload of photographic input, I sorted the photos by lake. Then, I realized the only historical photo of a dam that I had readily available (thanks, Louise!) was of Franklin. That caused the decision to be easy. The mural team requested the addition of mules, so I had to chase down an old photo from which to paint. I know many resourceful people with lots of history in Mineral King, so finding a photo wasn’t too hard. (thanks, Cathy!)

building-franklin-dam.jpg

 

Planning a mural

The new mural has been in the planning phase for over a year. It was requested that a mural be painted to the correct scale so that a person can stand in front of it and appear to be at the actual scene. To do that, I had to have people with me each time I visited a lake with a dam. There are 4 lakes with dams out of Mineral King. I knew that Eagle Lake most likely would not make a good candidate, so I only visited the other 3. My friends and family know that I am always working – thinking, planning and designing – so they have become accustomed to participating in rather unorthodox ways upon request. Here is Phoebe at Crystal Lake:

img_0824.jpg

It is a fabulously beautiful place, and it might have worked for a mural. The dam is on the lower of the 2 lakes, and we all (Michael, Phoebe and I) prefer upper Crystal.

Here is Michael on upper Monarch Lake:

img_1338.jpg

This lake is sort of hard to get to since there isn’t an exact trail. It would be good to know how the mules carrying all those sacks of cement got there!

img_1548.jpg

This is the other JB at Franklin Lake. We were there in late August, and by then, I knew this would probably be the best candidate for a mural that could meet the specifications. It has a trail leading directly to the dam and there was a great photo available of the building process in 1904.

NEW MURAL!

Finally, I can tell you about my upcoming big project! It is Exeter’s next mural and will be located directly across from my other mural. This one is about 1/3 of the length of the other. The subject is Franklin Lake and the Mount Whitney Power Company, which was the precursor to Southern California Edison and had an office in Exeter. (It is now the Exeter History Museum.) Our projected projection date (tee hee hee) is Thursday, June 3. Stay tuned for further details. . .

new-mural.jpg

Mount Whitney Power Company dam under construction at Franklin Lake, Mineral King, California, 1904. Thousands of pounds of cement, sand, rock, wood forms and construction supplies were hauled by mules to early 1900s power company dam projects. (from The Mule Men by Louise Jackson)

 

All at one time!

Yep, a paintbrush in each hand, in my teeth and one per foot. . . of course I am joking! But all of these paintings are wet and in progress and won’t be ready in time for Redbud Festival.  Orders can be taken for commissions. . . 😎

The bridge is slowly advancing – the changes are probably too small to notice yet. The one on the right is in its very first stages – a single layer of paint just indicating where things will be and the general color.

img_3548.jpg

This was one of the first scenes I tackled 4 years ago – wow, it is ever so much easier this time!

img_3549.jpg

On top is the beginning of a commissioned painting of Mineral King in winter. The lower painting has been “mulling” for a long time but now the part above the bridge is finished as are about half the stones in the bridge.

img_3550.jpg

The top painting should look familiar – I have painted it numerous times, but this time it will be a wedding gift. (Giving my art as a gift is a careful decision – does the recipient like my art? Have I chosen the right subject? ) The other 2 paintings are also Mineral King, also repeats. If a subject is great (and if it sells) I repaint it as often as I want. Why not? Can’t think of an good answer, so I’ll keep repeating myself!

img_3551.jpg

Painting Mineral King

It’s my main subject, along with Three Rivers, the big trees and citrus. (You knew that, right?) I finished working on this little painting while at the Art Co-op, put it outside in the sunshine, and then later noticed it was pouring, despite the brilliant sun cooking the side of my head through the glass doors. Because it is oil paint, the water beaded up on the surface so I just blew it off. Literally. Got a little light-headed in the process, but saved the painting. If it weren’t for Jim Peters, I couldn’t have worked on this because I forgot my magnifying glasses and he graciously lent me a pair of his! Thanks, Jim!

 

 

 tg3.jpg

Artist Statement

This is one of the most dreaded, misunderstood and boring aspects of being an artist. We artists, in general, dislike writing about our work. Obviously this doesn’t apply to me! But while I love to write, the artist statement gets me bowed up. I don’t do well with Artspeak, and I hate pretentiousness. This a.m. I read an article in the business/art magazine Art Calendar about writing an artist statement and realized it was time to update mine (yet again!) I’m still not sure if it is supposed to be a personal history, a personal philosophy of art, or an explanation. Regardless, here is my current one:

Art has been my fulltime profession for 17 years. Pencil used to be all I’d consider – it was the best way I knew to get every single detail in excruciating perfection. As my drawing students and customers asked for color, I reluctantly entered the world of colored pencil to record life around me. It didn’t resonate with me the way graphite did (and still does!), so 4 years ago I began to oil paint. As my proficiency increases, I’m able to focus more on light and color, and less on minutia. Although my medium is different, my favorite subjects remain: giant Sequoias, Mineral King, citrus, and Three Rivers. Tulare County is my home and recording its beauty is my goal. 

It will probably be rewritten many more times as I learn what this is supposed to be and do. Mostly it is a requirement for gallery entries or group shows. Since I tend to be a maverick (as my college photography teacher told me back in the late ’70s), I can usually avoid this part of an art career.  Yea! So, have a look at what is almost finished for the Zonta show (and they invited me WITHOUT asking for an “artist statement”):

img_2966.JPG

Winter, continued

I’m writing blog entries when I should be painting. Painting is supposed to be my first priority now, so anything else produces guilt. But, I feel compelled to stay in touch, and tell you about another trip into Mineral King. As usual, it provided more inspiration, recreation and good times with Michael in the snow.

img_2903.JPG

There has been avalanche activity in the valley. First, a slide came down off spud mountain. The real name is Potato Hill because it reminded the Irish miners of rows of potatoes in the fields of home. Those rows are avalanche chutes. Here is one result:

img_2890.JPG

This is a little shed that prolly needed rebuilding anyway. . . out of respect for my friends and neighbors, I will leave this without identification, and will also not show the cabin that got knocked off its posts. (It doesn’t look nearly as dramatic in the photos as real life anyway!)

img_2868.JPG

Another slide came down Chihuahua, which is the drainage across the valley from Spring Creek (about 1/2 mile before Crystal).

img_2865.JPG

It is all snowy, so how do you know this is a slide instead of just snowfall? It is fan shaped, like an alluvial fan but made of snow instead of dirt. And, it covered the creek that is exposed in other parts of the valley:

img_2873.JPG

There are also broken branches and other debris, but it isn’t that pretty in a photo, so I skipped that part of today’s lesson in Mineral King Winter. (There won’t be a test or any homework, no worries!)

 

 

Great Winter

Because I am the daughter, granddaughter, niece and cousin of farmers, weather has always been an important part of my life. I was trained from an early age to stop talking (mid-sentence if necessary) whenever the weather came on the radio. Dad did call most of the weather guys “weather-guessers”, and I have noticed in the past few months that a prominent weather guy on a prominent localish radio station refers to himself as a “metorolist”. Perhaps he isn’t a real meteorologist, or perhaps he is just in a giant hurry or even has trouble pronouncing his profession. . . hard to say, but I digress. What I meant to say is have a look at a Mineral King cabin as of Sunday, February 7, 2010. (Thank you, Evan and Karl!)

 

 snow.jpg

Mendocino, Mineral King and Yarn

9116-hm5.jpg

 

This was a gift to a generous person who lent her home in Mendocino to me and my friend Carol over the weekend. Mendocino is So Very Far away, and yet this lady loves Mineral King. So, this is for her! It was especially lovely to have a home instead of a motel room when it rained like the dickens on Sunday. We spent the heart of the day walking around town, poking into art galleries and the Mendocino Yarn Shop http://www.mendocinoyarnshop.com/ (You didn’t expect me to just walk past it, did you?) I learned the strangest thing: every piece of abstract art we saw reminded me of yarn!