Category: Mineral King

Odd Job

A dear friend, B, is a very accomplished quilter. She is also a true Mineral King person. Check out this quilt she made:

In case you need a tour guide, this is a view of Sawtooth, with Monarch Falls and the East fork of the Kaweah River. B was not pleased with Monarch Falls as it appeared in fabric form, so she requested a painted quilt square to replace it. Took some real planning! We walked to the view, I did a sketch, we laid out the quilt and I sketched it in place on tissue paper over the top of the quilt. Then I cut a piece of fabric, taped off the seam allowance, and coated it with gesso. Then, I lost it for awhile. After I cleaned out a closet, it reappeared, and I painted it as B and I planned.

This shows it just lying on the quilt without being stitched (hence, the white border). I actually mixed paint to match part of the fabric! Isn’t this a cool idea? Isn’t B an over-the-top quilter?

Mineral King quilt

White Christmas

Yep, we had one! Pictures are worth thousands of words, so here you go:

Someone else was here first.

Looking back at our tracks

Just in case you are interested, you can click on this thumbnail photo to embiggen it and compare July with December!

Mineral King Mineral King in winter

So Long, Farewell

This was cabin closing weekend. The usual mixed emotions accompanied the tasks. Here are some (maybe) final photos of Mineral King for 2009.This is looking down on Soda Springs. after we crossed over and headed to Aspen Flat, where we found some trees with color.There is another Soda Spring that isn’t so well trod or well known. The water tastes just as nasty – fizzy metal, anyone?We also found these – they belonged to a very big buck! It seems he met a violent end – part of his jawbone was nearby. (I spared you the visual assault – you’re welcome!)Found a few more trees with color at the lower end of the valley. (probably not as bright as this – thanks, iPhoto!) That storm which made our river so full also put a nice coating on Farewell Gap. So, once again it is time to say, “Farewell, Farewell!” If you want to keep an eye on Mineral King throughout the year, you can watch it here: http://www.mk-webcam.net/

Mineral King

An Anniversary

Twenty three years ago today, Michael and I got married in Mineral King. Today we went there because a. it is our anniversary and b. we had to make sure the cabin and water system will not freeze in the coming cold front and possible storm. What a difference 2 weeks make! The colored leaves are gone from the willows, and it is cold. The low was 21 degrees this a.m. and it was in the 30s this afternoon. Snow was accumulating in the creek that I waded through just 2 weeks ago.Brrr. We ate lunch with our neighbor in his cabin because a. we like him and b. his wood stove was doing a great job! Thanks, Keith!

Mineral King

Painting outside

My mobile easel is in a new place behind the cabin. See? I was standing there painting and a chipmunk ran across my foot. “How rude”, was my first thought. He was awfully cute, but that was a total invasion of my personal space by a complete stranger. Then I bent down and looked: I was invading his space by standing in front of his front door! (Obviously I should have tried another photo – please excuse the blurriness) This is called Arriving In Mineral King. It is still wet and was painted in Mineral King, in case you were seeking a bit of authenticity. 8×10, $80, oil on wrapped canvas. Hard to believe I was standing in Farewell Gap one week and painting it the next!

hiking Mineral King oil paintings

Stuff I get and stuff I don’t get

The Art Co-op is now on Facebook. I don’t get that – what it is for, how it works and who has time to figure it out or go cruising around on it or enter little sentences about what one is doing when. If you are into Facebook, you can look up The Art Co-op (but I don’t know how to tell you to do that.) It has to do with increasing visibility, but how do we get found in a crowd of millions? This I get. It is looking back toward Mineral King on the trail to Farewell Gap. It was a cloudy day with clear air and beautiful sunshine. In case you’ve never been to Farewell Gap, this is how it looks when you still have 2-3 miles left to walk. Then you get to the top and almost get blown back to Mineral King. I wanted to photograph the sign at the top and compare the elevation to that on my Garmin Forerunner but my hat needed to be hung onto so I ran out of hands for all that silliness.This is what the other side looks like. It is the way to the Kern, to Hockett Meadow if you are so inclined, and it is the way deer hunters go because it is National Forest over there. Harry O’Farrell came from there while hunting for a trail building party and was the first man of European descent to see Mineral King. (thanks, Harry!)And this is what it looks like back toward Mineral King. Not too often that one gets a view over the top of Timber Gap. Empire is to the right of Timber; where the mountains get sort of reddish is the Franklin drainage. I love knowing where I am, don’t you? (I mean where you are when you are there, not where I am. . .)

hiking Mineral King

I feel a painting or 2 or 6 coming. . .

In The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, she suggests taking field trips for inspiration. This book is written primarily for “blocked” artists; I take a lot of field trips, and the ideas come much faster than the opportunities for painting.It is the light, always the light. Sometimes it is the colors, textures, or sense of place. If I paint this, some of that heavy overhang will need to be pruned in some manner. Finally figured out how to get close shots with my PHD but the color is no where near as intense as in reality! It was The Other JB who fell in love with this pine cone. We took an extended hiking break to arrange and photograph this beautiful specimen of color, texture and shape. We had what my husband refers to as “A Rainbow Day” in Mineral King. Unbelievable clarity with all the fires in California!

My Story, part 4

Remember Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People? I skimmed it and only remember one thing: the most effective way to really learn a new thing is to teach it. Until I began teaching drawing lessons, I had an endless list of things I just couldn’t draw. Once I began teaching, it became imperative to tackle those items! Early on those items included eagle feathers, lion fur, beach sand, and tree bark. As my students looked to me for direction, I had to find a way to draw AND explain the methods. Often we experimented together to find the best way to represent different textures. As I teach drawing, I learn new ways of explaining and demonstrating, and new techniques of drawing. Just to keep from getting too fat-headed, have a look at my early work:

When the reproductions of this sold out, I redrew it and reprinted the new one:

In case you are interested, it is for sale here:

https://www.cabinart.net/reproductions_new.shtml

In the interest of fairness and honesty, there is an even newer one, but it was reproduced as cards only and they have all sold out. If enough people ask, I will show it in another blog, but it won’t get reproduced because it sold and I don’t know to whom!!

Gathering visual information

Michael and I hiked to the upper Monarch Lake. It is about 5.5 miles – the first mile and a quarter is steep and hot and dusty with giant steps up that just suck the juice right out of your legs. The Bigelow Sneezeweed are at their peak in August, as are the Gentian. The next 4 miles are on a beautifully graded trail with a flat trailbed; the trail actually has a few too many (unnecessary) switchbacks. It takes you well above Timber Gap, and it was a bit smoky from the California wildfires.The last 3/4 mile is Find-Your-Own-Way.Upper Monarch Lake is one of the four lakes out of Mineral King with a dam on it. It was constructed in 1905, well before the well-graded trail was ever built (but you can bet it was thought of with great longing by those hard-working men!) The peak is Mineral Peak; it is the one some guy kept trying to convince me was Homer’s Nose while I was painting the mural.We went up one way from lower Monarch to upper Monarch; it wasn’t very easy. We came down a different way that included quite a bit of meandering and backtracking; it was much easier and rather interesting.See what we found? We left it there. Pity the guy who had to hike down on a non-trail missing a sole!

hiking Mineral King

The friendships grow

Remember the Sawtooth Six from a blog posting last year? They were back this past weekend! Wow, time flies! The funniest moment was when they realized they had forgotten tonic and had to call me down the hill to deliver. The calls were frequent and pathetic; when we saw each other across the valley for the first time, instead of hollering “hello”, they shouted “Did you bring the tonic?” These photos were taken rather spontaneously. Normally they all line up on the porch of the cabin for their official photo, but this year Michael and I wanted to hit the trail before they were prepared. So, I snapped these in a moment of I-Can’t-Believe-The Weekend-Visit-Is-Already-Over. Evidence that the friendship between us and them is growing – I actually sat down with them at their cabin for a real visit; they brought us their leftover food when closing the cabin; an official invitation was extended to join in one of their traditions next year; and, a few hugs were exchanged upon good-byes. The good part? Time flies, and next year will come quickly. I had a few words of advice before parting: eat more produce, hike more, and stay longer! And, I should have added, “Make a grocery list!”