Category: Mineral King

Good thing it isn’t really hot yet, because it IS really REALLY hot working on THE WALL. Phew. This morning I may have finished the “hill” – I hope it gives the viewer a sense of placement, a feeling of being grounded instead of just viewing mountains from a helicopter. And today I was asked again about the “postcards” as in “Are you going to just leave those insets there?”  I used extraordinary restraint in my response because dozens of rude remarks flashed through my mind such as “How did you pass your driver’s test?”  or “You got any spray paint with you?” or “Why don’t you just try to peel them off?” or  “yeah, I spent too much on them at Kinko’s” or “Bite me”. Not sure what I said, but I hope it was polite. I don’t usually feel polite when it is really hot out.  The names are mostly gone with one exception:  

It is relatively hot out today which causes the paint to dry much too fast in the palette, on the wall and in the brush. The only reason I tried to paint is that Steve Fujimoto, renowned Visalia Times-Delta photographer, came to “shoot” me in action. These photos are to accompany an article that will appear in the May issue of Tulare County Life magazine. That will take place the first Tuesday in May with the day’s copy of the Times-Delta. For those of you out of the area, perhaps you can find it here: http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/  So today I just added some texture to Ashley’s hill and began encroaching on the list of names. When the weather cools back down, I’ll go finish this area. 

Wow, can it be?? Today I began detailing that hill on the lower left because the final “snapshot” is finished. Maybe. (A man asked me again how I got those photos up on the wall – his buddy blurted out “With her paintbrush, Dummy” or something equally ungracious.)Does this look like dirt, rocks, growies and sticks?Here is a look at the last (sob, sniffle) “snapshot”.  It might need a little more tightening up.  And here is one that I have straightened for you:See the ruffled edge? It surprised me how random those edges were in the snapshots from the 40s, although I am sure there had to be some that had symmetrical ruffles.

Today was so peopled that I didn’t seem to paint much! However, detail is improving steadily on this scene. Notice it is “crooked” today. . .

Looking progressively less icky, we hope! It was a gusty windy day, not the best for hanging onto the palette and photo while wondering if the umbrella’s bungy cord would hold. Many people were pleased to inform me that the “photo” was crooked; I have straightened it out somewhat for you here:

Today Betsy asked what she could do to get me to slow down. After thinking about it, the answer is a multi-faceted one: 1. Clean my house for me 2. Buy 2 tanks of gas and 3. Guarantee that the weather won’t get hot before your desired finish date. My guess is that I will just continue painting at the current pace.  However, today I was temporarily slowed down by forgetting the keys to the truck, studio where I use the facilites and gallery where I store my wagon of supplies! Even with 2 days off last week, I seem to be on overload here. So today I knocked off early to get some things done at home and in the studio and was greeted by these sights:Guess Zeke is showing me how much he has missed me lately.  Meanwhile, back at THE WALL, today I had a wildlife encounter with a very interested, aggressive and determined bumblebee. After I finally coldly swatted him out of the sky (he was completely in my personal space!), I squatted down beneath the truck to verify that he had assumed room temperature. While down there, this is what I saw:Look at this tire – it is floating in unsupported on thin air! Isn’t this truck a marvelous item?? (Too bad it isn’t a Toyota so it could go to Foreign Auto Works) Made me forget about finding the dead bee. (I kid you not, this thing was the B-52 of the insect world!) And finally, I bring you the day’s completed work: Today a nice man named William Smith gave me a book of his poetry, published in the 1970s. I’m not a big fan of poetry, but he was a very thoughtful guy and I will give it my best shot. Thank you, Mr. Smith. 

Today I backed the truck to the end and painted to the end! It isn’t finished, of course, but paint reached the end of the wall. Shoot. I had all kinds of ideas for the blog and I’m back to Uhhh, photo, look.    

Rain reprieve yesterday. I’m of two minds now: starting to slow down, reluctant to finish while at at the same time looking forward to not taking the car out of the garage all day and staying home to paint little bitty oil pictures! Uhhh, photo, look: 

As I paint in silence (relatively speaking) and solitude each day, ideas come to me for this blog. Sometimes 2-3 hours go by with no visitors; they usually appear in groups, right around the time I break for lunch (all 3 minutes of it) or while I am trying to put it all away around 3 or 3:30 p.m. By the time I get home in the evening, I seem only capable of showing you a photo or two and grunting out a couple of syllables! Uhhh, photo, look.Here is the whole wall this a.m. so that you can see how close to the end I am.And here is a day of painting.  (Uhhh, photo, look.) 

Whooo-eee, it was a hot one today! Pleasant unless standing in the sun on the back of a truck in or on the asphalt next to a south facing wall. I gave up around 2 p.m. because the paint was drying too fast in the brushes. “Postcard” #6 is finished, leaving just the last one to complete. Got a few mountains to cover first. . . and that crack is the 3/4 mark, so that means I am perhaps 13/16 finished 8-). And just because inquiring minds like to know, this picture is about 13′ x 4′ – almost a mural unto itself. Rain is forecast for this week! How would you like a coffee mug with this old scene of Timber Gap and the Mineral King valley?? They’re coming!