Category: Mineral King

Great weather! Sounds like a cliche, but when one works outside, it is EVERYTHING. Had many visitors today, including my dear husband who set up that umbrella so that it can not blow over. It also can’t really be moved very easily, but at least for an hour or two it will be useful!  I had ridiculously high hopes of finishing this photo inset today, which is day #4 on this piece. In this type of meticulous detail I have 2 choices: paint or talk. Today I talked a lot. If you come to visit, I can and do listen while my back is turned to you. What’s more, I appreciate the entertainment of hearing your stories! Please forgive me for turning my back to you but that is where my work is, and no, you are not interrupting! Jared, thank you very very much for fixing my cell phone today – you are a genius!!! 

Thank you, Dick and Dawn, for the coffee today! Just in case anyone tried to call me today, my cell phone has quit working. Too bad it isn’t a Honda, because I’d take it to Foreign Auto Works. Alas, it isn’t, so I will do without one until it either rains or I run out of cat food, whichever happens first, thus allowing or necessitating a trip to Visalia. If you need to tell me something, call 561-7606 and I will retrieve the message in the evening. If it can’t wait, come to the wall. It is on E Street in the 100 north block. Today Keith turned the truck around. I’m sure I could have, but he showed up and offered so I said “Yes, please!” Turns out that the cab blocks the gusts of wind that have been blowing over the umbrella – this is a good change!  It was a day of great detail, so not much forward progress happened but it was oh so fun. Not hot out either! Had so much fun painting that I forgot to watch the time (not that I could without my phone/clock) and painted until 5:15! I love doing detail, just love it! 

First, we interrupt our regular programming to bring you a shameless commercial for Foreign Auto Works in Visalia. If you drive a Honda, Toyota or Nissan, you NEED these guys. Really! Forget about wasting time and money at the dealer; go see Mark and Pete. I wouldn’t dream of driving a car that they don’t work on (oh, Acura and Lexus too) . They saved me yesterday, got my broken window thingie repaired even though they had a full day of work already scheduled. This was not unusual – they have been doing a wonderful job keeping my old Accords going since 1983 (I’m on #4) and my husband’s Toyota pickup going since he and I got married in 1986.(same truck, same wife) Foreign Auto Works, 559/734-8285. Now we return to our regular broadcast. First, it has been awhile since you’ve seen the wall in its entirety. Have a look:You can see that it is getting close to turn-the-truck-around time, perhaps another week. Had a little difficulty finding the right sepia tone for this long panoramic “postcard”.  This was too gray and blended into the mountains. I mixed in a touch more red and got a beautiful burgundy, entirely wrong, but beautiful anyway. Next, I put all the browns on the wall so that Betsy and I could make a decision:  In this photo it is mighty hard to see the difference. Turns out I had to mix a new color altogether, and it looks like this: Reddish, but not too. Got so doggoned hot up on those black anti-fatigue mats that I had to knock off early this afternoon. The umbrella is not my friend, and tomorrow I will have to come up with a new plan for painting in the heat. I can do this!

Just kidding! This is not the mural’s progress today. Whoever said it takes 30 days to form a habit hasn’t met me. I FORGOT to photograph the mural when I finished painting!  So, I’ll just tell you a bit about the day. The most memorable event was when a gust of wind blew the umbrella and 35+ lb. base off the bed of the truck, which is about 4-1/2 feet off the ground. It crashed onto the parking lot, and thankfully, no one was in its path. No one else saw its flight, but 2 broken ribs (on the umbrella, not on me) attest to the incident. Other than that, it was a normal day of painting and talking to people. Lots of people. Lots and lots of people! 

Oooh, ooh, I think I might be 2/3 finished! My first guess at how long this would take was 60 days, and it may be that or even less. My hope is to have it look finished, and then have lots of time to dink around and improve and perfect and of course, hide a few things. Today the Mural Team was in town sealing murals with some magic stuff that is supposed to brighten the colors and slow down the UV damage. They had a very good lunch and invited me. This is the second time I have actually taken a lunch break – the first time was yesterday. Careful, a slothful pattern could be developing here!The lunch took place in front of my former studio. I sat on the brick step, because I paid for that thing, doggonit! My old studio was inside my favorite mural at the time – such a wonderful location. Today was the only day in 7 years that I felt a little sad about not being there anymore. It is now part of Rosemary & Thyme, a WONDERFUL store.Okay, isn’t this interesting? You can see 1/3 of the model painting (called a “maquette”) on the right. This is the first time I have seen it since handing it over to the Mural Team back in January. The colors seem more accurate to real life on the mural itself than in the maquette. It was very helpful to have it there today – got some weird shapes sorted out by looking at it instead of the complicated photographs.

I knew today would be good when a man from Verizon drove up, got out and handed me a cup of coffee! Thank you, Mr. Verizon!! That was really really nice!  It was a very busy morning at the mural – a social event, to be sure. Then, Betsy came by and wondered if perhaps she could photograph Farewell Gap for a tee-shirt. This would have been fine, except that there wasn’t quite enough finished picture around Farewell Gap. So, I had a bit of a painting emergency – a get-‘er-dun situation for sure. I painted like a crazy woman (shush, those of you out there making the obvious smart remark), she showed up at 2 as she said and I simply said, “Go away”. She came back awhile later with some mocha-frappa-cina-latta-calorie wonderful treat, and we proceeded to photograph the mural. She needed more photos than just Farewell Gap, so we had to move IT because of the shadow IT was casting. Turns out the wheels were a bit mired in the dirt of their respective potholes because IT hasn’t been moved or used for several weeks now. Then my car was in the way of IT and I couldn’t find my keys. Betsy said, “Put it in neutral”, so I did, and she pushed while I Fred-Flintstoned. Phew. Got all the photos, and found my keys later when time wasn’t so crunchy. (just another day at the office?)If you would like a tee shirt with this design on the back, they will be available soon!Here is more of the full day’s work which included more detail in the White Chief bowl.Look – what is this?? Just another spot on the truck where the splinters will be glued down, this time in dark green. It is a result of one of those hurrieder-behinder situations that involved scooping up wet paint with both hands.   

Now I can confidently say that I am half-way through. Today I realized that White Chief still needed some reshaping, and also concluded that it is much hotter on the truck than on the ground. Therefore, my new plan is to work on the truck in the a.m. and on the ground in the p.m. (Kenny M., if you are reading this, Mr. Stroben says “Hello!” Actually, he said it whether you are reading this or not.) 

Today was a very pleasant day on THE WALL. I met the four Dumas brothers who chose Exeter as the destination for their annual reunion from several parts west. The lovely, gracious, and always accurate free lance reporter Lisa McEwen interviewed me for the Tulare County Lifestyle magazine (’twill be in the Visalia Times-Delta the second week in May). She learned how to climb up and down off the truck sans ladder and painted 2 trees (which I inadvertently and regrettably covered up this afternoon – I am sorry, Lisa!) And, after taking a short break at Larry Lee Photography (they have fine facilities, a Mac and a cat, I returned to the truck to find a cup of ice water, a bag of cookies and a brief note – “From Hometown Emporium for the painter” – WOW! Thanks, Hometown! What a day! Tomorrow I hope to finish this section all the way to the bottom of the mural, because I would like to drive the truck forward rather than in reverse this week!

Today I was greatly and ably assisted by Betsy, my “boss” from the Mural Team. Wow, it certainly does help to have help. It is difficult for me to determine what my helpers can do because I am not always certain of the next step. Or, sometimes the next step is actually a week or two away! Have a look at the detailing that I was able to complete today (around the “postcards”) because Betsy attended to other tasks for me. As time passes, I will continue to add to these parts, much as I keep adding detail to the “postcards”.  This scribbly and wrong-colored stuff was my buddy Shane using up the leftover paint on my palette at the end of the day. I could just let it all dry overnight in the palette, but it gave Shane a new experience and seemed better than just wasting the paint. It will get hidden under layers of the right paint and detail as I make my way down the wall. Here is some of Betsy’s base coat, along with Ellen’s work from Friday! Thank you, friends!