Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Sometimes when I need to get photos or see stuff, I trespass. Been doing it my whole life, I confess. Forgive me my trespasses. . .

Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?
Are these the same two sycamores as in the sepia photo from 1996?
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These 2 sycamores have more space between them, but is was 20 years ago when this was taken.

Recently I went trespassing up the North Fork of the Kaweah, looking for the site where the Kaweah blacksmith shop sat. I have a photo from 1996, but the flood of 1997 probably changed the scene. Besides removing the blacksmith shop, it probably changed the route of the river there.

Why does it matter if I have a photo? Because I can’t tell if there are hills behind or if the river should show a bit or what to fill in with between the sycamore trees. If I can’t see it, I can’t paint it. Very well, that is.

Empty canvas, upside down photo.
Empty canvas, upside down photo.
No thanks, Samson, I don't need any help. Doesn't he look sweet? He isn't.
No thanks, Samson, I don’t need any help. Doesn’t he look sweet? He isn’t.
Building a painting probably isn't as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting.
Building a painting probably isn’t as scary as making sausage, but it certainly is daunting. Hard to believe that things begin this rough, but yeppers, that’s the way I paint.

New Oil Painting With Help

One of the benefits of participating in bazaars, boutiques and festivals is that I meet new people. Sometimes this results in commissions or new drawing students. The Senior League Holiday Bazaar brought me this new oil painting commission.

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Photo from customer’s phone

Oh boy, there’s a challenge! When the customer explained that he had taken this photo in the Three Rivers History Museum, I knew I’d receive some good help.

I emailed Museum Man, who promptly removed the photo from the frame, scanned it at a high resolution and emailed it to me!

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The customer told me about this little building. It was the blacksmith shop for the Kaweah Colony, and it was on property that he now owns. In 1997, a flood took it away.

We discussed colors, and he and his wife decided it would suit them better in full color rather than sepia tones. They chose the fall season, which seems right based on all the sycamore leaves on the ground.

To be continued. . .

Color Bullies, Part 2

My advanced drawing students successfully bullied me into 2 oil painting workshops. We had a great time!

A rebel set aside her Sequoia painting that she began last week. This is of the Tetons from a photo she took. I painted the scene first so it would be a little easier for her. (I had the assignment of copying an “Old Master” during the 1/2 semester of painting I took at the local junior college – copying is a good way to learn.)

A rebel set aside her Sequoia tree to finish a painting of the Tetons that she began last year.

We had an overachiever who worked on 2 paintings at the same time.

An overachiever worked on 2 paintings at the same time.

Good job, E! You get an A for sure. No rebelling, one painting at a time.

Good job, E. You get an A for sure!

Turned out that two painters did choose the same scene. We put them side by side, and learned that the one on the left could benefit from stronger colors and more contrast, and the one on the right could benefit from more detail. Interesting exercise! (They look different in real life than on the screen because I had to mess with the photo because it didn’t look right because. . . . on and on and on. Never mind.)

Two painters ended up working on the same scene.

At the end of our session, it turns out that we had two rebels and five Sequoia trees. Yes, that is a cat, but the cat painter is actually drawing a Sequoia tree in pencil these days.

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None of these paintings are finished. They need more layers, more details, some color corrections, edges of canvas painted, signatures, and varnish.

This probably means there will be another painting session ahead.

Color Bullies

About twice a year, I allow several of my advanced drawing students to bully me into giving an oil painting workshop.

Sometimes everyone paints the same subject, and sometimes each person chooses her own subject. It is easier to teach when everyone paints the same subject. That way everyone benefits from the same instructions rather than having to wait until I get around to help individually.

Recently, the color bullies arm-twisted me into another oil painting workshop. I negotiated to get them to all paint Sequoia trees and the result was that I gave them several photos from which to choose.

OF COURSE every single participant chose a different photo.

Good start, E!
Good start, E!
Good start, A!
Good start, A!
Good start, L!
Good start, L!
Good start, M!
Good start, M!
Whoa, E, you are getting this, but why is your photo upside down?
Whoa, E, this looks great, but why is your photo upside down?? (Teeheehee, those of us who draw together know the answer to this.)
Go, A, Go!!
Go, A, Go!!
Wow, M, you are getting this and even listened to me a couple of times!
Wow, M, you are getting this and even listened to me a couple of times!
Hey, L, are you confused?
Hey, L, are you confused? (We insiders get it. . . how snobbish of us!)
Let's all go outside and marvel at the colors in the leaves.
Let’s all go outside and marvel at the colors in the leaves.

The color bullies and I had a great time. (You know I use the term “bullies” as an exaggeration, yes? These folks are truly wonderful, and we love painting together!) Stay tuned to see how the paintings turn out after session #2.

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Reading Rabbit Report

If you are new to this blog, I’d like to introduce you to Reading Rabbit. This oil painting was a class assignment when I took half a semester of a painting class at the local junior college. I signed up for a photorealism class, and it was combined with a studio painting class. The instructor ignored the photorealism part, so I quit the class. (Besides, it was too dark to see well in the room, he played rap “music”, and it was 70 miles round trip. Any questions??)

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11x14"
Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″

But what about the Reading Rabbit? I love to read, and sometimes I post what I’ve been reading on the blog. By showing this painting, it sort of fits with my theme, which is Realistic detailed oil paintings and drawings of Tulare County, California (and occasionally beyond). Besides, I want the followers of the blog and my art to know a bit more about me than just my art. It is a marketing thing, but more than that, it is a friendship thing to share oneself.

By the way, thank you, Ed B., for introducing yourself at the Holiday Bazaar. It is a thrill to meet someone who reads and enjoys all this blathering and bloviating!

  1. Everyone Brave is Forgiven, Chris Cleave, has been highly recommended by several book sites. I chose it because it is based on letters written by the author’s grandparents during WWII. The novel is based in England, and I expected to like it more than I did. Most people love it.
  2. Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner, first published in the 1970s, often shows up on people’s lists of top books of all time. I read it awhile ago and didn’t like it. I reread it because I owned it (not now – donated it to the library) and because I thought my tastes might have changed. It reinforced for me that if I don’t find the main character likable or the setting to be a place I want to be, then I don’t enjoy the book.
  3. Be Frank With Me, Julia Claiborne Johnson, was one of the best novels I’ve read recently. Frank is a kid with shocking intelligence and poor social skills. The writing makes him come alive and the story is very well told.
  4. Maeve’s Times: In Her Own Words is a collection of Maeve Binchy’s essays printed in the Irish Times newspaper. It is arranged by decade and is a look into the the nonfiction writing life of my favorite novelist. She was wonderful!
  5. Maeve Binchy, the biography, Piers Dudgeon, was irresistible because of my love for Maeve’s novels. Her characterization is so lifelike and her storytelling so real that it made me want to know more about her. Like most biographies, there was too much information, too many names (many of them “Mary”). But I learned about my favorite novelist. If you love her work, you will enjoy this book (and book #4 above).
  6. Falling Upward: Spirituality for the Second Half of Life, Richard Rohr, was another book that I keep hearing about. I made it through the first four chapters and then decided that I am either stupid or intellectually lazy. Either way, I am 57 years old and I don’t have to finish books that I don’t like.

 

The Season of Donations and Fund Raisers

‘Tis the Season of Donations and Fund Raisers, asking artists to give away their work.

I have a strong policy about this*, and it includes donating to an occasional cause.

The policy came after the year that I donated more than I sold.

This year I am donating an oil painting of an orange to Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery. They will give me one ticket to their event, but I won’t be attending. I don’t want to buy a second ticket for someone to come with me. And I don’t want to be there while my painting is auctioned, because if no one bids, I might just die of complete and total mortification.

But, I hope this oil painting of an orange brings $60 at a minimum, because that is what I would charge for it if I sold it myself. (And the IRS would allow me to write off the cost of the canvas, the metal hanger on the back of the canvas, and the oil paint. Pray tell, oh wise bureaucrats, how do I calculate the cost of the oil paint??)

Orange #130, 6x6", oil on wrapped canvas
Orange #130, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas

*Perhaps it is time to reprint that policy. . .

What I Think About While I Paint

While I painted recently, I listened to music (Selah is the name of the group), fought off Samson and thought about things.

In Gretchen Rubin’s Four Tendencies, I am without a doubt a Questioner. As a result, most of my thoughts end up as unanswered questions. If an answer arrives, another 2 or 3 or 15 questions pop back up.

  1. Trail Guy and I recently found a cell phone. I emailed all the neighbors and asked if anyone recognized the number. The responses were “Nope, not mine.” Why did no one look on his phone to see if he had the number or name on his own contact list?
  2. What good are mosquitoes in the whole scheme of things?
  3. Why did none of my art teachers teach how to frame, approach galleries, set up shows, title pieces, sell, or reproduce art?
  4. Did I quit school too soon?
  5. Why are all those old cities in Israel buried so deep?
  6. Who dumps dirt on their towns and then moves to a new place?
  7. Why does Samson need to bite everything? (hint: if he came in a pair, his litter-mate would teach him better manners)
  8. Why is it so easy to harmonize with fabulous voices like Selah and so impossible to do it alone?

And, here is a bonus question:

  • If 7/11 is open 24/7, why don’t they change their name and take the locks off their doors?
A moment of rest from attacks
A moment of rest from attacks
The painting I will give to Exeter's Courthouse Gallery annual auction (If Samson doesn't climb it and wreck it.)
The oil painting I will give to Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery annual auction (If Samson doesn’t climb it and wreck it.)

2017 Calendar Coming Soon

Like it or not, 2017 is coming in a few months. Why wouldn’t one like it? Because one may have not gotten used to 2016 yet. Why would one like it? Because a new calendar is coming.

The Bridges of Tulare County

Back cover of 2017 calendar The Bridges of Tulare County
Back cover of 2017 calendar The Bridges of Tulare County

This idea came from the show that celebrated 100 years of the National Parks. I realized that my art is heavy in the subject of bridges, because they combine the best of scenery with architecture.

There aren’t very many picturesque bridges here in the fly-over country of California, AKA Central California. Thus, some of the bridges appear more than once.

The calendar includes oil paintings, pencil drawings, and one colored pencil drawing. My favorite, the Oak Grove bridge, shows up many times. It is my calendar and I don’t have to be fair and balanced. (I hope you share my bias.) 

With all the work on coloring books this year and not too much time to draw or paint, I contemplated not bothering with a calendar. Then 3 different people asked me what my calendar was going to be this year, and that’s all it took to convince me to make one.

Some of these you may have seen before, and others are new, specifically created for the calendar.

The Bridges of Tulare County, 2017 calendar – not yet ready to be ordered, but coming soon.

 

 

Cen. Calif. Artist Actually Works

Lest you think all I do is travel and walk, here is evidence to the contrary.

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Red on green retouched; green on red, just begun. These are on 5×7″ boards for displaying on little easels.
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Whoa, these sure look messy on the first pass! They are also on little boards, 4×4″. Can you tell what they will be when they grow up?
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The Big Trees, AKA Sequoia Gigantea, AKA redwoods. This is a regular subject for me. This is 8×10″.
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More of the same, also 8×10″. It will take several passes for this one to look like anything worthy of wall space.
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Lake Kaweah or Kaweah Lake? Around here we say, “The Lake”. If someone says, “What lake?” then the answer is simply “Kaweah”. Hence, the confusion as to order of the words.

One last painting begun. It is the season of the freebie. This one will go to the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter for their annual fundraising auction. I’m happy to donate to the wonderful place that allows me space for teaching drawing lessons. However, I will not be able to attend the fund raiser, because the stress of watching no one bid for something I painted might just reduce me to giving up my business, stabbing myself with my knitting needles, and taking in enormous numbers of stray cats.

new-orange

Popular Fruits

Oil paintings of fruits are popular for kitchen and dining rooms. Oranges and pomegranates sell the best for this Central California artist.

Here in Tulare County, we grow olives, walnuts, grapes, every type of citrus, cotton and all sorts of stone fruits, plus we produce more dairy than the entire state of Wisconsin. Some people like those things decorating their walls. If you want those things on your walls, I can paint them for you.

Meanwhile, I will continue to paint the very popular oranges and pomegranates.

1630 Orange #129 1631 Pom #52 1602 Pom #53

These paintings are available here. Or you can find me in my usual places. Or, you can holler at me while I am pounding out miles to prepare for the Lake Tahoe 1/2 Marathon. My walking partner and I are the ones with a neon green shoelace and a neon orange shoelace. That’s our team uniform. Color is popular with us.

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