2015 Calendar Coming!

Two years ago I published a calendar of oil paintings.

Last year it was a calendar of photography. (I was too busy drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia to paint.)

This year it will be a calendar of oil paintings.

It will be called Beautiful Tulare County. If that sounds like a joke, stop being cynical! There are beautiful places and times of year around here. It is my business to find those places and times, and then to share them with you.

The calendar’s pages will not be precisely seasonally correct. They will be close, but summer is a dominant season around here, so those types of paintings will be dominant in the calendar.

Waiting for the price from the printer (NOT the book printer!!) and the estimated time of arrival before making them available for purchase. I’ll make it an easy price, a round number that includes tax and mailing costs.

Taste The Arts

 

Blooming Oranges #2, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

Taste The Arts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

11 AM – 5 PM

Downtown Visalia 

 

Taste the Arts is the name of a street fair type event in Visalia. It is very extensive, with lots of opportunities to try different methods of making art. There will be demonstrations in  spray paint, stenciling and murals, along with lots of artists exhibiting and selling their work.

Here is their link: Taste The Arts

I participated in an early version of this show about 2 years ago. The Arts Consortium is the most organized group I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and I expect this event to be great!

Painting for a Show in a City

With the first fall show coming on October 11, the pressure is on to get some paintings finished, signed, dried, scanned and varnished. Let’s see what is in the painting workshop.

Yikes. This photo shows me that my Mineral King mural needs to be freshened up. Wouldn’t it be fun to repaint it every 3 months to reflect the actual season? Forget it – I have to finish paintings that can be sold!

I had no trouble finishing these pumpkins. The bridge might be finished. The poppy fields are rough – this is after one pass over the canvas. The orange wants a few more blossoms.

I thought this would be too hard, because it is a challenge to turn 2 rectangular photos into one square scene, and real life is very messy so I’m trying to clean it up here. The rocks and background trees have been really satisfying. I love detail – did you know that?

On the advice of a trusted friend, I added more foliage to the poppies. It probably isn’t enough to suit her, but I like it. Those 4 orange poles will become The Four Guardsmen, 4 sequoias you pass among as you enter Sequoia National Park from Three Rivers. There is Farewell Gap (Mineral King) as it appears in early fall – leaves changing a bit, no snow, and very low water. Getting the water and rocks to look right is stretching my limited abilities. And the bottom scene is the trail to Farewell Gap. The light was wonderful that day! It isn’t finished in this photo.

Upcoming Show: Taste the Arts, Saturday, October 11, 11-5, downtown Visalia on Garden Street from Main to Oak Streets. (no idea where I will be – I’ll just follow directions like a good soldier when the time comes.)

Woohoo, world, I’m going to the big city of Visalia to meet some people and sell some art!

Yeah, I know, I really don’t get out much. Visalia is the county of seat of Tulare County, population around 125,000. “City”? It is to me! Three Rivers is 35 miles east and has about 2500 people, including all the part-timers. Just sayin’ so you can keep things in perspective from where I live.

 

Fall Shows Ahead

Last year I couldn’t do any shows in the fall because I spent the entire year drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia (WHEN WILL IT BE HERE???)

This year I am painting again, because paintings sell best at shows. Truthfully, cards, tee shirts, and calendars sell best, but if one is an artist, one needs pure art to set the stage, provide the atmosphere, supplement and be a backdrop for the small stuff.

Here are paintings in progress:

The raven is for an upcoming show for which I lack information. The oranges are in progress.

My favorite bridge in progress on this 10×10″ canvas because I love to paint this. The rocks are always challenging, as are the arches. Each time I am sure that I am making a dog’s breakfast of the scene. Each time I persist, and then I almost break my arm patting myself vigorously on the back.

The beginnings of another Mineral King scene and some pumpkins that I have been reluctant to finish for about the past 6 years. If someone said, “I love that and want to buy it!” – that might light my fire to finally finish it.

Earning a living as an artist, particularly in a rural place like Tulare County (3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state) is a balancing act. It would be just grand to be able to paint anything I want and have a large population base from which to find the buyer. The reality is that I paint what people want because that is the way to please customers.

Even so, I continue to repaint my favorite bridge and oranges. Over and over and over. . .

Hidden in the Leaves

Turning Leaf XV, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50

No, nothing is hidden in these leaves. These are 2 new paintings for a small (fancy word for that is “intimate”) show coming to Three Rivers in November.

I think we are all discouraged by the ongoing heat and drought, and there are so many trees that have died or prematurely lost their leaves that we are going to have to produce our own colored leaves this fall. This California artist certainly has wanted to feel and see Autumn.

Turning Leaf XIV, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50

It is fun to paint leaves because it is a rare chance to use bright reds and because they are forgiving in their shapes. Plus, these are small enough that they feel like a painting instead of a commitment.

 

New Mineral King Painting

It is still summer in Three Rivers, which means it is still nice in Mineral King. But, I have too much work to do, both in the studio and at home to be hanging out every weekend. Summer eventually catches up with me in the form of messes everywhere, incomplete stuff, unfinished business.
I am preparing for fall sales and shows (not that I have a ton, but it is all relative, and compared to what I do in the summer, the fall is cookin’!) This means I have to paint new paintings.

Because Fridays are for Mineral King and I don’t have any new photos or stories, have a look at a recently completed Mineral King oil painting.

Sawtooth XII, oil on wrapped canvas, 11×14″, $175



Yeppers, it is Sawtooth in Mineral King, the peak that is visible from Visalia (unless the smog is thick that blew down through Altamont Pass).

What’s Happening Now in the Work Life of This Artist

Today’s posting is a list of information about what is happening now in my life as a Central California artist.

Mineral King Aspens, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50

1. I have another blog –  www.thecabinsofwilsonia.com where I post about the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia.  “Upcoming” as in should be here in several weeks. “Several weeks” as in I don’t really know for sure because the book printer doesn’t really know for sure.

2. This week on my other blog there will be posts about the following subjects:

  • quilt squares in Wilsonia
  • who is interested in buying the upcoming book (and who isn’t – a rather surprising factoid to me!)
  • a story by possibly the most interesting cabin owner in Wilsonia (but he did not end it with “stay thirsty”)

3. I’m still too busy with more important and interesting things to figure out why the comments won’t work and too busy to figure out how to post new work to my website galleries.

4. Maybe I’ll start showing new work on the blog.

5. There is an upcoming show in November called “Hidden in the Leaves”. I could fill the entire space all by myself with this subject, but we are limited to 2 pieces each. It will be here in Three Rivers at Sierra Subs & Salads, preparers of the best food around!

Another Fine Subject of Central California Art

Call me butter – I’m on a roll.

Did you know butter is good for you? Yep. Everything we learned about animal fats and saturated fats is probably wrong. But that’s for a different blog.

This blog is about what a Central California artist finds to paint in a place like Tulare County, the 3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state.

Mineral King! I paint Mineral King! I blog about it, paint it, draw it, and live there in the summer whenever I’m not at home painting.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack with that surprising news. Maybe you should eat more butter to prevent future heart attacks.

Sawtooth Peak is visible from the valley floor (San Joaquin valley, not Mineral King, but it is visible from there too, duh.) except when the Bay Area smog blowing down through Altamont pass is obscuring the vision.

Don’t you think my oil paintings begin with a rough first layer? I show you this in case you are a painter and think your paintings always begins with ugliness. You are not alone – take heart (and have some more butter).

I work from back to front. The sky is first because it is the furthest from us. Then comes the ridge and Sawtooth Peak. I climbed it once. I also got helicoptered off it once. Once was enough for each of those experiences. However, I will paint it over and over. When it sells, I’ll paint it some more.

There are certain subjects that I try to always keep around as oil paintings – Farewell Gap, Sawtooth, the Kaweah River, the Kaweah Post Office, oranges, and poppies. That’s Central California from the viewpoint of a Three Rivers artist. (one who loves butter)

It’s coming along. I might show you a time or two more before it is finished. Or maybe not.

Now I am going to cook an egg in butter.

(Note to self: don’t blog in the future when you are hungry.)

A Central California Artist Paints Her World

I live in Three Rivers so sometimes I actually paint the Kaweah River. This summer it is running low, but as a studio artist, I work from photos, and with 22,000 on my computer, there are some choices outside of going to the river and taking a photo as it looks during this very dry summer.

When an oil painter does the glazing method, paintings begin thin and rough.

Each successive layer adds texture, both visual and actual, if one is a thick painter. Most of my texture is visual.

You can see that I am continuing in my current vein of “juicing up’ my colors. Real life is messy and it is a little dull.

Maybe that is the smog here in Central California. Thanks, Bay Area. It’s blowing down the Altamont Pass. Did you know that?

The next time I show this painting, it will probably be signed, dry and scanned. it is for the 2015 calendar of my paintings – now you know one is coming, so you can plan.

And just in case you were thinking of moving to Three Rivers, here is a little reminder of why it isn’t all rivers and artistry.

Frankly, I am so squeamish that I really don’t deserve to live here. I have a friend who routinely hacks the heads off the rattlers in her yard with a shovel.

Me? I routinely call my friend S who either brings a shovel or sends her nephew to rescue me.

Gross.

I’m sorry to wreck your day like that. How about just being thankful if you live in a place that doesn’t deal with such creepiness.

What Else Would You Expect a California Artist to Paint?

As a Central California artist, there are certain subjects that dominate my painting life.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, I bet you can guess.

If you are new to this blog, welcome! You don’t have to guess because I am about to show you.

These two 11x 14″ paintings, citrus (or oranges, if you prefer) and poppies (or poppies and lupine) are drying on the wall in my painting workshop. I think the poppies painting wants more foliage. I could ask it, but instead, I’ll ask you. My chances of hearing something useful are better coming from you.

The commenting process on this blog is annoying. I think if you comment, it will tell you it didn’t go through. This is because it lands in a spam folder and then I have to “moderate” the comment.

Anyone want to try?

Thanks!