Personal | Cabin Art

Ten Things Learned in February

1.Have you ever heard of a leucistic raccoon? I read about it on The Frugal Girl blog in the comments and had to look it up. Leucistic means an abnormal condition of reduced pigmentation affecting various animals (such as birds, mammals, and reptiles) that is marked by overall pale color or patches of reduced coloring”. (But why isn’t it albino??)

2. There is a website with all sorts of information about comfortable shoes for women, recommended according to one’s foot condition. Alas, Barking dogs shoes doesn’t mention neuropathy.

3. While we are on the topic of comfortable shoes, there is a brand I’ve never heard before of shoes with wide toe-boxes. (Have you ever wondered why we squish our toes to a point in shoes? What’s the point?) The brand is Bronax. (I’m still wearing Crocs.)

4. Never let cockleburs get into your hair. NEVER.

5. While wasting time on the internet, I stumbled across this little piece of wisdom. “When you desire, admire, don’t acquire.” It isn’t necessary to own things just because you like them. This is important for those of us who try to keep our possessions to a minimum. I am in that group, because the more I stuff I own, the more stuff breaks (and gets lost).

6. Straw sausages have a weird name: ~~waddles~~ wattles. (Thanks, JC!) (And thanks MB for correcting the spelling)

7. I drive a “three-peddle car“. This charming term came to me from a friend who loves cars, so I am now using it. (Thanks, JR!)

Pencil drawing, “Mineral King From The Bridge”,

8. Theobot is Artificial Intelligence to describe art. I posted a drawing to it, and it came up with 4 paragraphs of flowery gobbledygook. This is one of the paragraphs, and the robot didn’t know to use the article “an” when a word begins with a vowel. It used the word “tranquil” twice in one sentence. (I won’t be using AI for a long time, if ever.) “The background features majestic mountains, their peaks lightly shrouded by clouds or mist, conveying a sense of elevation and the grandeur of a alpine wilderness. The careful shading and attention to detail throughout create a realistic and tranquil scene reminiscent of a tranquil wilderness escape.”

9. A blog reader (Hi Marlena!) told me that Jackson looks as if he might be a Savannah cat. This is a breed I’ve never heard of. I looked it up, and decided that no, more likely he has Bengal in him, because he looks like our former cat Samson. However, Samson was active and liked water, whereas Jackson is fat and grumpy and always hungry.

10. Just for fun, here is a list of about 100 things you can do to boost happiness in your life—The Emotion Machine.com

February’s Last Hurrah

What’s a “last hurrah”? In this case, it is one final look at some of the reasons that February is my favorite month in the foothills of Tulare County (the flatlands too, because the stonefruit orchards begin blooming, along with trees that line parking lots).

The flowering quince color clashes with the freeway daisies, but Jimmie crack corn and I don’t care.

Fiddlenecks are the first wildflowers of spring around here.

Probably a flowering plum (with sorry fruit).

HURRAH FOR FEBRUARY . . . see you same time next year.

Walking in Three Rivers in February

One bright February afternoon, I took a walk in Three Rivers with my friend in Texas. We were on the phone together for the entire 3.5 miles, catching up on many topics, and sending photos back and forth. These are the pictures I sent to her (and a few extras).

I love February.

Three Rivers

Randomness: Paintings, Clouds, Cat

Today’s post is a series of unrelated topics, just short glimpses of my little life.

These two paintings were dry enough to varnish, and then I left them in the sun for awhile to set-up. They complete the set of seven paintings painted specifically for Kaweah Arts reopening in March.

These types of skies are one of the reason that I love February.

Hi Jackson. I like you when you aren’t complaining.

This painting will take awhile: building up the grasses, enhancing the poppy brilliance, painting the bare oak tree, and finally, painting the lupine.

Took a walking break in the middle of a painting day, because it is February and the sun was shining.

And I puttered around in my herb garden one afternoon.

I love February.

Another Winter Walk in Three Rivers

I love February in Three Rivers, so I walked a route that I haven’t walked in a long time, wanting to test my foot and my ability to endure discomfort. There were plenty of things to distract me, such as stealing a tangerine, dodging traffic, and taking photos.

This is an area where I hope to bring a couple of artist friends so we can paint (and maybe swat bugs) together.

A friend said she cannot see the elephant on Alta Peak, so I took this photo and outlined its image in hopes that the elephant shows for her.

I take the same photos over and over, always hoping that I will discover a familiar subject in better light or find another angle in order to make an irresistible painting someday.

P.S. In case you were wondering, 3.5 miles, foot discomfort tolerable, and I figured I could have gone another 1-2 miles without actively looking for a hatchet.

Three Rivers

Painting with Jackson

Jackson is our least friendly cat. He just comes around if he needs or wants something (not that he can tell the difference between needs and wants.) He is the most likely to ignore curfew and then come yelling around the bedroom window late at night when he wants to get into the workshop.

I painted later than usual one evening, and Jackson decided it was time for dinner. He would not be ignored. At least he didn’t bite me on my donkey. He has done that many times, the ~~little~~ big brat.

I started a new painting after putting several photos together on Photoshop Junior to see if my idea would work. Yeppers, I think this will be a winner, and I’m confident enough to paint it large (as I define “large”) —16×20″.

This is a painting that I work on in my head when I am out walking (or in the middle of the night when I can’t sleep.)

I was so absorbed in this painting that Jackson resorted to vandalism to get my attention.

This scene has been tempting me for quite awhile, but I kept waiting for something. What? Maybe until I had more experience, more confidence, more ability. Or maybe I was waiting until I knew there will be a solo show to prepare for.

I painted a smaller one from the same viewpoint a few years ago as a thank you to the farmer who allows us to glean oranges (and take photos) in his groves.

He doesn’t read my blog, so he won’t say, “HEY! The new one is better than mine!” (even though it will be.)

Yes, I enlarged the mountain in the distance because I am the boss of my picture and this is the way I like it. it is either Maggie Mountain or Moses. I am voting for Moses, which is further north than Maggie.

oil paintings

Winter Walk in Three Rivers

What passes for winter in Three Rivers is probably what many parts of the country regard as springtime. When we get rain, we get green.

This is greenery when I am walking, but probably just weeds to the property owner.

We get flowers too.

And, we get lichen. Well, we already had that, but I’m on a roll here, taking photos while walking.

An old friend told me she was envious that I get to live in Three Rivers. In order to help her feel better, I told her this:

“There are elements of 3R that aren’t so great, such as frequent power outages (more frequent than towns down the hill), smoke in the fall, evacuations during wildfires, unreliable and spotty cell service, phone and internet outages, occasional water outages, no dentist, no drug store, expensive groceries, only 3 churches to choose from, shrinking population, Park closures that adversely affect commerce, limited commercial choices (is this a bad thing?).”

She felt better.

Three Rivers

A Mess of Deer and Three Paintings

Trail Guy and I took a walk. As we were approaching home, this is what we saw.

After this excitement (plus the usual mess of turkeys in the yard), I went into the workshop to work on three paintings. One needed finishing, one needed more detail, and one needed the first layer.

This one got some wire on the fence, a signature, another cow, and the edges painted. This is a photo taken with the phone, but when it is dry, I will scan it for a more accurate representation.

The leaves and oranges on the front row might be finished. There are orange blossoms on the tree at the far right, but the idea of adding them to the rest of the row was a bit daunting (boring, actually).

I bet you can figure out what this 16×16″ canvas will be. Almost looks like a watercolor at this stage.

citrus art citrus paintings orange grove paintings orange groves

Mineral King Road at the end of January

The end of January had some very clear days with temperatures in the 60s. We took advantage of this to check out the Mineral King Road, just as far as where the snow might become a driving problem. There was no agenda, just some friends hanging out, stopping when and where something struck our fancy.

We were curious to see if there was water in the flume.

Despite recent roadwork, all drainage troubles aren’t solved.

Weird sausages made from straw keep the road from sloughing off down the canyon.

There was a deep hole here all summer, just below Slap Jack but now this dirt pile (in the foreground) has filled it up.

Some cabin neighbors used to refer to these redwoods as Aunt Tillie and Uncle Pete. We call them “Redwood”, as if there is just one, but it is short for Redwood Creek.

We turned around at Atwell Mill, not wanting to deal with the snow.

Just above Lookout, we saw something we’ve never seen on the Mineral King Road before.

Such a clear beautiful day, and we hope it is the last chance to drive up for while because there will be too much snow soon. (But not so much that the road falls apart again this year.)

Mineral King

A Winter Walk in Three Rivers

What passes for winter in Three Rivers usually involves sunshine and green hills. Do those folks down the hill know that the fog and gray usually ends at Terminus Dam (Lake Kaweah)?

I walked a new route yesterday. It’s been awhile since I went that way, back before peripheral neuropathy when I could actually walk that far. Now I have to drive there, which feels somewhat counterintuitive when one is seeking exercise. It is busier than my normal routes, there is more litter, and sometimes I have to cross over to the wrong side of the road in order to have a shoulder to walk on. Sometimes it is worth extra effort to experience something new.

My friend used to live here. She died in 2015. I still miss her.

Nice-looking farm stand; I’ve never seen it open.

The fountain (hard to see here) is dolphins. With those palm trees, I wonder if these folks moved here from Malibu or Florida or even Pismo.

Three Rivers

Category: Personal