Sources of inspiration | Cabin Art

Flower Show in Mineral King

My favorite place and time in Mineral King is a flower show in the first half of July at the junction of the Farewell Gap and Franklin Lakes trails.

First, we had to get there. It is 4 miles one way on a well-graded uphill trail. Some parts are flattish, some steeper than others. There is very little shade. There are 2 creeks to cross.

Thistle, just a preliminary sneak-peek to the flower show.

Franklin Creek, the 2nd creek to be crossed on the way to the flower show.

Explorer’s Gentian is my happy flower, and it was out in profusion on the way to the flower show.

Leopard Lilies are Trail Guy’s happy flower. They hide a little bit, but not for those with an acute sniffer.

Here we are at last – the flower show! Bigelow Sneezeweed is the star.

Here comes our friend Kirk, but he is only passing through.

Two buddies, who like to hike, love Mineral King, and are both thrilled to still be healthy while approaching upper-middle-age. (Says she of middle-middle-age.)

Happy Trails, Kirk! We will finish our lunch in the flower show cafe before heading back down.

Wildflower Quest and Thoughts on Naming Flowers

Every summer in Mineral King, Trail Guy goes on a quest for Leopard Lilies. They have a fabulous fragrance, and often we smell them before we see them.

Mineral King wildflowers are usually at their peak during the first couple of weeks in July. This year they are particularly profuse.

Groundsel is common. It is a little boring, except when there are great masses of it together. It always looks slightly worn out.

Penstemmon comes in many colors and styles. This might be called “golden beard”. I wasn’t asked, but if I had been, I would call this one “lipstick”.

No flowers here, but I can’t pass over this bridge without photographing the classic scene.

“Wild geranium” makes no sense as a name, unless you know that what we call “geranium” at home is actually pelargonium, and true geraniums look more like this. Someone is jerking us around in this naming busines.

Wild asters usually don’t appear until late August. They are more lavender than they appear in this photo.

The larkspur were thick and bright, but my little PHD (press here, Dummy) camera wouldn’t focus on them. Where else will you see purple and yellow together and not think it is a little obnoxious?

We (ahem – Trail Guy) always find artifacts in Mineral King, a place very rich in cultural history. This is part of an old stove. Apparently, people in the olden days thought nothing of walking away from their stuff. Don’t know about you, but I’ve never removed a stove part, much less left it lying around. Maybe these folks would have been Lawn Parkers if they were in a more modern era.

Rein orchis is a weird weird name. “Orchis” not “orchid”. “Rein” not “rain”. You just can’t make this stuff up, unless you are an Official Flower Namer. They get to do whatever they want. I used to think grown-ups got to do whatever they wanted, but maybe not, unless they are Flower Namers.

Somewhere in there is a Leopard Lily. We spotted it!

This is a boring photo. In real life it was sparkly white flowers and a few bright purplish-pink wild onions.

More sparkly white “knot weed”, which looks like a Nothing Burger in this photo. Guess you had to be there.

This unnamed and unknown (to me) flower is thick along the Mineral King Road, maybe around 5000′. This was one of the first times I found it near a turnout, when no one else was around so I could really appreciate it. Besides, it wasn’t 100 degrees out, so I didn’t mind stopping.

Look how thick this is here! Anyone know the name of this? How about “roadside blue”? I want to be a Flower Namer!

Mineral King wildflowers

Today I want you to see the list of things I hope to take care of this week. It will relieve you of any illusions of an artist just happily creating under amazing peaceful inspiration. (That’ll teach me to run off to Israel for 2 weeks when there is work to be done!)

Illusions of peaceful inspiration from Israel

Finish preparing the manuscript of Trail of Promises (final edits) and email to the printer. (Remember that I am now also an editor and dabbling in book shepherding due to my “vast experience” with The Cabins of Wilsonia.)
Wait for the paper proof of the cover and hustle it to the author for approval.
Package up an order of notecards and hustle them to the post office.
Prepare a deposit and hustle it to the bank.
Scramble around to find mats and frames for pencil drawings that pertain to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for a last minute exhibit.
Spend time writing a few sentences to accompany every piece.
Email the images and the prices, sizes and “paragraphs of inspiration” (WHAT?? I thought it would make a nice card or print to sell in the parks!! Is that “inspiration”??)
Finish the Exeter coloring book designs – title page, front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover, color the covers, scan everything, email it to the printer (hence the reason for the hustle to the bank – gotta pay for these things in advance)

No painting or pencil drawing this week. Just lots of hustling around. Anyone want to order a coloring book? Some notecards? I’ll be going to the post office.

mineral king coloring book

A Central Calif. Artist Goes to Israel

My brother-in-law was the pastor of Neighborhood Church in Visalia and was planning to visit Israel this summer. After he died last September, the church offered his slot to his wife, my sister. When I told Trail Guy that she was going, along with our niece, Trail Guy said, “Don’t you want to go too?”

OF COURSE I WANTED TO GO!!

So I did.

We were a group of 34 with a fantastic tour guide. We saw 50 sites in 10 days. It was very hot. I took around 750 photos and have been editing them, labeling them before I forget which pile of golden tan ruins is which.

I’m not sure how this will figure into this blog. Does anyone care? Perhaps I’ll just show a little bit each day. Or, I could post one day a week about the trip. Or, I can just shut up and continue to show you the inner workings of an art business in Central California with a peek into Mineral King every Friday.

People on the tour asked if I would be drawing or painting from my Israel photos. Probably not, unless someone commissions me for a particular piece. People have asked if I will make a coloring book of Israel’s sites. No. Everything we saw is about the same color of a golden tan. I have an Exeter coloring book to finish and a Sequoia/Kings Canyon one to begin.

Today I’ll show you a few photos. These are images that interested me, and if they have something interesting to accompany the pictures, I’ll add some words.

Maybe I’ll even learn to read the stats on the blog, and if the number of readers plummets, I’ll know to stop with the Israel pics.

Yad Hashmona — Cool door at the kibbutz. The guide told us that if you are under 30 and haven’t worked at a kibbutz, you have no heart. If you are over 30 and are still at a kibbutz, you have no brain.

Azeka

Thank you, Trail Guy, for suggesting and supporting me in my desire to see wonderful places with my sister and my niece.

And More Mineral King

During a mostly overcast weekend in Mineral King, we had a few moments of sun. A standard simple walk is to go down the road and back up the Nature Trail (Yes, I know it is a stupid name – “Wildflower Walk” seems more appropriate once summer arrives.)

Manzanita in bloom near a seasonal creek coming off Timber Gap

The appropriately named “Five Spot” wildflower, about the size of a nickel.

An unknown little white flower. I think white flowers are boring, but any flower will do this early in the season.

Not too many wildflowers along the nature trail this early. The aspens aren’t leafed out yet, so you can see Empire with its snow.

Sierra Bluebells, or Languid Ladies. . . it is one of the early flowers in Mineral King.

Great flow on the East Fork of the Kaweah!

This is the only time I had a view of Sawtooth. It is still holding snow.

A drawing similar to this appears in my latest coloring book, “Heart of Mineral King”

These are a version of Chinese Houses along the Mineral King Road on the lower section. The wildflowers are still very good along the road, mostly the yellows with a few purples. Worth a drive if you are into wildflowers.

Mineral King Mineral King photography

More Mineral King

Favorite cabin on Memorial Day. Nope, not my cabin!

Learning about catch-and-release fishing from the bridge.

Rock outcropping of Empire, good water flow on Monarch Creek.

Mineral King Mineral King photography

Inspirational

The morning light is inspirational.

What does “inspirational” actually mean?

Something that inspires. . . this light, this cat, together they inspire me to take photos.

Wait a minute here! I’m supposed to be inspired to make art.

Does this mess inspire you? It is an honest look at my drawing table while I am working on a coloring book.

The beautiful light and my sweet kitty inspire me to record the moment. The ideas in my head inspire me to draw. (My new friend Dan inspires me to blog when I am tempted to skip a day.)

Hi Perkins. Thank you for 17 years of loyal companionship, you Gopher Fiend.

Beautiful Place in Tulare County

Do you live near a beautiful place but don’t go there? I live in Three Rivers, just minutes from Sequoia National Park, and don’t go very often for a variety of reasons. It costs money, the lines are long, I am working. . . not all these things are true all the time, so I have to pay attention to when they are not true.

A few days ago, a friend invited me to join her for almost-full moon viewing, photography and sandwiches from Sierra Subs (the best food in Three Rivers).

She picked me up at 6, and we headed up to Hospital Rock, and then down the road to Buckeye Flat Campground. The yucca are in full fluffy bloom, and she was hoping to be able to photograph them by the light of the moon. (She is very knowledgeable about photography and has great gear.)

I gave my tripod to my nephew because he needed one and it no longer fits my life or cameras. So I decided to just try and hold still for the low light. My camera has lots of controls that don’t make sense to me, so I just experimented. The experiments, combined with some computer adapting, gave me these results.

Looking up the canyon of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River toward Castle Rocks, early evening

Castle Rocks are the 2nd mountain name I learned. The first was Moro Rock, and my dad showed me Castle Rocks while we were on top of Moro Rock. See the rusty trees? They are dead, most likely pines of some variety.

This is a little side falls that my friend had photographed earlier and sent to me. Made me want to see and photograph it myself, so I did.

Yucca and middle fork — Fluffy Yucca in bloom above little side falls on Middle Fork of the Kaweah River.

Moonrise above Castle Rocks — The moon suddenly appeared from behind Castle Rocks.

Yucca — We didn’t get to see yucca lit by the moon, but by holding very very still, I was able to photograph it in very low light.

I relearned some simple good things.

It is good to visit beautiful places that are close. Makes me feel as if I’ve had a mini-vacation.
It is good to do simple things with friends.
It is good to just spend time in a place, sitting, looking, listening, feeling, (slapping mosquitoes, not so good), eating simple food, visiting. No rush. The more time you spend, the more you notice and appreciate. Just be there. (Danged mosquitoes!)

Three Rivers

Reminding You of the Beauty of Tulare County

Do you know why I write this blog?

It is because I want to remind us all that there is beauty here in Tulare County. Sometimes I have to put myself out into that beauty and even take my Big Girl Camera with me to get great photos so I can do my job of reminding you of the beauty of Tulare County.

The wildflowers along the lower 6.5 miles of the Mineral King Road are abundant and beautiful. There really aren’t very many places to pull over, so just drive slowly and soak it up. Better yet, have someone else drive, and you can just gawk.

This is spice bush, and it is in bloom right next to the Oak Grove Bridge.There is good water flowing beneath the bridge. This is the upstream view.

This is leaning over the bridge looking downstream. There was a pickup parked on the bridge with rafting stuff. The people were actually rafting down there! I have no idea how they got the raft down to the water or how they got into the thing without having one foot in and one foot out when it shot down some treacherous rapid.

Leaning out over the bridge is all the risk I care to take here.

This is the first time I have noticed the rock work propping up the road over there. STAY PUT, little rocks.

We did a little trespassing to get this view. Now you don’t have to. I don’t know if there is enough color here – just greens and browns, with that little place of blue in the water. The wildflowers are just too small. Maybe I could put some in the foreground, in spite of the fact that there are none there. . .? Time will tell. I still haven’t finished the 24×30″ painting that has been on my easel since January or February! Too busy being out in the beauty of Tulare County to be recording it in paint right now.

Oak Grove Bridge Three Rivers Tulare county