Category: Sources of inspiration

Random Topic Round-up

Here’s a catch-all, catch-up post for you on random topics. My blog post ideas are triggered by pictures, and these were just languishing in the file without purpose.

This painting was very difficult. I worked on it from real life, and from several different photos taken at different times of year. This is the final iteration (unless someone has a suggestion for further improvement).

1509 Barn — Three Rivers Barn, 8×10″, oil, $100

We are in year #4 of a drought. In spite of 15″ of precipitation in July, there was no snow on Bear Skin, the almost-year-around patch on the side of Vandever, which forms one side of Farewell Gap in Mineral King.

Bear Skin on Vandever

My favorite bridge was built in the 1920s and is supposed to be replaced. This fills me with dread. The current plan is to keep this one as a footbridge/landmark and push the road further up the canyon with some sort of newfangled, modern, probably-not-very-attractive contraption that will destroy the simple beauty of this scene. But I am neutral to the subject, keeping an open mind. . .

Sometimes when I drive down the Mineral King Road, I am struck by new scenes. You’d think that after 31 summers of driving it almost weekly that I wouldn’t notice a thing. You’d be wrong.

Mineral King Road

At the end of the Mineral King Road is a bridge. (It was rebuilt in Sept. and Oct. 2011 and the process was documented fully on this blog.) The abutment gets a lot of water abuse on one side, and was piled with rocks to protect it. However, kids love to use rocks to build dams in the stream, and most of those rocks got scooted away! So, the men in uniform and heavy equipment had to come redo the rocky protection underneath the bridge.

Minearl King bridge

Some new friends joined us in Mineral King early in the summer. Mister New Friend was an outstanding photographer, and he took this photo of Trail Guy and me. (Thank you, MAK!)

J+M

Perkins and I thank you for joining us in the random topic round-up.

Kaweah Postal Disaster!

UPDATE: The auction will go live at 12:02 on September 29 – I think this means just after noon. Thank you for your patience with my inexperience and ignorance!

As a Central California artist representing the good things of Tulare County, I have painted and drawn the little Kaweah Post Office many times.

It is the longest-operating, or perhaps the smallest operating post office in the United States. Really! Right here in Three Rivers! (But the people who live near it say they live in Kaweah, not in Three Rivers. . . )

KPO X 1410

Kaweah Post Office X, 10×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, suggested retail price $150

See that giant oak tree behind the post office? A HUGE branch broke off and crashed through the roof and front porch!

It can be rebuilt, and there is insurance, but there is a HUGE deductible for the building owner to pay.

I want to help.

So, this painting will be auctioned on eBay, and I will give 1/2 the $ to the owner of the oh-so-cute Kaweah Post Office.

I will begin the bidding at the nail-biting, pearl-clutching price of .01. (Yes,that’s one cent.) That ought to get the bidding wars started! The auction will go for the longest amount of time allowed on eBay.

You can see the painting in person at Anne Lang’s Emporium in Three Rivers, hours Monday through Saturday, 9 AM to 4 PM. (And I recommend her hot grilled turkey sandwich while you are there.)

Any questions? (besides my own about how to set this thing up and get the most publicity possible for the Kaweah Post Office, and no, I am NOT on Facebook, so if you are and want to post a link, until you are better paid, I thank you.)

Lazy List of Hardworking Artists

Today I am sharing a list with you of some truly gifted and amazing artists. (Lists are a lazy way to post to a blog.) Because the internet has shrunk our world, I have had the pleasure of corresponding with and becoming virtual friends with these four women.

Diana Moses Botkin (no relation – we looked but did not find) – this link is to her website. Look down the side menu for the blog link, which reads “The Latest at my Blog”

Laurel Daniel – this link is to her website. Look down the side menu for the blog link

Nance Danforth – this link is to her blog. She also blows my mind with her knitting!

Ann Walker – this is linked to her website. To see her art on her site, click the word “Works” on the menu on the left side of her home page.

I didn’t ask their permission to post any of their work, so you will need to click their names to go to their websites. Diana, Laurel and Nance have blogs; Ann does not. Each is an outstanding painter, each painting in a different style; all are outstanding artists and wonderful people.

Lists are lazy, but they can be helpful. Hope these friends’ work brings beauty to your day.

Thank you Mr. Google for giving me the ability to connect with these inspirational and encouraging artist friends!

Random Thoughts

Random is a good word for unrelated items piling up in my head.

Thank you for visiting my other blog this week. I hope you poked around and discovered things that interested and entertained you a bit while over there.
Most of my sunflowers escaped the ravages of the voracious deer in the neighborhood.
The same flower looks different at different times of day. I think there may be 2 paintings in this flower.
I looked out the living room window and saw this:
i looked more closely and saw this:
My herb garden is a source of inspiration and a place of solace:
I am in need of inspiration and solace these days while we navigate rough waters as a family. Here is a link to a video of my brother-in-law talking about his future: Neighborhood Church Facebook.

Steve made the video around August 1, but I have been taking refuge in drawing and gardening rather than talking about reality. (If you know him, you probably already saw the video.) Thank you to all who have been praying and expressing your kind concern.

Hiking in Mineral King

White Chief is my favorite place to hike out of (in?) Mineral King. So far this summer, it has rained often, I’ve been preoccupied with family matters, and often I only want to sit, knit and/or split (wood) while in Mineral King.

We have a tradition with a friend who spends time with us at our cabin each summer. This was summer #13. Our traditional visit includes barbecued pizza, Yahtzee (I may have one once in 13 years), M&Ms, and a hike to White Chief. There are other traditions, but they aren’t quite as sacred as our White Chief hike.

White Chief can be 4 miles round trip or it can be as long as 9. No matter how far you choose to go, it is always beautiful, always interesting, and always challenging.

I’ll refrain from further chatter. If you have questions about any of the photos, ask in the comments or use the contact button under About the Artist to ask.

White Chief

Mineral King Mineral King photography

Discovering More in Mineral King

There is more to my life than selling oil paintings of Tulare County scenery.

I spend a lot of time in Mineral King in the summer. It is a great source of inspiration, because it is the most beautiful place in Tulare County. (Go ahead and argue with me – present your case! I’m ALWAYS on the lookout for beautiful places in Tulare County!)

The last time I went to Mineral King, I photographed the official name of my favorite bridge. The sign is wrong, I just KNOW it. It is THE OAK GROVE BRIDGE, because that’s what Trail Guy told me about 30 years ago. So there.

oak grove bridge

Sometimes being in Mineral King is about hanging out with neighbors on their very inviting front porches.

Sometimes it is about discovering favorite flowers in new locations. Your nose often leads you to this leopard lily before you spot it.

Here’s a weird puffy mushroom or toadstool. Whatever it is, it is large. (And yes, I washed my hands after touching it. Thanks for your concern.)

Trail Guy went off trail to look at the “Three Falls Below The Gate”. Nice photo, Trail Guy!

We went off trail together to look at more damage from the flood on July 2.

Always more to see, more to discover, more to inspire in Mineral King.

Long Way There

(Happy Birthday, Melissa!)

Anyone remember the Little River Band? Does the song “Long Way There” do anything for you? I loved it in 1978, and I still do.

Many people think of “Long and Winding Road” when it comes to driving to Mineral King. That is probably a more accurate theme song, but I used up that title on a pencil drawing many years ago.

So “Long Way There” is the title of this series of paintings. The first time I painted the Mineral King Road, it looked like this:

1317mkrd

I liked it a lot. A friend liked it too and commissioned me to repaint it in a much larger size than I was used to. It just flew out of my paintbrushes, and it may have been the first time I really felt as if I was painting, instead of struggling with paint.

MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

When helping her move a few weeks ago, it surprised me to see that I still like the painting. That doesn’t always happen.

Because I was feeling so confident about this scene, I painted it again, just to have in inventory.

LWT #3

It didn’t sell. It didn’t sell. It didn’t sell.

So, I studied it carefully to see if I could figure out how to make it better. The usual things – brighter colors, more detail, higher contrast, cleaner edges – all seemed necessary.

Long Way There, 12×16″, oil on wrapped canvas, $250

I love the blue with the orange. (Yeppers, I’m a color junkie.)

Ambiguous Oil Painting

(Ambiguous: unclear or inexact.) There’s this 10×10″ oil painting that has been collecting dust and spider webs in my painting workshop for awhile. I’m unclear as to when I began it.

It just hangs there, and after awhile, I stopped thinking of it as a painting. Instead, it was just another thing that the spiders used for support.

Bottom right – Backcountry Lake. The upper one is on the easels again (because it is a little bit too hard for me), the lower left one is finished. But there hangs Backcountry Lake. This photo was taken in April.

All 4 of these other paintings have sold by now, and there is old Backcountry Lake, just hanging around in March. Is that when I started this?? My dates are inexact.

Now the time has come to finish this painting. There might be a show coming up to celebrate the 125th (or 100th?) anniversary of the beginning of Sequoia National Park. (I’m unsure of the show, and the dates of the anniversary are inexact in my memory.) I think this lake is in Sequoia, but I’m unclear as to which lake it is since I got it from my friend Kenny and now we aren’t in touch. I’m unclear as to why we aren’t, but no longer have a working email for him. So, I’ll finish it and enter it in the show, if the show happens. But I’m not sure there will be a show.

Wow. Lots of ambiguity surrounding this painting!

I redid the sky, and then began working my way down the canvas, working from distant to close, which worked out the same as working top to bottom.

Wowsa! Nothing ambiguous about this now! I’ll tighten up the details on the lower right section, sign it and then paint the edges.

This is unambiguously a clear and exact painting! It was very satisfying to correct the color, heighten the contrasts and tighten up the details. That is the most fun I have had with a painting for a long time.

So there.

Non-commissioned oil paintings

So much to paint, so little time. These are new paintings, begun for the joy and challenge of the subjects, in addition to the confidence that they will sell.

Mountain quail are shy. We are so fortunate to have 2 pairs feeding in our front yard in Mineral King. Because of the way the window is situated, I am able to photograph these birds more easily than the California quail in Three Rivers.

This bridge is not shy. It is beautiful and proud, knowing it is an anomaly on such a narrow, winding and rural road. We call it The Oak Grove Bridge, “we” being those who regularly travel the Mineral King Road in Tulare County. The sign says “Kaweah River” or maybe “East Fork”. I don’t know, because I am always either looking at the bridge or at the water beneath.

There is a crazy amount of feathery detail on the bird. No matter how often I paint the bridge, there is a crazy amount of detail on it and on the rocks beneath.

That’s okay. These are not commissioned paintings, so I have time.

Each one is 6×6″. I have been selling that size for $55, but it is time for those prices to go up. The amount of time this sort of detail requires is a little overwhelming. Maybe I should just get a real job.

Nah. . .

Easier a Little Bit Too Hard

That was an awkward title. See yesterday’s title and post about “a little bit too hard” and then maybe this will make sense.

Still a little bit too hard, but not as difficult as The Flower Girl.

This is Grandma’s Creek. It is where my Grandma grew up, outside of Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Oh so very beautiful, and maybe, just maybe, with enough layers I can capture the feeling.

Grandma's Creek

Blobs, big areas and little “landmarks” on the canvas. Holy cow, why am I doing this when the photo itself is a thing of beauty?

A bit more detail, beginning in the upper left corner. Leaves can’t be all that hard – I certainly have painted them many times before. But I don’t even know what kind these are!!

Grandma may have referred to a creek as a “branch”. They talk funny in North Carolina, such as saying they will “carry you to the airport”. Wow, they must be strong there!

Never mind.

Back to the easel. . . feeling inspired by beauty, challenged by the subject matter, wanting to excel in my skill as an oil painter.

Blowing Rock North Carolina