I don’t want to tell the world where this hike is because I want it to stay trail-less. So, I’ll show you photos. If you know where it is and you choose to comment, don’t write the name, okay? Thanks!
I hiked the first 5 miles wearing my old Tevas. Isn’t that amazing? I recently discovered that I probably have Plantar Fasciosis instead of Fasciitis, and wearing Tevas sort of proved it to me. (You can learn about it here.)
That is an Explorer’s Gentian gone mad – usually they have 5 petals.
Time to switch to hiking boots, leave the trail and begin the upness.
Looking back.
Are you tired of your trails going up and up and up? Leave the trail and find out what up and up and up really feels like!
And up some more.
Very uppity place.
Can we stop now? I want to savor this place.
No really, can we just sit here for about an hour?
A BRAND NEW-TO-ME FLOWER!! Anyone know what this is??
No, really, can we stay here?
Nope. Miles to go before we sleep.
Hey! Stonehenge!
Okay, we are finally leaving the Uppalachians and heading home.
More of my favorite late summer wildflower, this time with the proper number of petals.
Wait for me! I have to change back into my Tevas! Thirteen miles total (thank you, Cowboy Bert, for the loan of that very nifty Garmin device which told us that our highest point was 10,800′) and 8 of them hiked in old Tevas that I bought used on eBay in 2007. Incomprehensible, but I think my foot is finally on its way to healing!
I began oil painting on March 8, 2006. Sometimes it is hard, sometimes it is really hard, once in awhile it is fun. Sometimes I even like a painting or two.
Oak Grove Bridge, 6×6″, private collection, 2013
2 classes at Michael’s (the craft store, NOT my husband!), 1/2 semester at the local junior college, reading books, watching videos, reading websites, following artists’ blogs, looking at paintings, asking friends lots of questions, painting and painting some more. . . what am I trying to accomplish here? Just trying to “find my voice”.
Paint looser. Paint tighter. Hold your brush like this. Stand to paint. Use only flat brushes. Use only the primary colors. Use every color you can afford. Never use sap green. Sap green is the best thing that ever happened to a palette. Never use black. Of course you need black! Paint on location. Forget about painting on location until you are further along. Just get the impressions down. Decide which edges need to be sharp. Paint in layers. Finish a painting with thick paint all in one session. Copy the masters. Work from your own photos. (“All realistic artists either work from photos or they lie about it”. –Jack White) Working from photos is horrible – no real artist would ever do that!
The conflicting noises are confusing me tremendously. Secretly (well, not any more now that it is on the blog), I’ve just wanted to return to the quiet of my studio and draw with my beloved pencils. Black, white, shades of gray, detail to my heart’s content, straight edges, measuring tools, magnifying glasses – PRECISION.
Meanwhile, I’ve been listening to a book called Start, by Jon Acuff. He delves into the stages that used to accompany a person’s decades: 20s – Learning, 30s – Editing, 40s – Mastering, 50s – Harvesting, and 60s – Guiding. (Sorry, those of you in your 70s and 80s – Jon ignores you, but I’m guessing that Guiding or perhaps Super Guiding might be the role then.)
No longer are people doing these steps in these particular decades. Instead, people are starting new careers and learning new skills at all ages. (I was 45 when I started oil painting, in case you are wondering.)
So, I’ve re-entered my 20s when it comes to oil painting, struggling through the Land of Learning.
A week or two ago, I decided I must have entered the Land of Editing. Why? Glad you asked! (All interviews either say that or “Great question!” It is better than saying “you know” twelve times a minute.)
I have decided that I WANT to paint detail and precision, using lots of layers, following similar principles that I apply in pencil drawing. I am editing out the noise that does not move me closer toward this goal. If I have to raise my prices, so be it. The paintings will be worth it.
Denis Millhomme is one of my painting heros. When I asked him to teach me, he said he didn’t know how, and that if he drew, he’d draw just like me. I’ve wanted to paint like Denis from the beginning of this journey into oil, and I know I never will (he has a huge head start!), but I can stop trying to be like all those painters who slam them out quickly. Denis doesn’t have to, and neither do I. So there, all you noise-making folks. I get to choose how I want to paint, and I believe I have now chosen.
Worth It!
This is one of the paintings I did where I took all the time I wanted, striving for perfection. I like it a ton, and so do the wonderful people who bought it. (Try not to lick your screen, ‘k?)
It is steep, really really steep, but White Chief canyon/bowl/valley begins only about 2-1/2 miles out of Mineral King. It has so much variety – you can go short or far, there are natural caves and historical mining tunnels, and a zillion kinds of rocks, sink holes, a lake, some sort of ponds, and even some cabin ruins.
In August, there was an official hike to White Chief led by the experienced and well-studied Laile DiSilvestro. She is from a long time cabin family, so in addition to the facts that she studied, she has rich history passed down through the generations. She brought along great photos, and I learned more from her than I have learned in all my years of hiking to and around White Chief.
There were 9 of us all together. (Nice to meet you, Dan, Sandy, Lindsey, Rich, Dana, and Bryn!)
This is called “galina” and it is what got miners excited. They cooked it in smelters to determine which, if any, precious metals remained.
This is where we turned around on a simple walk to White Chief back in August. This time it was a real hike, with packs, food, water and walking sticks.
There are many holes in the ground, both man-made and God-made. The variety of rocks is wonderful! Some folks are drawn to shapes, others to texture, some to patterns, and me? Color, of course!
This is quite high in the White Chief canyon/bowl/cirque/whatever you want to call it. I’ve taken 3 different friends there, and each one got a Big Fat Headache (Hi Robin, Lisa and Carol!) Guess this isn’t a very friendly hike, and I’ve stopped dragging people there because I could run out of friends this way.
This is not a chunk of snow – it is marble! REALLY! I’m sorry I don’t have anything next to it for size, but maybe it is like an ottoman (but a very uncomfortable one).
We are the group in the upper photo.
This image is courtesy of the Crowley Collection and is included in “Mineral King: The Story of Beulah.”
Bryn and I sat here for awhile and visited while I soaked my foot. (Yes, just one of them.) This is an area that confuses me – in my memory it is ponds. At this time it was a slow moving creek. Hmmm – the altitude messes with my memory? Prolly.
For clarification, this blog is about a California artist, me, to be specific. Mineral King is one of my main sources of inspiration, it is in California, I call my business “Cabinart”, there are cabins in Mineral King, and this is The Season in Mineral King.
Any questions? Yes? Click on the commenting line that might say “Be the First To Respond” or “# of responses”. No? Let us proceed. . .
1. While enjoying the sunset on the Mineral King bridge one evening, I met Claudia and Dustin.
They were delightful, and Claudia told me about a great website whose name I am afraid to type on my blog. It is called cabin {blank}. The blank begins with a “p”, has four letters, ends with “n” and has the word “or” in the middle. It is fabulous photos of cabins from all over the world. Unfortunately, I just can’t put the name in my blog because who knows what sort of firestorm of spam it might unleash! So, put on your thinking caps, figure it out, and type in www dot cabin (that word) dot com and enjoy some wonderful cabin photos.
2. You’ve read about the Nature Trail AKA Wildflower Walk in Mineral King several times on this blog. (Or maybe you skipped those days. . .) While on the trail the first weekend in August, I found yet another flower that I’ve never seen before. It is on the downstream side of this little bridge. On the upstream side of that bridge I discovered a new flower several years ago, a Monk’s Hood. That is a real thrill to this rural regional artist who never goes anywhere (except Alaska twice, Chicago twice and China twice). It is a shrub that makes a berry in the middle of the blossom. Two friends said, “Wild Coffee Berry!” but it doesn’t match the photos I found on the internet.
3. This guy blew past me on the Wildflower Walk with his dog. HIS DOG! There are signs at either end of the trail with a picture of a dog and a slash through it. I overheard the guy say that he knew dogs aren’t allowed on the trails which is why he had to walk so fast. Hmmm, that means you don’t have to follow the rules??
Just to review: a hike is when you take a pack and food; a walk is just a walk.
In addition to the Nature Trail/Wildflower Walk, there is a nice walk to the upper valley to a place we call Soda Springs. It might be 4 miles round trip.
Start here. Cross the bridge (unless you parked on the correct side already, which is the side that goes past the old pack station.)
Walk sort of uphill. Cross Crystal Creek. When you come to a sign that says trail pointing left, go right.
Encounter Trail Guy, wearing a Mineral King tee shirt. Ask him where you can get a tee shirt of your own. If he follows the advice that he gives me, he’ll pull a business card out of his pocket and hand it to you. If you are really lucky and catch him on a particularly hospitable day, he might invite you back to the cabin and sell you one on the spot.
Wow! Is this Soda Springs? Can I play in it?
Sure. Why don’t you leave a rusty handprint on a boulder?
Be sure to wipe your shoes, boys and girls. That’s BEFORE you go hiking or walking.
In Mineral King, you can walk from Cold Springs Campground up to the actual Mineral King valley on a trail, called “the Nature Trail”. That name bugs me. My faithful blog reading and commenting friend (Hi Mel!) suggested “the Wildflower Trail”. I prefer aliteration, and because I never take a pack or food when I use that trail, it is a walk. Thus, “Wildflower Walk”.
Every year, it seems there are new or interesting things to see. In the photo below, there are lots of white dots. This is Sierra Star Tulip, the most prolific I’ve ever seen it.
Look at this little thing! It actually comes in different sizes, but I didn’t have a quarter in my pocket to show you the differences.
This year there are clusters, something I don’t recall seeing in the past.
What is this? An unfamiliar flowering shrub. How can something be unfamiliar when I’ve been walking this trail since 1985?
Mr. Unfamiliar Shrub has these flowers. I didn’t stick my nose in them to see if there was a scent – I only just met them and didn’t want to overstep the bounds of politeness.
The Wildflower Walk has the best and most accessible aspens. I went nutso over them last fall. You can see those posts here and here and here and here. Here too. Go ahead. Each link will open in a new tab or window. I’ll wait.
There is a little footbridge. I’ll tell you more about that in another post. (Sophie, got some news for you!!)
Languid Ladies or Sierra Bluebells are one of the first flowers to bloom each year. I love blue.
I have no idea what these are. They are sort of boring. I usually don’t like white flowers because they are a little boring.
Sierra Forget Me Nots – sometimes they are called Sierra Stickseed. Sometimes they come in pink. I love blue.
Larkspur are sort of a bluish purple. I love blue and bluish purple.
Little white boring flowers.
These have the appropriate name of “Elephant Heads”. I can forgive them for not being blue.
Barbara’s French Lavender, 8×10, oil on wrapped canvas, private collection
This is a view of my friend Barbara’s French Lavender in Three Rivers. Livingston Lavender Farms, named after her grandmother who built the home, will be open soon for you to come harvest lavender. June 15? More will be revealed.
Imagine a blank journal with lines inside and this painting on the cover for around $15. Aren’t you just itching to own and use one?
My amazing friend Barbara grows lavender. She opens her lavender gardens (or is it a farm?) to the public each June when the lavender is at its peak. People can harvest bunches of lavender.
English lavender in bloom
The dates of this event are a little squishy, because the bloom is dependent on the weather.
This year, it is possibly Saturday June 15. This happens here in Three Rivers, and you just sort of have to pay attention to the paper and to people who might know.
Barbara and I like to collaborate on art projects. She had me paint lavenders on saltillo tiles for her garden and to sell during the Hidden Gardens Tour. These sold well, so I have painted more for her Lavender Harvest Event.
In addition, I have finished 2 new paintings based on her beautiful lavender. The hope was to have them printed into blank books to be useful as journals. More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .
First, a confession. I thought “lavender” was spelled “lavendar”. Really! Me, the Typo-Psycho! I was getting it mixed up with “calendar”. This is a prime example of the Middle-Aged-Mush-Brain I am currently experiencing.
Barbara’s Lavender
Now that I know how to spell it properly, let’s talk about it.
Lavender is light purple. I used to hate that color. This was the result of a trauma that happened when I was in about the 3rd grade.
My older sister had a bee-yoo-tee-full lavender dress that I COULD NOT WAIT for her to outgrow. Finally, finally, it came to me. I tried it on, looked in the mirror and was HORRIFIED. My skin looked YELLOW!! I ran to find Mom and told her, “This dress makes my skin look yellow!” She was astonished that yes indeed, it did make my skin look yellow and probably even more astonished that her 8 year old daughter noticed such a thing.
It was a life-defining moment, although I didn’t know it at the time.
In the 1980s, my Mom took my older sister and me to a color consultant to “have our colors done”. (My younger sister was and is too smart to need this and too cute to care.) Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
It was. Turns out that everyone can wear almost every color. The problems occur when you choose the wrong shade. That lavender did not have enough blue in it to suit me. I still have my color swatches from that session, and they have helped me tremendously through the years.
I also learned that as we age, our eyes become more aware of the color purple. Sure enough, in the last 5 years or so, I have come to be almost obsessed with the purple color that has a ton of blue in it. There is a version called periwinkle, and a darker version that is the color of my favorite dutch iris and some lupine and definitely a penstemmon and for sure my favorite Mineral King wildflower called “Explorer’s Gentian.
Explorer’s Gentian
So, I’ve grown from “I hate lavender” to “Oh wow, check out that color!”
NEWS FLASH – just received an email stating the gates are unlocked TODAY!
This week, probably on Friday, but maybe on Thursday (this is the government we are talking about here), the gates to Mineral King will open. A major source of inspiration for this California artist, that’s Mineral King!
Welcome back, people. Did you bring any new car parts for us?
I was there on May 20, and this is how it looked. Not much snow, not much water. Lots of green.
I love this view. It doesn’t seem like a strong enough composition for painting, but I find it very compelling, every single year. I photograph it every single year. Doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results? Nope, just thinking that one day I will say “AHA! If I just move this tree a bit, or that log, or change the contrast or some other who knows what, then this will make a great painting”.
