Central California.
Salvation.
Life as an artist.
A good husband.
Perkins, my last cat.
Family.
Friends.
Health.
Safety.
Knitting.
My blog and blog readers.
Color.
Photography.
Sunlight.
Dark chocolate.
Good books.
THANKFUL!
Mineral King in Fall, Part 4
I wonder if I can keep going into December with this? Don’t tempt me – I might have to change my blog description from a California Artist to an Autumnal Photographer.
Mineral King Multi-colored Slope
(Do you know where this is?)
Farewell Gap with Yellow Foreground (my titles are wearing out!)
Red Firs and Yellow Aspens (no, they don’t look very red, but that is the name of these fir trees)
Along the Mineral King Road (No, I will not call it “Take Me Home, Country Roads”!)
Fall on the Nature Trail (but don’t hurt yourself!)
Sawtooth and the Monarch Drainage
To be continued next Friday, because Fridays are for Mineral King on this California artist’s blog!
A Love-Letter to my Blog Readers
Dear Gentle Blog Reader,
You know I love writing my blog, right?
Did you know that I have more ideas than there are days in the week? Did you know that I love telling you about my life as a California artists in li’l ol’ Tulare County (AKA Quaintsville)?
Did you know that I love getting emails and comments from you?
I love words, putting them together, playing with them, learning new ones, finding great expressions from other people and stealing borrowing them.
I love photos, places around here that are beautiful, and showing them to you. And in spite of being a Regionalist, I love finding new beautiful places.
I love detail, realism, authenticity, learning to paint better, mixing colors from the primaries, and drawing.
I love teaching people to draw.
Thanks for letting me share the love,
Jana, the Regionalist from Quaintsville
Mineral King in Fall
The weekend of October 19-21 was a glorious time of clear weather and stunning color in Mineral King. It seems as if has been many years since the color was that good up there. Perhaps it has been that good, but I wasn’t there. In my memory, there were no reds, and the yellows sometimes blew off before hitting peak color. But, I don’t keep a journal other than my photos and this blog, so I could have missed it.
This is a source of inspiration to this California Artist. Hope it inspires you to think great thoughts, create something, stimulate the economy, or just be nice.
Farewell Gap in Fall
Mineral King Aspens
Timber Gap in Fall
A wise friend (actually, several of them) suggested I remind my Gentle Blog Readers that my photos are available for purchase.
5×7 – $10, 8×10 – $20. Any larger than that? I don’t fully trust my pixels.
How to buy? email me at cabinart at cabinart dot net (several someones wiser than me have advised that is the best way to put eddresses into blog posts – I think you’ll figure it out!)
To be continued next Friday, because Fridays are for Mineral King on this blog.
A Thing for Old Architecture
Perhaps the reason I like cabins is more than just the fact that they are simple rustic structures, usually in the mountains. I like all old architecture, in particular the designs, materials and details from the early 1900s. They inspire me and I want to draw them. Sometimes I want to paint them (pictures of them, not cover them in house-paint!) Sometimes I even want to live in them. (Repeat until you believe it – “Thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not covet”)
There is a place along the shores of Lake Tahoe that just rings my architectural bell. Usually when people think of Tahoe, they think of a big lake, or skiing, or perhaps a fancy-pants giant home, maybe some gambling, or even a marathon (or in my case, a 1/2, which I don’t think about any more, thanks for nothing, Stoopid Plantar Fasciitis).
What place? you ask. (I can hear you thinking.)
Tallac Historic Site is a series of 3 lakefront estates, all maintained, one converted to a museum. It is under the management of the U.S. Forest Service (Dept. of Ag). I’d link to the site for you, but it really isn’t very informative or pretty, and my photos tell more than their site.
I’ve never been there between June and September when the buildings are open for tours (except when walking that 1/2 marathon but I was too occupied to stop; afterward I had blisters and didn’t care).
Instead, I walk all around them and gawk and wonder in amazed admiration.
I even like them when they are boarded up for the season.
The attention to detail must have employed many people, along with all the needs and wants of the owners while in residence.
Too late to tour the buildings, too early for real fall color. On the other hand, it wasn’t crowded and we could take our time ogling, oohing, and ahhing.
Oh please, Trail Guy, now that you are retired, could we build a pond like this? (never mind about the water shortage in our neighborhood)
The Most Beautiful Fruit Bowl I’ve Ever Seen
Maybe the fruit is the most beautiful rather than the bowl. Maybe it was the setting. The light was superior, and I could hardly concentrate on the task at hand, which was helping to decide how many propane lamps might be necessary in a neighboring cabin. Trail Guy walked around with a tape measure, and I was mesmerized by this bowl.
I could paint this, or it might just be so doggone perfect that a painting would be a cheap imitation. I kept adjusting the position of the various pieces of fruit, the position of the bowl, and position of myself. Isn’t this just stunning? Thank you, Judee, for letting me experiment with your fruit bowl!
How Do You Know Fall’s Coming When It’s Still Hot?
In Mineral King, there are consistent signs that fall is coming. It may still be 105 down the hill during the day, but in Mineral King we know summer is about to be history.
The light is different, and the grass is as high as an elephant’s eye.
The water flows in a sluggish manner.
The deer are plentiful and the fawns’ spots are fading.
Not many wildflowers remain except asters.
Things have a yellowish tinge to them.
The Park Service begins patrolling on horseback, interviewing hunters who have crossed over into Forest Service land.
What helps you believe fall is coming in spite of the heat?
A New Idea
Trail Guy had a great idea for me this summer. We are now beginning to develop it. Here are the photos we used in our designing phase.
“Phase” makes it sound huge and extensive, don’t you think?
More will be revealed. . .
Mineral King, Late Summer
It was remarkably clear in Mineral King in late August. The place is a continual source of inspiration and painting ideas for this central California artist.
White Chief, Part Two
One way you can tell that you are middle-aged is when hiking downhill is more painful than hiking uphill. (Can I get an “Amen”?)
Last week I left you wondering how we were going to leave White Chief if not by the same trail we used to get there. Trail Guy loves loops – I might start calling him “Loopy” – no, bad idea. I call him Trail Guy, but about 40% of the time he is Off-Trail Guy.
He pointed up to a ridge above and to the west of lower White Chief canyon and said if we climbed it, we’d drop down into Eagle Meadow. That is in the area of the Mosquito and Eagle Lakes junction. He said he knew it wasn’t hard, because he had explored there last year.
Sure, Off-Trail Guy.
