A California Artist Goes to Washington and Gets Inspired

When I went to Washington (state) in April, the tulips were in bloom. That is the reason I chose April for my visit. They were stunning.

While at the Redbud Festival in Three Rivers, I saw a lady wearing a skirt with a tulip print. The tulips were progressively larger as they got closer to the hem.

It gave me the idea to paint the tulip fields as a triptych. Triptych is Artspeak for three paintings that are meant to be seen as one scene. I have no earthly idea why this looks so cool, but it does. (It is pronounced “trip-tick”)

Turn your head sideways, squint a bit, and imagine these as a triptych. The top piece has more layers than the other two, but you probably figured that out all by yourself. And pay no attention to the gingko leaf in the upper left.

Occasionally this California artist has to take a trip. On this one she got a tych. But not a tick.

Ever seen an entire field of the same flower in bloom at once time? You can share it here.

Mineral King

Summer has arrived in Mineral King. For those of you who are new to the blog or not from the area, Mineral King is a section in the southern end of Sequoia National Park, California. It is reached by a long and winding road, 25 miles, sometimes unpaved, somewhat cliff-hanging, often one or perhaps one and a half lane wide, with a recommended driving time of one and a half hours.  (It doesn’t take me that long. Just sayin’. And stay on your side, please!)

There is no electricity in Mineral King. The elevation is 7800′. Our cabin has running water (from a stream), hot water (propane), a very old propane refrigerator, a wood stove for cooking and heating, and a fireplace for heating in extreme conditions such as Memorial Day weekend. (We even have a telephone, no answering machine, and when 10 people have the number and use it regularly, we change the number.)

Mineral King is a source of great inspiration to me. I often refer to it as The Land of No Electricity, and I spend as much time as I can there in the summer.

I’ve decided to do my “reporting” on Mineral King on Fridays on this blog. That way, if you only tune in for Mineral King, you will know which day to check in. Conversely, if you don’t give a rodent’s hiney about this place in Sequoia, you will know which day to tune out.

Farewell Gap
Evening LIght in Mineral KIng
Pond by White Chief with view of Mineral Peak and Sawtooth
Someone Else's Mineral King Cabin
Another Mineral King cabin, not mine
Where my friends Judy and Tim got married in Mineral King

 

Where do you get your inspiration?

Random Comments About the Business of Art

This list of comments was started just after Mother’s Day weekend, when I was recovering from the Redbud Festival. Now that I read them after a snowy Memorial Day weekend, I’m slightly climatically confused. Just sayin’ (which is the popular vernacular that means “I talk to hear the sound of my own opinions”)

  • It is hard to do weekend festivals and really hard to do shows when it is hot and REALLY hard to do shows with low attendance. But I’m merely commenting, not complaining.
  •  Kodak’s online gallery is going away and I have to learn how to use Shutterfly. I’m trying to keep this in perspective, but am really in a state of semi-despair. All the of books, cards, calendars, and other cool photographic projects I’ve made will be gone. GONE! I can recreate cards in Shutterfly, but they don’t put any info on the back. Shall I order anyway and use a rubber stamp?? That is kind of tacky. I might have to do it that way. Perhaps that is fitting for a Regionalist from Quaintsville.
  • When an artist does a show, there are more benefits than the immediate sales. Here is a list: new friends, new customers, potential commissions, potential new drawing students, seeing old friends, meeting other artists, sales that happen after people go home, new blog readers.
  • A long time ago, I did a variety of shows. Had to do them all to learn which ones worked. Redbud Festival has been here the longest and is now the most enjoyable and best organized. They have generous booth sizes, good food, good music, and are kind to their exhibitors.  (Even when it is hot.)
  • Doing shows in the heat and then painting 30×40″ commissions with an unaccustomed style of Loosiosity is most exhausting. But I’m merely commenting, not complaining.

Little Brown Church© 2012, oil on board, 4×6″, private collection

Any comments (not complaints) you’d like to add?

Memorial Day Weekend in Mineral King

Wow. Mineral King on Memorial Day weekend has a reputation for being cold. It was 27 degrees much of the time. I’m not making this up. Here, see eleven photos with an occasional comment. (What? you expected me not to have an opinion??)

Loved the backpacks collecting sunshine beneath the flag. We always fly the flag when we are at the cabin. It is a Mineral King tradition, and we are just following suit, because, well, lots of reasons.

The sunshine was short lived. It turned to rain. Very cold rain.

The next morning I looked out the window at this view. “Hey Honey, you going riding?”

“Uh, no, gotta find some firewood so we can keep warm and make coffee.”

“Okay, I’ll just stay inside and look out the window and load up the wood stove and the fireplace and take photos out of the window and dream of summer.”

Mineral King cabin

 

I did take a brief walk. Very brief.

Mineral King Honeymoon Cabin

Mineral King, Farewell Gap

That’s Retired Road Guy and Cowboy Bert

Then the sun came out and it was still cold!

Sunshine on my flag!

Did you spend Memorial Day weekend in a memorable manner with a flag?

Should I paint this?

There is a small waterfall on a trail not far from my house in Three Rivers. If I want to go far on that trail, I drive the first mile. If I don’t want to go further than 4 or 5 miles, I walk up to the trailhead.

The stream that makes the falls is seasonal. It scares me to go there after the weather turns warm because there are Snakes. Rattlesnakes is what is meant in Three Rivers when one hears “The Snakes are out” or “I saw a Snake yesterday” or “We had a Snake in our yard”.

Notice the capital S on the word. In German, nouns are capitalized. Snake isn’t German, but it needs to get your attention. I don’t like Snakes. A Snake caused me to break my camera a few years ago.

I digress.

The waterfall is beautiful. It doesn’t photograph that well. If the sun is on it, it is all washed out brightness and deep black shadows. I mess with the photo on iPhoto, and it gets okay. But okay isn’t great, and I need great to make great paintings. Maybe one day I will be skilled enough to make great paintings from okay photos. This is not that day.

See what I mean?

Maybe I should add redbud. Ignore that sandy “beach” with the weed-covered well thingie.

What is your opinion of this scene? of this scene as an oil painting?

A California Artist Goes Coastal

I said “coastal”, not “postal”. Living in rural Tulare County in the foothills of the Sierra in Three Rivers is great. But, I’m 50% beach girl, and the ocean calls to me.

A dear friend and neighbor just graduated from a college in Santa Barbara. We stayed in the lovely town of Ventura, enjoyed her campus and graduation in SB, and stopped by the beach again on the way home.

Just wanted you to know that this California artist gets out and about in her state on occasion. These may or may not become paintings. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

The beach in Ventura has a very sloped surface. If you walk far, one of your legs might shrink. (Perhaps it will rebalance when you walk back.) Would this make a nice painting? Probably has too much sand and not enough water.

The harbor had perfect light in the early evening. Would this make a nice painting? Probably. Not sure I have a market for this subject.

This beach was across the street from Santa Barbara City College. How do those people get any studying accomplished?? If there were little kids playing in the sand, this photo would almost have it all! Lovely lovely town and beach and day.

Spring Walk in Three Rivers, Part Two

Okay, let’s try this one again. I thrive on beauty. It drives me. It inspires me. It feeds and refreshes me. It nourishes something intangible inside. And remember, it is beautiful in Tulare County for a total of about 15 minutes each year. Good thing I had my camera with me during that little window of time in Three Rivers.

These dogwood are cornus florida, known in Three Rivers as “Karl’s trees”.

Ithuriel’s Spear blooms in shade on north facing slopes toward the end of wildflower season.

That might be Ash Peak, from which Ash Mountain, the headquarters of Sequoia National Park derives its name.

Spring Walk in Three Rivers

This California artist would like to share some inspirational photos with you. She took several walks in Three Rivers in the last 2 weeks with her camera in hand. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here is 6000 words worth for your gazing pleasure. (But remember it is usually hot and brown and dry here in Tulare County, and we are all fat and have diabetes and the unemployment is really high, so you should probably not consider moving here just because we have 15 minutes of beauty each spring.)

Okay, never mind. Only one photo will load. Computers can be enough to make a preacher cuss. Since I don’t allow profanity on my blog and I’m no preacher, gotta go now!

A California Artist Goes to Washington, Part Five

While I was in Washington working diligently on the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia, I had the delightful companionship of Penny, a little black dot of a dog, whom I called “Pen Dot”. She took the edge off missing my three cats.

And here is an average view on an average morning on an average walk in Carol’s area. Those are the Olympic Mts. in the distance. (I knew you were just dying to know.)

In addition to slaving away at my upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia”, we went on a yarn crawl. It is sort of like a pub crawl, but it involves yarn shops. (Bet you figured that out on your own.) Have a peek:

This had the most yarn, the most samples, the most customers, and was the friendliest.

And just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more new and exciting adventures, Carol pulled this out of her bag of tricks – a scooter! I laughed and laughed until my teeth hurt from the cold wind.

This was my view. The helmet didn’t make my hair nearly as horrid as the ferry. (Thank you for your concern on this matter of extreme importance.) We went off to a place to take in this view.

There might have been a tiny amount of trespassing involved. I’m not sure, and I’m not admitting anything. Just speculating.

When it was time to go home, it got sunny! This is first time I have ever had the thrill of seeing Yosemite from the air. The pilots often point out the various peaks along the way, but no one has ever mentioned Yosemite before. I just happened to look up from my knitting at the right time! Half-Dome and El Capitan show up if you study this photo.

And thus we conclude the five part series about a California artist in Washington. Working, of course. It was a business trip.

The end.

A California Artist Goes to Washington, Part Four

My trip to Washington was to learn Adobe InDesign so I can put together the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia. It was a business trip, of course. I worked very hard, of course. You’d expect nothing less of me, right?

However, it was necessary to take another ferry ride to another town to visit some of the dearest people on the planet to me. Their names are Ron and Ruth, and they have had a special place in my heart since I was 13 years old. Words fail me when I try to express my respect, love and appreciation for them, so you can just look at this photo and feel the love. Almost makes me go crybaby to see it. (bad hair, but not Ferry-hair yet.)

I was so overcome by getting to spend time with them that I spent the entire ferry ride back just marching around the top deck, around and around and around.  It got sunny again, really brilliantly sunny, freezing cold, but fabulous.

Carol taught me to make little origami stars. She taught me many things in addition to Adobe InDesign, which was the reason I went to Washington. (I have to keep saying this in case you think I was just messing around. Adobe InDesign wasn’t something that makes my blog look attractive so I have to supplement this report.)