Three Rivers, Tulare County, central California, is GORGEOUS in the spring. Here are 4000 words worth of photos:
Looks as if Michael is leading horses to water.
He didn’t have to make them drink.
This is just an average morning, out on an average walk, on an average spring day.
My yard only looks like this for about 12 seconds a year. Good thing I had my camera!
(Don’t move here – the unemployment is awful, the air is nasty in the fall, and we are all fat.)
Happy Birthday, Elder Sister!
This photo was taken in my yard on March 15.
This photo was taken in my yard on March 18. I live in Central California (I am a California artist, remember?) at an elevation of 1000 feet. One thousand, not 10 thousand. Three Rivers, California.
How does this apply to art, California Artist?
So glad you asked that question! When working from photos (and Jack White said all realistic artists either work from photos or they lie about it), it is sometimes a temptation to work from something that is unusual or peculiar. Problem with that approach is that a drawing or painting of something peculiar looks as if the artist doesn’t have a firm grasp on reality.
People are still convinced of the truth of photographs in spite of Photoshop.
Back in the olden days when a camera was a camera and a phone was for receiving calls in one’s home or office, photographs were taken on special occasions. One time some folks wanted me to draw all 4 homes their mother had lived in her entire life. I think two were in Los Angeles, and two were in Exeter. Three of the photos they provided me were of the houses in the snow! WHY? Because when unusual things took place, the camera came out to record the event.
It wasn’t typical back then to take pictures any time you desired. I used to be a bit of a maverick, keeping my camera in my car at all times. And not only did I keep one, but I kept two with me. One had color print film and the other either had black and white or slide film.
Why did you always have cameras with you, California Artist?
Great question, I’m glad you asked that one. It was because I had to be ready to record the beautiful things and moments and light of every day life, not the peculiar sights!
Here is the second half of yesterday’s post about the excursion on foot in the bottom of Lake Kaweah. I worked pretty hard at finding things of interest down there – hope you enjoy them!
I was glad we had this road to walk on because those cockleburs are horrible.
That’s a bald eagle!
There is the dam and the spillway and the tower in the distance. This is a large lake, especially if you are in a canoe or on foot.
It is cloudy in Three Rivers and further up canyon . . . is it snowing? We sure do need some.
We walked back up along this split off section of the Kaweah River. I think it is remarkable that these willows survive when a good portion of their lives is spent fully submerged.
Look! A turtle!
I just knew we would have to go crashing through the cockleburs to get back to the road.
Cockleburs everywhere!
Horrid little things
The green is mustard. Normally the distant hills are green this time of year. We really need rain.
This California artist is praying for rain. Are you?
Lake Kaweah is formed by Terminus Dam, about 10 miles below Three Rivers. When the lake is full, it reaches up into the lower end of town. When it is not full, there are lots of places to walk. The dam was built when I was a toddler, so I don’t remember anything prior to the lake. (My great uncle used to lament all the drowned flower seeds and I never understood what he was so worked up about.)
Instead of heading up higher into the hills today, we drove down to the lake. Everything was sort of dust colored, and yucky looking, so I messed with it a bit on the photos. This color junkie had to look hard for nice photos on this excursion.
Why am I showing you this stuff when I am a California artist? So that you can get to know me a bit, learn about where I live, and hopefully tell me what you think.
Not much to the Kaweah River right now. We sure do need rain.
This was once a swimming pool. Can you see a hint of blue tile around the edge?
Here is a closer view. I wonder where those people went when the Army Corps of Engineers forced them out of their home. That would be dreadful.
Michael saw this bridge from up on the highway and wanted to find it.
It crosses Horse Creek. I love older things that had style. Kind of weird to realize this sits completely underwater for months at a time, for almost 50 years!
Today that animal I am married to is turning 59. We did a stroll in The Park. Anything feels like a stroll after attempting Monarch Lake on the old “trail” last week. We stayed in the foothills, and almost wished for shorts and were annoyed by the face flies. Hard to believe it is January. (Are you praying for rain? You need to be!!) Anyway, I talk too much, so have a look at some nice photos. These fall under the broad category of Sources of Inspiration, which also means things I might want to paint someday. Oh, and if Mr. Google is paying attention, this is the blog of a California Artist who paints Sequoia National Park, Tulare County and Three Rivers.
P.S. I am an animal too, if banana slug counts as an animal.
For a few months I’ve been dancing around the subject of a Very Large Project on the horizon. Today is the day to tell you all what it is. It isn’t a very well kept secret, just a non-published-on-this-blog secret.
If you know me, you know I love to draw in pencil and that I love to draw cabins. Little cabins, big cabins, they inspire me to draw. So, The Cabins of Wilsonia, a book of drawings of (duh) the cabins of Wilsonia is underway! It will be similar to The Cabins of Mineral King.
There are differences.
1. It will contain very little history because I’m an artist, not a historian, and the history has already been written in several forms.
2. I will be doing this one solo instead of with Jane Coughran, the very qualified former picture editor from Time-Life Books who was my partner on the Mineral King book.
3. It may not contain any photographs, because there are more than 3 times as many cabins in Wilsonia as in Mineral King.
4. It will take longer than a year to produce because it is a bigger book (226 drawings, at least 128 pages and probably more) and I have to learn how to do the designing on my computer all by myself. (deep breaths, deep calming breaths. . .) I’m aiming for Memorial Day of 2013.
5. The cabins won’t all be represented – there are just too many!
6. The cabins won’t be identified by name. They will be in chapters by street names.
There are similarities.
1. It will contain pencil drawings.
2. It will contain quotes from cabin folks.
3. It wil be hardcover (yes Brad, I listened to you!), horizontal in format.
4. It will contain some history and explanation of Wilsonia.
5. It will be self-published. This is the way Janey and I did our book in 1998, except technology has changed DRASTICALLY. There are plenty of assisted self-publishing sites out there like Lulu and Blurb and West Bow Press, but I won’t be using them.
There are challenges.
1. 226 drawings to complete and scan.
2. 40-something quotes to gather and verify.
3. Adobe InDesign to learn to use.
4. Writing the text.
5. Finding a printer.
6. Finding a binder.
7. Selling them all!!
This California artist blog will resume the blog’s regular posting schedule of Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. Pacific Standard Time on January 3, 2012.
On the trail, the snow was doing this cantilevered melting thing around the edges.
This chick wouldn’t have been eligible for Gideon’s army! (see Judges 7: 4-8 in the Bible)
A little decorating project using found objects.
Is that a hand knit scarf?? How festive! (and is this really December in Mineral King??)
Snow in the shade and on the north facing slopes below Sawtooth.
Is this an ad for Dodge?
Farewell, Farewell. It is time to pray for rain and snow.
Because December has had no precipitation, we were able to drive to Mineral King this week. I’ll share the photos today and tomorrow.
The same and yet not the same. Sigh. (See this)
My request for pruning the dead branches on the cottonwoods that stab into my photos was ignored.
A Cabela’s model and a representative for Terratrack were on the bridge.
We walked up to Crystal Creek.
If you’ve crossed it in the summer, you may or may not recognize this view. It was flowing under the snow, but that curly looking part is frozen.
This man bravely tested the snow bridge over the creek, following the tracks of animals.
More tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel!
Last week I got to spend a day in a place behind a locked gate. (It’s always Who You Know.) It was cold, and there was about 20 minutes of sunshine available in the middle of the day. I walked, enjoyed, and took photographs to share with you. You all deserve to share in the enjoyment without having to break any rules yourselves!
It was really cold.
Kind of makes you want a sweater, hunh?
Don’t those frozen drops look as if you could just unzip the rocks?
You shiverin’ yet?
Very very little snow, only in the shade. That’s why we were able to go there at this time of year.
Starting to figure it out yet?
Be the first to tell me where we were, and I’ll send you a little prize! (Not you Diane because I already told you! And not you either, Cathy, for the same reason!)
Three Rivers Arts Center, North Fork Drive, Three Rivers
10-4 p.m., today (Friday, November 25) and tomorrow (Saturday, November 26)
