Because I went coastal last week, I don’t have any new stories to tell about my crazy life in Mineral King. (not truly crazy, just me exaggerating. . .)
Instead, here are 10 photos of Mineral King wildflowers for you to enjoy.
Do you have a favorite? Do you know any of these by different names?
Last week we took in the 2 best canyons, White Chief and Farewell, with a friend on one long mostly off-trail day. The flowers were spectacular.
My recent time in Mineral King was varied. Have a look:
When Trail Guy and I went to our friend’s barn to choose our kittens, I was struck by how appealing the outer wall of the barn looked. Alas, I didn’t have my camera with me. (Just hush up about smart phones, will ya?)
2 weeks later, another friend, the amazing S, emailed me a photo of the very barn wall because she happened to be there and thought I would like a photo. She knows me well and is a very thoughtful friend.
I set aside another drawing that has been putting me to sleep and started on this.
One of the things I continually tell my drawing students is, “Pick something you love because you will be staring at it for a long time.”
This will be an excellent addition to my 2019 calendar.
THANK YOU, S!
Today’s painting:
Is “goalless” a word?
I do set goals – finish X number of paintings, get website redesigned, finish drawings for the next calendar, etc.
But I don’t set big sweeping overarching business goals, or as one of those motivational speakers says, “BHAGs”, which stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goals.
And many of us have heard the acronym SMART for goals, which means goals have to be Specific, Measurable, and 3 other things that I never remember.
In thinking about goals for my art business, all I could come up with is Paint Better And Sell More Paintings.
“Paint Better”? What is this? Better than what? Better than I paint now, but what constitutes better? Tighter and more photorealistic? Looser and flowier? Plein air? Brighter colors? How is this specific or measurable? How is this even attainable when I can’t define “better painting”?
And “Sell More Paintings”? I can count, and set a higher number, but am I supposed to put them in my little red wagon and pull them around the neighborhood? Must I get a smartphone and join FaceBook? (Have mercy – Please please please don’t make me get a cell phone and join FaceBook!!)
I have no earthly idea how to sell more paintings. If I did, I’d be selling more.
Goalless suits me for now.
I wonder what all those motivational speakers would have to say to me . . . probably “Don’t let the door hit you where the good Lord split you”.
I am painting better each time I revisit this oil painting of the Oak Grove Bridge that is too hard for me. I am making up some colors for the background, just experimenting, trying to learn what “better” might look like, outside of my natural bent to just make things look as realistic as possible.
Will it sell? Maybe if I chant to myself while painting, “Paint better, sell more paintings, paint better, sell more paintings…”
Perhaps it is time to listen to music instead of motivational speakers while I paint.
Today’s painting:
Have you heard me say that I think white flowers are boring? There are a few exceptions, and dogwood is one of them.
Have you read Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard? It is considered one of the classics of tree-hugging literature. In it, the author mentions a “tree of lights”. I am just sure that she is referring to dogwoods!
I recently went to the main part of Sequoia National Park for an afternoon, and both the yucca and dogwood were in bloom. These flowers are not boring at all; I only photographed the dogwood because there were no places to pull over for good photos of yucca. Yuccas? Yeah, those, plural.
Wait. This post is supposed to be about non-boring white flowers. Here, have another look at a dogwood. I have painted these non-boring white flowers and will again.
That title might be a little bit over the top. May always feels like the end of spring with heat coming and bringing its browns. But my yard has been so beautiful in the early morning light. . . Trail Guy and his power tools, me and my girly pruning and weeding, but mostly God and his palette. . .
I could call these photos a “source of inspiration”, but while they do lift my spirits, I don’t view them as potential painting subjects. The reality of earning a living with art in a small place is that I have to paint what sells. Florals don’t sell for me. Instead, I can study the photos and figure out what makes them special in terms of light, shadow, shapes and color, and maybe apply those things to other subjects.
Hurrah?
I tried to oil paint last Friday but the greenery and wildflowers overcame my sense of duty. So, Trail Guy and I drove up North Fork Drive to the end.
The road was longer, rougher, narrower than I remembered and all very worth the drive.
After we got back home, I painted a little bit more. There is this commissioned oil painting of Sawtooth for a very patient customer, and it would be good to make progress.
Then, I got distracted again and thought that wildflowers would look great on a 6×18″ canvas. Can you see the possibilities here? (Put on your rose-colored glasses with me!)
Have you noticed that the word “easel” is pretty close to the word “easy”?
It’s merely a word illusion. Nothing easy about being at an easel.
This fact, combined with April as the most beautiful month in Three Rivers, has made it even less easy to plant my feet in front of the easel recently.
But, as I pointed out in the Eight Things I Learned in March blog post, often we must parent ourselves. (“STAY IN YOUR ROOM UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED YOUR MATH!”) So, I planted my feet in front of the easel in spite of the distractions.
Wanna see some of the distractions? I know you are interested.
Forget easel time and painting for today’s blog. See you on Monday. . .
Last summer I had a hankering to draw some new Mineral King pictures in pencil. I did four of them without a plan for reproduction or framing. Artists make art, and I am a Central California artist making art of the flyover center of California, my main source of inspiration (along with liking to drive and to eat.)
This spring I decided to test the marketability of these drawings as cards. These are packages of 4 different cards, 5×7″, blank inside with envelopes, $15 per package. There are only 9 5 packages available. Through this blog post and Saturday’s open studio, I will decide if these are popular enough to print in greater quantity.
This sort of thing is just part of the business of art. Make the art I want, and then figure out if there is a market for it. . .
This is the insert that goes inside the package of cards. The drawings are too small to really appreciate on the insert, so I’ve placed them underneath. Scroll on, Gentle Blog Reader.
What?? No Honeymoon Cabin?
Nope – sometimes an artist’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. (But she is willing to listen to customer requests, within reason.)
P.S. I thought at first that $15 was a little high-ish for 4 cards. Then I went inside a real store and looked at real cards that are sold one at a time. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I was astonished at the prices, so believe these are a bargain.