Sources of inspiration | Cabin Art

Trail Guy Blazes the Way to Mineral King

Before Trail Guy was Trail Guy, he was Road Guy in Sequoia National Park. One of his specialties was opening the Mineral King Road in the spring.

This week someone from the Park asked if he’d help make the road passable for snow mobiles so people could get up there to do a snow survey. This is when they measure the depth of the snow and figure out the water content, some pretty helpful information.

He went again 2 days later because he wanted to check on the cabins, something they were unable to do on the first trip because there were so many downed trees to deal with.

I didn’t go along because while he is retired, I am not. I’ll just do my best to explain his photos, and if I get stuff wrong, he’ll correct me and I’ll fix it.

Sawtooth as it looked on the way in to Mineral King

This is our Cushman Trackster on the most dangerous stretch of road, “The Bluffs”

Another cabin in Faculty Flat, buried in snow

This might be the second most photographed cabin because it is so picturesque, perched above Cold Springs Campground.

View from the top of Endurance Grade (also sometimes called Coral Hill)

The Honeymoon Cabin with Little Florence (also known as West Florence) in the distance, which is the left side of Farewell Gap.

Classic view of the Crowley Cabin with Farewell Gap in the distance.

The cabin on the right in this photo was knocked off its pins by an avalanche a few years ago (Feels like 2, must be 5?)

Trail Guy took many photos of cabins, and if I have people’s eddresses, I will send them. Didn’t want you all to get too chilly in the snow with 30 photos.

Mineral King

This, That and The Other Thing (and my job description)

Natalie, please tell “Jee-um” Happy Birthday from me today – thank you!

This rain is wonderful. I went driving around, not just for the sake of burning fuel, but to see some stuff. Artists have to see stuff.

What’s my job description? I see stuff and then decide if it is worth showing to other people.

I saw lots and lots of water, here in January in Tulare County. This is the St. John’s River. I crossed it several times, and also crossed the Kaweah, drove along several irrigation ditches, and crossed the Friant-Kern canal several times.

If the bridge above looks familiar, it is because you may have seen it on the 2017 calendar. This also gives you a chance to admire my ability to clean up real life, which tends to be messy and cluttered.

What’s my job description? I fix visual messes.

St. Johns bridge

That was “This“.

Now for “That“.

That oil painting of the P fruits is coming along. If you are wondering, the dimensions are 6×18″.

The Other Thing is how beautiful it is in Three Rivers this time of year, especially when it is a wet season. Please excuse the lines across the photo. They are actually what enable me to post on this blog, but unfortunately they connect me to Huge & Rude. (the phone co.)

Can you see the elephant on Alta Peak? Here is a little visual aid as to how it is posed:

elephant

The trunk on my elephant is going the wrong direction and his head is bit outsized; you’ll have to use your imagination a bit.

What’s my job description? I help people understand what they are seeing.

Thus we conclude the post “This, That and The Other Thing”. Thanks for stopping by.

Field Trip up the Mineral King Road

One day while I was painting the Oak Grove Bridge, Trail Guy said he wanted to drive up the Mineral King Road and see how things looked. I put down my brushes and put on my boots.

All that muddy water obscured the boulders and rock formations that I have been struggling to decipher in the photos.

Through the windshield after the we reached the snow.

I got out of the truck to lock the hubs. Glad I wore those LLBean boots.

Lookout point after I locked those hubs. — Lookout Point after I locked those hubs.

We didn't make it very far. This is at the asphalt pile turnout. The snow was about 3" deep there. — We didn’t make it very far. This is at the asphalt pile turnout, maybe 10 miles from the bottom of the road. The snow was about 3″ deep there.

Trail Guy closed the lower gate. Bit of a slide there, but it is easy to drive around.

This is Squirrel Creek, near Lake Canyon, AKA Mitchell Ranch, AKA Sweet Ranch, AKA Way Station. It goes dry in many summers.

Mineral King Oak Grove Bridge

Two Last Non-Art Subjects

Subject #5

What is this? Inquiring minds NEED to know. . . we got a pair of insulating mugs for Christmas, and got curious as to which sort of mug will keep coffee the hottest. So, we conducted an experiment. They were all within degrees of one another, with the short Starbuck’s mug in the middle slightly ahead. Trail Guy is a little bit sad that his special old mug from Cabela’s with its hand-carved wooden handle didn’t win.

Subject #6

On Boxing Day, as December 26 is known in England, Trail Guy and I drove down to Lake Kaweah (AKA “The Lake”) to take a walk. This is an interesting place to spend time when the water level is low. There are great views of Alta Peak, lots of birds, an old road to walk on, a bridge or two to cross, cockleburrs to pick out of your socks, rocks to contemplate, the river (Kaweah) to watch, mud to slide around on, and people’s undisciplined dogs to fend off.

Save

Three Rivers

Time Off to Take in the Views

This week I will post several different subjects, all unrelated to art work. These could be titled “Sources of Inspiration”, although I don’t know if they will result in paintings or drawings.

Subject #1

Trail Guy took the Botmobile to a secret location with a great view of the High Sierra. The mountain range is the Sierra Nevada, and it is only people from Southern California who say “the Sierras”. Those of us in Central California generally know better in spite of being uneducated, poor and fat.

I wasn’t there because I was finishing the mural, not goofing off. Yet.

Can you pick out Sawtooth?

Here – have a slightly closer look.

Subject #2

The Captain decided that this rocking chair, more of a glider, a beautiful piece made by the Amish, no longer suits her. Together we figured out how to fit it into my car, and voila! It looks just right in this corner of our living room.

There used to be plants on that table, but Samson thought it was his personal jungle. Now there is a squirt bottle handy to remind him that our hands and feet are not his chew toys.

The view out the window looked like this:

Hey, this isn’t complete. We should be seeing Moro Rock to the left of Alta Peak. Time for some yard work.

Alrighty then. Life in Three Rivers for this Central California artist and her husband, AKA Trail Guy, seems to be about views.

Three Rivers

Field Trip With Peculiar Sights

Happy Birthday, Louise!!

Yeah yeah, I know I told you I’d be telling you about the newest coloring book. There’s too much to show and tell, and I don’t know how to best present it or condense it.

Instead, I’ll show you some fun photos. This is how artists reload their mental files of raw materials for future paintings and drawings. After too long of just traveling in the same small circles I get dizzy and dumb.

While I was away, it rained hard, and Trail Guy took this photo of the Middle Fork of the Kaweah, looking downstream off the Dinely bridge.

I went to visit The Captain, who LOVES her animals. I didn’t photograph her with the ball boa constrictor or the rats that are supposed to become its food but instead are pets. No rodents or reptiles for me, thanks anyway.

This is Ernie, a Halflinger, which is a small draft horse. He is the most beautiful combination of colors, my favorite sort of horse, which is “sorrel with a palomino mane”. If he was dry and brushed, he’d knock your socks off with his beauty.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. . . no wait, I was at the ranch. Trail Guy was at home with Samson and the wild turkeys. Last time I counted, there were 26 of them challenging Samson while he fluffed himself up and bounced sideways. I picked him up and we ran after them, growling and being large and fierce together.

Here is what I really wanted to show you. I took both of these photos without realizing the common theme until I saw them on the computer. I’d call these both peculiar sights.

Makes me laugh every time I see these. Just spreading a little holiday cheer!

Merry Christmas!

Maybe I’ll tell you about the new coloring book next week.

Flower Show in Mineral King

My favorite place and time in Mineral King is a flower show in the first half of July at the junction of the Farewell Gap and Franklin Lakes trails.

First, we had to get there. It is 4 miles one way on a well-graded uphill trail. Some parts are flattish, some steeper than others. There is very little shade. There are 2 creeks to cross.

Thistle, just a preliminary sneak-peek to the flower show.

Franklin Creek, the 2nd creek to be crossed on the way to the flower show.

Explorer’s Gentian is my happy flower, and it was out in profusion on the way to the flower show.

Leopard Lilies are Trail Guy’s happy flower. They hide a little bit, but not for those with an acute sniffer.

Here we are at last – the flower show! Bigelow Sneezeweed is the star.

Here comes our friend Kirk, but he is only passing through.

Two buddies, who like to hike, love Mineral King, and are both thrilled to still be healthy while approaching upper-middle-age. (Says she of middle-middle-age.)

Happy Trails, Kirk! We will finish our lunch in the flower show cafe before heading back down.

hiking Mineral King Mineral King photography

Wildflower Quest and Thoughts on Naming Flowers

Every summer in Mineral King, Trail Guy goes on a quest for Leopard Lilies. They have a fabulous fragrance, and often we smell them before we see them.

Mineral King wildflowers are usually at their peak during the first couple of weeks in July. This year they are particularly profuse.

Groundsel is common. It is a little boring, except when there are great masses of it together. It always looks slightly worn out.

Penstemmon comes in many colors and styles. This might be called “golden beard”. I wasn’t asked, but if I had been, I would call this one “lipstick”.

No flowers here, but I can’t pass over this bridge without photographing the classic scene.

“Wild geranium” makes no sense as a name, unless you know that what we call “geranium” at home is actually pelargonium, and true geraniums look more like this. Someone is jerking us around in this naming busines.

Wild asters usually don’t appear until late August. They are more lavender than they appear in this photo.

The larkspur were thick and bright, but my little PHD (press here, Dummy) camera wouldn’t focus on them. Where else will you see purple and yellow together and not think it is a little obnoxious?

We (ahem – Trail Guy) always find artifacts in Mineral King, a place very rich in cultural history. This is part of an old stove. Apparently, people in the olden days thought nothing of walking away from their stuff. Don’t know about you, but I’ve never removed a stove part, much less left it lying around. Maybe these folks would have been Lawn Parkers if they were in a more modern era.

Rein orchis is a weird weird name. “Orchis” not “orchid”. “Rein” not “rain”. You just can’t make this stuff up, unless you are an Official Flower Namer. They get to do whatever they want. I used to think grown-ups got to do whatever they wanted, but maybe not, unless they are Flower Namers.

Somewhere in there is a Leopard Lily. We spotted it!

This is a boring photo. In real life it was sparkly white flowers and a few bright purplish-pink wild onions.

More sparkly white “knot weed”, which looks like a Nothing Burger in this photo. Guess you had to be there.

This unnamed and unknown (to me) flower is thick along the Mineral King Road, maybe around 5000′. This was one of the first times I found it near a turnout, when no one else was around so I could really appreciate it. Besides, it wasn’t 100 degrees out, so I didn’t mind stopping.

Look how thick this is here! Anyone know the name of this? How about “roadside blue”? I want to be a Flower Namer!

Mineral King wildflowers

Busy Week Ahead

Today I want you to see the list of things I hope to take care of this week. It will relieve you of any illusions of an artist just happily creating under amazing peaceful inspiration. (That’ll teach me to run off to Israel for 2 weeks when there is work to be done!)

Illusions of peaceful inspiration from Israel

Finish preparing the manuscript of Trail of Promises (final edits) and email to the printer. (Remember that I am now also an editor and dabbling in book shepherding due to my “vast experience” with The Cabins of Wilsonia.)
Wait for the paper proof of the cover and hustle it to the author for approval.
Package up an order of notecards and hustle them to the post office.
Prepare a deposit and hustle it to the bank.
Scramble around to find mats and frames for pencil drawings that pertain to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for a last minute exhibit.
Spend time writing a few sentences to accompany every piece.
Email the images and the prices, sizes and “paragraphs of inspiration” (WHAT?? I thought it would make a nice card or print to sell in the parks!! Is that “inspiration”??)
Finish the Exeter coloring book designs – title page, front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover, color the covers, scan everything, email it to the printer (hence the reason for the hustle to the bank – gotta pay for these things in advance)

No painting or pencil drawing this week. Just lots of hustling around. Anyone want to order a coloring book? Some notecards? I’ll be going to the post office.

mineral king coloring book

A Central Calif. Artist Goes to Israel

My brother-in-law was the pastor of Neighborhood Church in Visalia and was planning to visit Israel this summer. After he died last September, the church offered his slot to his wife, my sister. When I told Trail Guy that she was going, along with our niece, Trail Guy said, “Don’t you want to go too?”

OF COURSE I WANTED TO GO!!

So I did.

We were a group of 34 with a fantastic tour guide. We saw 50 sites in 10 days. It was very hot. I took around 750 photos and have been editing them, labeling them before I forget which pile of golden tan ruins is which.

I’m not sure how this will figure into this blog. Does anyone care? Perhaps I’ll just show a little bit each day. Or, I could post one day a week about the trip. Or, I can just shut up and continue to show you the inner workings of an art business in Central California with a peek into Mineral King every Friday.

People on the tour asked if I would be drawing or painting from my Israel photos. Probably not, unless someone commissions me for a particular piece. People have asked if I will make a coloring book of Israel’s sites. No. Everything we saw is about the same color of a golden tan. I have an Exeter coloring book to finish and a Sequoia/Kings Canyon one to begin.

Today I’ll show you a few photos. These are images that interested me, and if they have something interesting to accompany the pictures, I’ll add some words.

Maybe I’ll even learn to read the stats on the blog, and if the number of readers plummets, I’ll know to stop with the Israel pics.