Successful Drawing Workshop

The recent drawing workshop in Three Rivers was successful; everyone learned, and everyone had a good time, including your Central California artist, in her role as a drawing teacher.

We met at someone’s house on the river, a place full of beauty, so there are photos of things that caught my fancy along with photos from the actual drawing session.

This is a little store where the hostess and her husband sell their beautiful pottery.

Some of the pottery that did not make it intact out of the kiln is now stepping stones. Could you imagine stepping stones any more classy than this??

Ten students sat at a long table inside the house because the river made it too hard to hear outside.

I discussed drawing steps and tools, and they started on some beginning exercises to practice the techniques.

After about 15 minutes, 2 hours had passed. (That’s how one of the participants described the time.) The hostess fed us a wonderful lunch out on her deck.

Everyone began working on a drawing after lunch, and I circulated around the table, showing them how to see what is really there, rather than what they thought ought to be there. Weird, I know, but that is what drawing is, at least the way I teach it. I teach people to see, which is also weird, considering I am one of the most nearsighted people I know of.

People had such a good time that there is talk of a follow-up drawing session. Regular lessons, or another workshop? Where? When?

More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

Business Picks up in April—Sold

In the 30+ years I’ve been earning a living with art, I’ve seen that business usually picks up in April. This year is no exception.

Salt Creek Trail, 8×8″
Sequoia Gigantea XVI, 6×18″
Lemons on the Tree, 6×6″
Pomegranate on the Tree, 6×6″
Poppy, 6×6″
Lemon on the Tree II, 6×6″
The Best View, 10×20” (I added a wind machine for the customer, but didn’t rephotograph it)
Spring Citrus, 12×16″

When paintings sell to people passing through town, I replace those with similar paintings. Lots of sequoia trees (AKA “redwoods” or “big trees”), oranges, lemons, pomegranates, and poppies. I’d rather paint repetitious subjects than go job hunting.

Sources of Inspiration

Today’s post is about beauty, because April is beautiful around here. Color and light is a source of inspiration for paintings. (Detail and light inspires my pencil drawings.)

On my way down to work at the Mural Gallery I stopped in the usual turnout for a photo of the lake.

On the way home, I drove over Rocky HIll and took many photos. This is a small sample, and there are lots of painting ideas here.

Any one of these photos could be turned into a painting. There are even more photos that I didn’t show you.

Working at the Mural Gallery

The Mural Gallery and Gift Shop in Exeter has been selling my work for many years. It used to only be for artists who had painted murals in Exeter. Eventually we were all old, moved away, didn’t produce smaller pieces, or dead. (Of that list, I am only sort of old—thanks for asking.)

Now it is a gallery, but more of a gift shop, for local artists. In order to have them take less of a bite out of an artist’s sales, artists can work one shift a month. Today is my April shift.

In case you are wondering what I have there, here are photos taken from my March shift, worked last Friday.

All the Mineral King paintings will move to the Silver City Store/Resort in time for Memorial Day weekend.

Yes, they sell my cards.

While there, I did a bit a display rearranging, after I took these photos. You can see that the place has more of the feel of a gift shop than a gallery. I’ve always done better in gift shop settings than galleries, so this is fine with me. The folks running the place are very in tune with what people want, enthusiastic, organized, and a pleasure to work with.

Meanwhile, I brought four new small citrus paintings. They are waiting for bar code pricing stickers in front of these two fabulous original paintings by the fabulous Heidi Steinman.

11-4 today, 121 South E Street, Exeter

Painting Lots of Orange Things

When you look at my painting subjects, you might guess that orange is my favorite color. You’d be wrong. However, orange things are among my favorite things (not raindrops on roses).

The poppy painting is on the easel for consideration and contemplation. How can I make it better? Does it need to be made better? I have an idea for the first question, and the answer to the second question is “Maybe”.

The lemon isn’t orange. Well, duh. The Mural Gallery just sold a little lemon painting so I am painting a new one.

The larger commissioned painting is getting close to completion; the poppy painting is new, and the lemon needs an orange to go with it for the Mural Gallery.

The orange painting is going quickly; the poppy painting is a little more difficult.

It’s from a photo I took up the North Fork of the Kaweah River a handful of years ago. I am not trying to copy every poppy exactly; ain’t nobody got time for that. Besides, nobody cares.

I think this is going to be a good one. My goal is to get it to Kaweah Arts in time for the studio tour on the weekend. It is a county wide studio tour. I’m not participating but am supporting Kaweah Arts in their efforts to draw many people in.

Thinking About Water and Feeling Reckless

Because it is raining while I write this, I am thinking about water. A few years ago, we had a very wet winter after several dry ones, and I became obsessed with watching flowing water.

Here are some of the results. I was quite pleased with the drawings and pretty proud of the titles too. (There were more, but they sold.)

Every Drop, matted and framed, 15×17”, $400
Life Source, 9×12”, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250
Rock and Roll 2, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250
Turbulent Times, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250
Frozen and Flowing, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250
Liquid Fury, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250
Steady Stream, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250
Wet and Wild, graphite on archival paper, unframed, $250

All the unframed pieces are 9×12”.

I’ve had these too long, and this is a slow month. So, for the rest of the month of March, THESE ARE NOW ALL HALF-PRICE! (half of what is written beneath each one here on the blog) See? Reckless.

(Oh hush up, snobby Art World who says art should never be discounted! I’m in Tulare County, and I’m the boss of my art.)

They aren’t on my website, so you’ll have to talk to me in person, text me at five-five-nine-561-7606, or email me at cabinart-at-cabinart-dot-net (both written this way so the cyberjerks don’t mess with me.)

Yes, there will be sales tax.

If they don’t sell, I might just shred them. Ooh, feeling really really reckless!

“Reckless” is a weird word. If one is feeling reckless, one might not remain wreckless.

My Favorite Things (as in Subject Matter)

When I started my art business, I named it “Cabin Art”, or perhaps “Cabinart*”, because my favorite subject matter was architecture, mostly cabins.

As my skill and confidence grew, my favorite subject to draw (and eventually paint) was the Oak Grove Bridge.

Graphite on paper, SOLD
Oak Grove Bridge #28, 24×30”, oil on wrapped canvas, $1800

During a particularly wet winter after several dry ones, I became enamored with rushing water.

Steady Stream, 11×14”, graphite on paper, $400 (unless it already sold. . . there’s a little story there.)

Next, it was orange groves with foothills and mountains in the distance.

In the Orchard, oil on wrapped canvas, 11×14”, $300

After a handful of years of painting multiple variations on this theme, I seem to be transitioning into beach scenes.

More on that later. . . Monday is time for a monthly Learned post.

*For a typo-psycho, I certainly am ambivalent about the spelling of my own studio name.

BUT WAIT! ONE MORE THING FOR YOU! MY FRIEND HANNAH IS OPENING A NEW SHOP IN THREE RIVERS!

Finished.

I DID IT!

For the first time in many years, I kept track of how long this took. Getting these little people to be themselves took a very very long time. (Don’t ask—not telling). It is probably (past) time to raise my prices.

When I am not Editing. . .

… I am working on several art projects at once. That is, IF I am actually working.

The little beach paintings are still progressing. I have enough boards for twelve of these. Six are now completed, three more are in the messy first layer stages, and three more are waiting for my decision to either paint more beach scenes, or paint some oranges.

I like these little boards.

Pacific Ocean IV, 5×7”, oil on gessobord*, $75

There are also three unfinished oil paintings in the painting workshop, but none have deadlines. The beach paintings don’t have deadlines either, but their small size gives me the illusion of productivity and progress.

Meanwhile, I have two very complicated pencil commissions to complete. One is now in progress; the other is awaiting my thumbnail sketches for the customer to choose from.

“Bad things happen quickly; good things take a long time. This is why patience and determination are such primary virtues.”

I don’t know who said this, but I intend for these two difficult pencil commissions to be good, so they may take a long time.

*Gessobord is something akin to masonite, coated very smoothly with gesso, a thick white paint, probably acrylic.

This and That: Wandering Around Three Rivers

There is an excellent museum in Three Rivers, and parked in front are some old fire trucks plus this tow truck. I had to wait for a couple of friends stuck at one of the many ongoing lengthy roadblocks, so I wandered around with my inferior phone camera.

On a recent walk, I took this photo because it reminded me of my painting titled Swinging Oak. You can see it below with a convenient link for purchasing from my website. It’s just business. (I’m tryna earn a living here!)

Swinging Oak, oil on wrapped canvas, 12×16″, $375 (plus tax in California) Available here

Where’s the other chair?

Why am I not showing you any paintings or drawings? Because I am spending most of my time in the studio, editing another book for another writer on another topic.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that.