Category: Thoughts

Things I’m learning in Artworld.

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 2

If you would like to see the completed piece shown in progress here, come to the student art show!

Start with simple things.

Get help on big things.

Good tools make a job easier.

Learn from others who know how.

A second set of eyes is helpful.

Sometimes you just have to do the work, no matter how tedious.

Sometimes you have to walk away and wait for your head to clear so you can get a new perspective on a project.

Good planning pays off.

Not everything can be fixed.

Ignorant gushing praise feels good; experienced honesty is helpful.

Things to be learned in drawing lessons, part 1

You can see this drawing at the upcoming student art show.

Because a show for my students is coming up soon, I’d like to share with you some of the things learned when taking drawing lessons from me.

How to see, really see.

How to break down a complicated picture into manageable parts.

Lots of little steps add up to something good.

Not everything is worth messing with.

Little tiny things do make a difference.

How to take criticism.

How to give criticism.

How to be honest and kind at the same time.

Age differences make no difference in many settings.

There are many different styles of drawing.

There are many different ways to tackle a problem.

If you procrastinate on a difficult problem, over time more will be revealed.

drawing drawing lessons

An afternoon in Sequoia National Park

A pair of friends backpacked from Mineral King to Crescent Meadow. Michael (my husband) brought their van down to Three Rivers, and I drove up to Giant Forest to pick them up 6 days later.

Much has changed in Sequoia National Park over the past 10 or 15 years. I followed Clueless Clive from Illinois for the entire trip up. He was clueless about the fact that if someone catches up to you, she is driving faster than you are. He was clueless about the purpose of turnouts to allow the faster follower to pass.

We waited for 15 minutes at this lovely view spot for the light to turn green.

Light? on the road to The Park? Yep, road work is now a regular part of a trip to The Park, and it includes delays, torn up road, single lane stretches, and no view from Amphitheater Point because it is full of construction equipment.

Then, when the downhill traffic has passed, the light turns green and everyone proceeds in a pack for the rest of the drive.

Despite the delays, I arrived early so I thought I’d just drive out to Crescent Meadow to meet the hikers there, instead of in Giant Forest as previously arranged. Nope. The road is closed on weekends unless you are a bus.

Waiting is rarely a problem for me.

There are huge redwood benches where you can wait for a bus or shuttle, breathe exhaust and cigarette smoke, and listen to idling diesel engines and many languages. The many languages part hasn’t changed. I recognized German, Spanish and Chinese. Okay, I figured out those were the languages, but only recognized specific words in Spanish.

“OSO!” Since I had a close encounter with an “oso” last week, I remained on my giant redwood bench while people ran toward him. (When the oso stepped a foot into my cabin last week, I was less than hospitable toward him, and wasn’t interested in meeting his cousin.)

It was 9/11 and there was a flag at half-mast in front of the Sentinel Tree. This is the same place where I met President Bush #43 in May of 2001. Security was looser then. We were all less worried, and younger and more innocent about bad things happening to good people.

Quite a bit of knitting was accomplished before my friends appeared from one of the shuttle buses. I enjoyed the time without demands, phone, computer, or clocks. A good time was had by all.

Isn’t this a precious father-daughter photo?

Sequoia National park

Why I Make Art, #2

His Other Car

Reason #2: I make art because I feel compelled to do so.

When I was a child, I would get this overwhelming urge to make something. “Mom, I feel like making something.” She probably dreaded those words. She’d send me to Highlights to find a project. We NEVER had the materials, even if the finished result was something I wanted to own, which it rarely was.

Sometimes I would get out the doll-sized sewing machine, go through Mom’s scraps and sew something sort of functional, a little schlocky and definitely slightly weird (hmmm, sounds like my knitting).

Other times, I’d draw.

Often I’d look for something to do until the urge wore off in a fit of frustration and just go read.

Regardless of the outcome, the desire to make something has never left me. Drawing, painting, making tile mosaic stepping stones/tables/steps/drinking fountain/light pole, origami boxes, tatted doilies, crocheted afghans (that was in the early ’80s), knitted anything. . . it is the way I am wired.

Since deciding to earn a living with by making something, it seemed wise to choose one method that I never tire of – drawing in pencil. Drawing brings the most satisfaction of anything I do. I think it has to do with skill level; the ability to do something well removes the frustration.

Why I Make Art

This is the first in a series.

Reason #1:

My art freezes a beautiful moment of time. The camera is my best friend, because my visual memory isn’t photographic and my techniques in drawing and painting are slow, slow, slow. When I see something beautiful, I feel compelled to capture it, to relive it, to revisit it, to examine it and to share it.

A California Artist Explores Tulare County

There are 4863 square miles in Tulare County. Really! I read it on the internet, so it must be correct, right? Although a great deal of it is un-roaded mountains, there are many roads to explore. And, there are roads to re-explore, because I forget stuff.

This summer I’ve made 4 trips to Kings Canyon National Park. Although it is in Fresno County, the bulk of the travel happens in Tulare County. Each time I have taken a different route, sometimes by choice and sometimes by accident. I wasn’t lost, because I still had my sense of direction and a working steering wheel.

On my most recent trip, I tried 245 out of Woodlake. There are a number of roads that resemble one another along the foothills. They have enough variety to make it worth the effort to change my routes. Besides, I like knowing how they connect. The traffic is usually light, and mostly I see pick-ups or out of state license plates. This is because the roads look reasonable on a map, rather than the remote serpentine almost-endless routes that they really are.

As I drove, I wondered why I couldn’t remember one road from another and why they get so intermingled in my head. In addition, I had lots of other thoughts:

1. There is the road where Bob used to live. I wonder where the sycamore that he drew is. . .

Roble Lomas, oil on wrapped canvas, 14×11″, $175

2. OH! There is that stone gate and barn I painted from a 20 year old snapshot! Shoot, wish the light was better so I could photograph it again. Either they built some new structures, or I did some serious editing!

3. Hey! There is the 2-1/2 acres of avocados that Dad used to farm. Now it has a crummy looking mobile home sitting in the middle of the property.

4. That must be Baldy. Michael and I skied there. It’s not the one that slides in the winter – that is Little Baldy.

5. When did the Badger Store close? I remember getting mail there for Hartland Camp, misidentified on the map as “Hartman”. Don’t these folks actually travel to the places they are mapping?

6. THERE’s the Badger school I remember! I’ve passed Sierra School on my last several trips. How can an area this rural support 2 elementary schools??

7. AHA! Hogback Road. I knew if I just kept trying different routes, I’d be able to find it from the lower end.

I love Tulare County, and I love exploring! Do you explore areas around your home? Do you look for differing rural routes? Do you have any recommendations? Please share!

California Artist oil paintings Tulare county Tulare County art

Rhyme Time

Sweet Treat

List of unrelated thoughts with one semi-related piece of art

K1 Green, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50

I see only one movie in a theater a year. It has to do with the time, the distance, and my pickiness high level of discernment.
This year’s movie was The Help. I would gladly see it again. It is the best movie I’ve seen in longer than I can remember!
The theater was at a mall, and there weren’t many parking spaces. I find that puzzling in this county, in this economy.
90% of the cars in the mall’s parking lot were newer than mine. That also puzzles me in this county, in this economy.
My new custom orthotics feel good, and I KNOW this stupid plantar fasciitis will be healed soon. Maybe I should sign up for a walking 1/2 marathon so I have a training goal.
Ellen, the Best Knitter I know, saw my wrist/thumb splint and said, “I have De Quervain’s Tenosynovitis too”. She is left handed with an affected right hand. I’m right handed with an affected left hand. Hmmmm. . .
Such a wild and reckless life I lead – injured from walking and knitting. Good thing I am not a sky diver or skeet shooter!
Three people have asked me about portrait commissions. Portraits are even harder to me than murals. Perhaps that is why I sit at the computer instead of returning those phone calls.
There is a 2″ watermelon in my garden. Grow, baby, grow!
I have begun a Huge HUGE new project. So far it has involved 9 nights away from home, and it is currently covering my dining table in the house and the work table in the studio. In the fullness of time, more will be revealed. Meanwhile, my lips are sealed.