Here are the better photos of the finished Oak Tree Mural, which I am renaming in my mind as Three Birds.
Oak Tree Mural, Day Five
Day Five was a looking and thinking day, figuring out the final finessing of the Oak Tree Mural at St. Anthony’s Retreat in Three Rivers.
Get to work, Central California Artist because you have a mural to finish.
Hey, what is that up there in the corner of the sunshine?
Not what, but who?
That was so fun I’ll add another, this time a Scrub Jay.
All-righty-then, gotta have a California Quail.
And I hid something in this mural, but you might need to see it in person to find it.
And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
Tomorrow I’ll take a photo of the completed project. It doesn’t photograph well in the afternoon light.
Oak Tree Mural, Day Four
Life’s full of surprises. I went to paint on Day Four and found the parking lot full of cars. Hmmm, I wonder if something is happening in my painting area.
Yeppers. Good thing I’m only one mile from St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers, because I went back home and did other things that day.
Day Four finally arrived, and here is a series of progressive shots of the oak tree mural.
Here is a list of thoughts and decisions throughout the day:
- That’s the wrong color of green on those first leaves – better fix that.
- Extension ladder? Nah, I can do this.
- Will I ever finish these twigs and does it matter of they’ll be covered with leaves?
- Maybe I can finish in 5 days.
- A group of guys came into the chapel to set up for the weekend, and it took hours, nay, HOURS, to get their sound system working. They stopped and prayed for wisdom, and right after that a guy said, “This cable isn’t plugged in here!”
- The sound system made a terrible surprising and deafening noise, as sound systems do; I yelled from around the corner, “You aren’t allowed to do that when I am on the top of a ladder!”
- Maybe I can finish it on Day Five. Maybe it will be quiet in there.
- Even if I finish on Day Five, I’ll have to return to photograph it in the morning because the afternoon light coming through that window erases the entire left edge.
- Maybe I can time Day Six of photography to be there for lunch.
- I love lunch at St. Anthony’s.
Oak Tree Mural, Day Three
On Day Three of painting the oak tree mural at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers, I showed up and stared at the mural for awhile.
Which ladder? Keep spreading around the corner? Go as high as possible with the taller ladder? Ask for the extension ladder? Stand on the floor and add leaves from the bottom up?
I decided to keep building up, adding to, and detailing the branches to the left of and over the door as high as the taller ladder would allow.
Because I was doing the same thing I did on Day Two, it didn’t seem as if I was making any progress. Lots of ladder climbing, and then later, a decision to change the color of green for the leaves.
I thought this would be a 3 day project and now I know it will be 5-6 days.
That’s fine. St. Anthony’s Retreat is one of the best places I have ever worked: 1 mile from home, all the staff are friends, perfect conditions, quiet, WiFi, and LUNCH!! (coffee too).
At the end of Day Three, visible progress has been made. Incremental, but still visible. In order to make a believable tree, much staring, evaluating and thinking is required.
You can see how much fuller it is above the door compared to the first photo in this post. You can also see that an extension ladder will be necessary.
Weird. Afternoon sunlight has erased some of the left side branches in this photo.
Oak Tree Mural, Day Two
Oak Tree Mural at St. Anthony’s Retreat in Three Rivers, Day Two.
After studying my photos on the laptop, I saw things to correct from Day One. Why didn’t they show up in person??
Most of Day Two was spent on bulking up Day One’s branches and adding twigs. I also put in some trial leaves at the bottom and learned they should be larger, which I fixed and liked. And, I turned the corner.
Painting an Oak Tree Mural
Behind that door is the mural that I painted in October.
Can you catch a glimpse of it?
This is the map to guide me through putting a tree on the wall surrounding the door.
Now I am committed to continuing.
Life’s short – eat dessert first.
Here’s what’s left:
- Finish blocking out the tree, including around to the wall on the right side.
- Detail all the branches from about the door top upward.
- Decide if there are enough branches, and add more if needed.
- Add leaves.
- Look it over carefully before declaring it finished.
Winter Walk
What passes for winter in Three Rivers would make a Minnesotan weep. On Trail Guy’s birthday, we went to a foothill area of Sequoia National Park that most visitors don’t know about. It feels like trespassing, but it isn’t.
We parked at the Rec Building near Ash Mt. He said, “We had a lot of good parties there.” I replied, “Yep, and a lot of boring ones too”. This is the place where I used to attend retirement parties for Park people that I didn’t know until I figured out that attendance wasn’t mandatory. The building is long, narrow, and very loud.
Next area was a boneyard of equipment and non-photogenic stuff, then the corrals.
I appreciate the signage at the corrals. (Cowboy humor reminds me of Cowboy Bert. It’s been a little over a year since we lost him. Heavy sigh.)
We stayed on the road until we got to this little creek, appropriately named Sycamore Creek. From there, we took another road that led down to who knows where. Trail Guy said, “Do you think we can make it back up this?” I said, “It might be too hard, but we’ll have to do it anyway.”
He noticed that thing in the tree and said, “There’s a bar – I wonder what it’s for?” I said, “You want a beer? Or maybe you need a lawyer?” Turns out it was some sort of a microphone with a solar powered box, maybe to record animal noises. I don’t think we accidentally uttered anything subversive.
We saw a few mules doing what mules do. Horses too. This is a horse. (Thank you, Trail Guy, for straightening me out.)
I found this round thing and decided it must be a tuit. Might come in handy.
While Trail Guy poked around in the boneyard piles of old Park equipment, I studied oak branches, preparing for my next mural.
This might make a nice painting, although I never know quite how to handle the gray matter of leafless oak trees massed together.
This might be a better view.
There I go again, turning every outing into a business trip. That’s the way it is when one is an artist.
Sunny in Three Rivers
The Central Valley of California is known for its heavy winter fog, often called “tule fog”. I haven’t seen it as bad as I remember growing up. My sister would be driving the family wagon, and after the intersection of the closest avenue, we’d roll down the window and count the reflector bumps on our road. Exactly at bump #17, we’d do a hard left to turn into our driveway. That was the only way to find home.
Three Rivers is usually above the fog. One day last week, it was brilliantly sunny at home, but I had to go down the hill. I pulled over to the usual overlook vista point for this one last look at the sunshine.
Then I looked down canyon to see what was ahead.
Mildly Interesting
Happy Birthday, Trail Guy!
Trail Guy and I drove down to Lake Kaweah (The Lake) to take a walk one morning in December before the rain turned it into a quagmire. At one point as we bumbled along, Trail Guy said to me, “Isn’t this exciting?” I responded, “No, but it is mildly interesting”.
Neighborhood Beautification Project, Part 4
Day Three was a little bit cold in the shade, but cold is better than hot, especially when it comes to painting a mural. Direct sun dries out the palette and the brush, even while it is trying to do its job on a wall.
I had a mental list of what the mural needed. The lower half wasn’t detailed.
Finally, I began working on my day’s assignment of detailing the lower 1/3. Then, I rediscovered that the oak tree was too high to reach. Fortunately, Trail Guy stopped by to see if I needed anything, so I requested the stepping stool from my studio.
It got colder in the shade, and suddenly I felt ready to go home. Because there is no deadline, no commute, and no check waiting at the end, I can return to this mural any time I have a better idea.
Mural completed, building dressed up, Three Rivers neighborhood beautification project finished.
Merry Christmas, Alta Acres!