Three Rivers | Cabin Art

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.

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Three Rivers

2 More Random Non-Art Subjects

Subject #3

This deserves no photos. On Christmas Eve it was raining and dark when we got home from our church’s Christmas Eve service. Trail Guy pressed the button on the garage door opener (my favorite luxury item) and nothing happened. He pressed it again, the door went up a little bit, then it thudded back down with an uncharacteristic loud clunk.

Say what? My car is in there! The pickup is out here! What’s the deal?

A spring broke. It was very important. It took an hour with lots of banging, grunting, and possibly some swearing although no one here is going to admit to even knowing those words, and now the garage door is neatly folded in a pile in our front yard.

Here – look at the new green chair and feel better. I wonder how long it will take to find the right lamp table. . . will we go dumpster diving? curbside shopping? garage saling?

Subject #4

On Christmas Day we had 2 very dear friends join us for lunch along with my mama. It was a perfect day for a post-lunch walk.

Nothing to say except a good time was had by all, and the Central California artist probably ought to make a New Year’s resolution to give up sweets.

Forget it.

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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

Stick a Fork in Me, I’m Done

That’s a non-Google kind of title, but the real title is boring. “Mineral King Mural #3 is Finished in Three Rivers Museum”.

First, a little context. Here is mural #1 as it appears in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers Museum (Redundant, I know, but I have to say all those words so this post can be found on the World Wide Web.)

Mineral King mural in Three Rivers Museum of Empire Mt. mining area. — Mineral King mural of Empire Mt. mining area in Three Rivers Museum . No miniature ore buckets hanging from the little cable yet. . . will they get made in time for the January 22 opening party of the room?? As always, more will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

And to our left in the Mineral King Room:

2 more murals in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers Museum

The cabinet in front of mural #3 will be sitting lower once it is removed from the dollies. Yes, those rolling platforms are called “dollies” – anyone know why?? The other sort that guys with their names on a patch on their shirts use to push around boxes of things are called “hand trucks”. (One never knows what sort of helpful tidbit one might pick up on this blog.)

And now for a little glimpse into what sort of fiddling and polishing happens at the end of a mural job – here is how the left side looked last week:

Left end of mural #3 before the final details.

Left end of mural #3 after touching up a few details

Louise said that the snow patch on the far end looked like white paint. I agreed, and saw that it had the wrong angle on the bottom. Then I added a spot of rocks in the center. She also said that the trees were too sparse, and of course she was right there too.

These are minor details, but those who know, KNOW. Louise KNOWS. I fully trust her judgement, particularly about Mineral King. She has been a tremendous help to me on every Mineral King mural I have ever painted, and I LOVE working with her on any project. (Remember the book Trail of Promises this year? It came out in July, and is available here and on Amazon.)

No blue tape! Stick a fork in me; I'm done! — No more blue tape. . . Stick a fork in me; I’m done!

Mineral King mural mural Three Rivers

3rd Mineral King Mural, Day #3

The third Mineral King Mural in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers History Museum is almost finished. I estimated 3-4 painting days, and that’s about right.

First I worked on the mountains on the upper right. They were still rough, but it wasn’t apparent until I had detailed the other mountains. The contrast was strong between finished and unfinished mountains, but I didn’t take a close-up photo because I was DETERMINED to finish that day. (In spite of being a conscientious blogger, I do try to live in the moment rather than live to document life.)

Now the upper mountains are tighter, and it shows the unfinished forested areas and everything else below the upper ridge.

Can you see the improvement now? Louise helped me decipher the miniature details of the actual Mineral King valley, because that is the most important part.

I added detail to the foreground – texture, rather than specific rocks.

There might be no difference here, except that I remembered to move the photo taped to the mural.

I added details to the mountains to the left of the valley, detailed the foreground a bit more, added a foreground tree on the left and one on the right, added texture, snow, contrast, details, details, details. The pencil artist in me wants to take this thing to the nth degree.

Couldn’t stand it – I was compelled to remove the tape to get a cleaner view.

This is how it looked at the end of the day. I left the photos up so that visitors to the incomplete Mineral King Room can see that it is real, not just a figment of some demented artist’s over-active imagination.

Here is the list of what remains to be done on day 4, which hardly counts as a painting day:

Review all the details and the accuracy with Louise Jackson, author of Trail of Promises, dear friend, coordinator of the Mineral King Room and all-around Mineral King expert.
Remove blue tape.
Wash off blue chalk.
Touch up wall paint where the mural paint bled under the tape.
SIGN IT!!
Ride off into the sunset.

This is how it looked when I stepped outside after painting 7-1/2 hours without stopping.

Mineral King mural Three Rivers

Third Mineral King Mural in Three Rivers Museum Day 2

Day #2 on the third Mineral King mural in the Mineral King Room of the Three Rivers Museum might be easier to paint than to spell out.

I began on the left, working down and forward in space.

Then, I realized that the farthest mountains were quite unfinished. This meant starting at the top (farthest distance) and painting down.

Sort of. Maybe it would be good to add some more detail in the middle ground. Or a few trees up close.

Or fill up all that white space on the far right. I think it is all forested over there.

What do you mean by “It’s time to close”??? I’m not done, and I thought this was going to be quick and easy.

One of the best ways I know to stay self-employed as a full time artist in Tulare County is to never lose my optimism.

To be continued. . .

Mineral King mural Three Rivers

Nice Day on the Farm

I didn't want to leave home in the morning, but we grownups have to face things. — I didn’t want to leave home in the morning, but we grownups have to face things.

Look how beautiful it is around the barn! — Pretty nice place to work. Don’t these folks have gophers and deer??

This is the same view that I painted from real life and from photos in April 2015.

This is all I saw of the baby animals. There were lambs but it took several people running around to catch them and I had to work instead of cavort with lambs. — This is all I saw of the baby animals. There were lambs but it took several people running around to catch them; I was not cavorting with lambs that day.

These folks are heading off to catch a lamb.

Oh yeah. I was working. Look at that merchandise with the afternoon sunlight! — Look at that merchandise with the afternoon sunlight!

And look at the light show in the afternoon light!

Thus we conclude the boutiques, bazaars and shows for 2016.

Isn’t “thus” a stuffy word? I don’t think it gets used much in conversation.

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First Saturday three Rivers Three Rivers Three Rivers 1st Saturday

A Different Type of Event

Tomorrow I will be participating in a different sort of event. It is part of 1st Saturday, Three Rivers. I will be with 3 other Kaweah Artisans in a barn at a farm outside of Three Rivers.

You can learn about 1st Saturday Three Rivers by clicking (or tapping if you have a “device”) on the words “1st Saturday Three Rivers. You go to Anne Lang’s Emporium to get a map, and on it is listed all the participants. Here is the link about the part where I will be, but you still have to go to Anne Lang’s to get the map – Mosley Farm

This is how the place looked in the spring of 2015. Come see it in December of 2016!

1509-mosley-barn

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Three Rivers Three Rivers 1st Saturday upcoming event

Perfect Gift Boutique

perfect-gift Someone said this is our ~~16th~~ 17th annual Perfect Gift Boutique (the same someone who made the little ad above). That is difficult to fathom. Must be having fun, because time is flying!

To get to the Three Rivers Arts Center, head east on Highway 198. After you pass the first commercial part of town (Post Office, grocery store, Quality Inn, Pizza Factory, etc.) go about another 1/2 mile. Cross the river on the North Fork bridge, and the Arts Center is the first building on your left. It looks like this:

arts-center

I don’t know the address and don’t know if Mr. Google will either, so you may have to find this using the old fashioned method of following directions and paying attention. Rough, I know, but sometimes that’s just part of living in rural Tulare County.

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Three Rivers upcoming event