Hmmmm, this is a continuation on my amazing friend, Barbara. Should it be chapter two or chapter three?
Who cares? You’ve got to see her gardens on the Three Rivers Hidden Gardens Tour. Here are a few photos from 2 years ago to whet your appetite.
My Amazing Friends, Chapter Two
This will be a long post. I hope you will savor it, instead of filing it in the category of TLDR*.
The series, My Amazing Friends, began this week with Bob. Let’s continue with Barbara, also of Three Rivers, a gardener extraordinaire.
Barbara grows many plants, knows them all and is best known for her lavender. She is so passionate about her gardens (not just a yard, not just a garden, but GARDENS, plural!) that she works under floodlights at night in order to keep them in order.
Two years ago her lovely grounds were featured in the very first Hidden Gardens Tour of Three Rivers, to benefit the Three Rivers Union School, which is always in peril of closing or being absorbed into the Woodlake School District.
I had the honor and privilege of seeing the place on the official pre-tour, a return visit or two with my camera, and being present with my easel and paints during the official tour.
This year Barbara’s garden will be on the tour again. Tickets are still available, and you will get to see 4 places, including Angelica Huston’s place. Barbara’s will be the best on the tour, in my completely unbiased (harharhar) opinion!
Okay, getting too long, to be continued tomorrow. . .
*Too Long Didn’t Read
My Amazing Friends, Chapter One
The word “amazing” is overused these days. It is often pronounced “uh-MAY-zing” and has taken the place formerly occupied by “awesome”, pronounced “AHHH-sum”. My uh-MAY-zing and Oh-so-wise Dad was bothered by the description inflation of “awesome”. He said that very little was truly awesome, short of God or his (God’s, not Dad’s) handiwork. I’ve grown up with the word “amazing” usually reserved for God’s grace. . . heard the song?
Nonetheless, I have some friends who amaze me with their creativity and generosity and abilities. Today we begin learning of those friends.
First, there is Bob. He lives in Three Rivers and is a superb craftsman, a unique Tulare County artist (or would that be “artisan”?).
Look what Bob has made:
Fantastically beautiful and functional, oversized and modified Adirondack chairs from salvaged redwood. These chairs have arms large enough for a cat, some knitting, a plate of food, a skinny friend’s hiney to perch, or the Wall St. Journal in its entirety. When I sit in one of his original designs, my feet stick out in front of me, and I want to shout, “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!”
Bob modified his design to fit smaller humans, such as myself. I am not small, but medium. Bob is not medium, so sometimes I have to remind him that things which fit him swallow up medium people such as his sweet wife or me.
Look what else Bob made for me:
This is a GIANT easel on wheels that lock. I’m reluctant to get paint on it. When it is all set up with a canvas (AFTER I finish the year of drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia) then I will take the plunge and begin using this AHHHH-sum and uh-MAY-zing piece of equipment.
To view Bob’s work, go here: Kelbro Stoneworks
Tomorrow I will post at The Cabins of Wilsonia.
Making Stuff, Chapter 5
Tile, tile, everywhere!
Anyone out there aware of Pinterest? I’ve heard it can suck you in, turn you into a materialistic and self-centered spoiled brat who wastes hours looking at stuff, wishing for stuff, and collecting pictures of stuff.
Me? It just makes me want to make more stuff. Useful, functional, beautiful Real Stuff.
I kept seeing these wonderful garden ornaments on Pinterest. They seemed like gazing balls, but they weren’t reflecting. Instead, they were . . . yep, you guessed it. . . TILED!
After chasing a few links, I learned these were bowling balls. Tiled bowling balls?
Where does a non-bowler find an old bowling ball? If you are me, you ask your friend Bill, the source of anything cool or unusual or necessary in the unending journey of Making Stuff.
After Bill sent me a bowling ball, I looked through my mosaic supplies. Whoa! Check out the teacup handle! That’s also from Bill. This is how the bowling ball looked when everything was attached but not yet grouted.
There isn’t much planning available when tiling a sphere. You just pick your colors, get your pieces together, and begin attaching.
Don’t try to pick this up by the teacup handle, ‘k?
Making Stuff, Chapter 4
Usable, functional, beautiful, real stuff that I made myself. This is the grown up version of a toddler saying “Me do it!!” No pipe cleaners (are those actually for cleaning pipes?) or glue guns for this chick!
Last time I warned you not to put tile on things that were rotting.
This time I am warning you not to put tile on rusty discs that will then contain water. This was a beautifully tiled bird bath, welded from a couple of discs, a pipe and an auger tip by Cowboy Bert. The water and the rust caused the tile to discolor, and then the tiles began to fall off. Well, bummer. Now I just repaint it blue every year. It’s time again, wouldn’t you agree?
This is a weird little table top that is secured onto a weird little concrete pipe. It is the perfect place for storing your can of Off, which is necessary when you are sitting in your Adirondack chair while BBQing in the evening. (There is an abundance of mosquitos in Three Rivers.) Perhaps you should be pulling the oxalis instead of just sitting.
My friend Bill either made or salvaged this table base for me. He is the source of many cool items, most of which are the basis for more coolness.
In fact, Bill is the source of many of the tiles I have used in my quest to cover almost everything I own with bright colors and grout.
But Wait! There’s More!
You didn’t actually think I was done showing you all the tiled items and other things I have made? I wasn’t kidding when I told you that I love to make stuff!
Mural Make-over
Happy Birthday, Audrey!
Nope, that’s not the subject of this blog post. But, sometimes an aunt has to do what she has to do. I’m in awe of my niece, proud of her, and so pleased to be her aunt.
In March of 2012, I painted a mural on the side of the building that was to become Sequoia Outdoor Sports. This is a business that is needed in Three Rivers, where thousands pass through on their way to Sequoia National Park for camping, backpacking, hiking and snow-shoeing.
I thought it turned out well, in spite of the fact that they requested sequoia trees where there are none. I am a hired paintbrush, and it is my job to make the customer happy (even when it causes a slight tic under my left eye).
The mural faded. This is highly disappointing, since I use high-end mural paints that are formulated to be lightfast and very saturated. I work from just the primaries, so I order the blues, yellows and reds with the highest lightfast rating. Apparently, even the magic of chemistry is not enough to compete with the sun on a south-facing wall.
Heehee, this reminds of those horrid photos they take of people right before a makeover. Weird unbrushed hair, no make-up, icky facial expression . . . in this case, it is shadows on the mural. That’s so you can fully appreciate the contrast to the final product.
Okay, now I know people will be slamming on their brakes, chattering excitedly to one another, “Where did that come from? What sort of business it that? We must check it out!”
I agree! You should check out Sequoia Outdoor Sports. It is a classy place, with a tremendous amount of great gear for camping and backpacking and who knows what else – ummm, they do! Why lug your old gear to Sequoia when you can travel without all that stuff, rent the best, turn it in at the end of your trip and not have to clean it up? Hmmmm?
P.S. In the local paper’s annual Best of Kaweah Country, this mural was voted the favorite in Three Rivers! In my humble opinion, it was because it was the newest that year. But, thanks, Three Rivers!!
Want to Paint On A Mural?
A year ago I painted a mural for a store in Three Rivers that had not yet opened. Sequoia Outdoor Sports had a grand vision to supply visitors to the area with the equipment they need for backpacking and camping. It is a great idea, because there are so many folks who fly over here from other places without their gear.
They asked me to paint a trail scene and include Redwood trees.
The store is great, but the mural has already faded.
Today I will touch it up. If you would like to put a few brush strokes on it, stop by!
Three Rivers Oil Paintings all called “Kaweah”
A couple of oil paintings sold, so I moved them from their pages on the website to the Sold page. In the process, I realized that several paintings are not on the site that should be.
Kaweah River in Fall, 10×10″, $125
They won’t load. Technology confounds me once again. Just when I think I can manage my own website, I have to go running to the web designer.
Kaweah Post Office VII, 11×14″, $175
These are not brand new but they are among my newest paintings. You might remember seeing them awhile ago. But, should you want to buy them, technology might confound you too! So, here is another opportunity to see them.
Kaweah Post Office VIII, 8×8″, $75
An Afternoon and Evening at The Lake
Growing up in Tulare County we simply referred to Lake Kaweah, created by Terminus Dam, as “The Lake”.
(and there is still a stupid dark spot on the lens.)
Now that I’ve lived in Lemon Cove (at the base of the dam) and Three Rivers (on the rivers that flow to The Lake), I’ve learned that it is The Lake. Not “Kaweah Lake”, (pronounced “Kuh-WEE-uh”, not the River Kwai!) but The Lake.
At this time of year, there is a lot of real estate at The Lake bottom for camping, walking, biking, and horseback riding.
Our very dear friends, whom I shall call “Cowboy Bert and The Captain”, have horses. They brought them to The Lake and camped and rode for several days. I’d show you a photo but the only one I have shows The Captain bending over to inspect Blue Doc’s feet, and I don’t show photos of friends bending over. Makes you want to be friends with me, hunh?
We joined them for dinner on 2 evenings – we really know how to whoop it up on New Year’s Eve! Ummmm, not.
Going places, even in my own town of Three Rivers, provides inspiration. IF I were painting these days, which I am not unless it is a commissioned piece, I’d probably paint one of the top 2 scenes (minus the weird spot on the lens).
Which is your favorite photo? (and please disregard the weird spot)
First Saturday Three Rivers December 1
First Saturday Three Rivers for December is coming quickly – December 1, to be exact. My studio will be open. Go to Anne Lang’s Emporium for a map. Come see me between 11 and 5. It might be raining. I have a roof and a little heater. It will be fine!
You can ask me stuff about my art and buy Christmas gifts. I don’t accept credit cards but I do accept cash and (good) checks. There is an ATM in town at the Bank of the Sierra.