Big Tree #2 on a panel needed to be touched up and Big Tree #3 needed to be painted. On a morning before the swamp cooler began to feel useless, I worked on these giant paintings of giant trees on panels. These new panels, cobbled together by Trail Guy from scrap lumber, are all different proportions. Neither of these lent themselves to showing an entire Giant Sequoia; the tree would have been far too skinny on the panel and not filled up the “canvas” well.

When I finished these, they were lined up in the painting workshop and I noticed a theme: paintings on salvaged and reclaimed items. The trunk holds cat food, and the shutter is for a fundraiser for the Mineral King Preservation Society.

The owner of the art consignment shop Kaweah Arts has been selling very well for me. We had a conversation about the sorts of customers she is seeing and what they are drawn to. This led me to conclude that I need to keep Sequoias in different sizes and shapes and prices always ready to go, along with the Kaweah Post Office, some Mineral King, the river, and some standard scenes that people see when visiting Sequoia.

This is a salvaged canvas from a plein air painting that I did at home after taking the 3 day plein air workshop in Georgia 2 years ago. I liked the scene, but no one else cares. Now it is becoming something new. (Bye-bye, patriotic chairs.)

Here are all the newly begun paintings.