“Research” is a word that used to bring to mind libraries with stacks of books and the microfiche machine. Now it means Google.

In the case of this Central California artist, it means a field trip.

I drove the 6.5 miles up the Mineral King Road and spent some time walking around the bridge, climbing into areas that I avoid in the summer because I have a healthy fear of rattlesnakes.

Lots of rain so far this winter means a decent flow beneath the bridge. I really want to see it if we get a flood-like storm!

Water or root-beer?

It’s difficult to get a photo of it from a straight-on angle. The shrubs and trees keep growing and obstructing the view.

This is the most common angle that I paint.

I’ve never taken this angle before. I think it would be a weird painting.

Sometimes the last support and the abutment visually overlap in my paintings and I get confused by all the shapes.

Might as well take a strange angle of the other side. One never knows what might be helpful.

I think the “T” is for Tulare County. I also needed to see what the detailed shape of this post is, because it is always too small to show in my other paintings. This time, in the 24×30″ painting, it just might matter.

Remember, February 8 at 6 p.m. at the Three Rivers Veterans’ Memorial Building, the Tulare Co. planning commission is holding a meeting about the bridge’s future.