You Know You’re A California Artist When. . .

(with thanks to Jennifer at Jottings by Jennifer for the idea)

1. Your fruit paintings are done from just-picked, not grocery store fruit.

Plum II, oil on wrapped canvas, $40

2. You’ve painted oranges at least 102 times.

Oranges 83, 14×11″, oil on board, framed in black wood, $250

3. You’ve painted poppies so many times that you’ve lost track.

California Poppy, oil on wrapped canvas, $40

4. You’ve painted Giant Sequoias so many times that you almost don’t need to look at photos of them anymore.

Sunny Sequoias VIII, 18 x 24, $450

5. It is too hot to knit, so you paint your yarn instead.

6. You get so excited about red leaves in the fall that you have to paint them.

Turning Leaf II, 8×10, $80

    Your turn! “You know you are a _____________ when. . .”

    Too Wired

    Pencil drawing, “Loft Bedroom”, sold

    It is a frightening realization that I am very very dependent on electricity. My neighborhood was warned of a 2 hour power outage, and we were even told the time to expect it. Suddenly we were racing around to take care of everything that needed to be done before the power went off. Is the garage door open so we can get to our vehicles? Will the water boil for coffee before the power is off? Gotta fix my hair before my power tools are inaccessible! Better forward my studio phone to the cell phone while there is power so I can receive phone calls while down the hill! (no cell service where we live) Quick, check my email in case there is something urgent!

    What is this all about? Don’t I draw with pencil and refuse to use an electric sharpener? Yes, but if the sun isn’t shining, it is too dark to see the details without a lamp, preferably a magnifying one.

    I have lived very comfortably for months at a time without electricity in the past. Is this part of aging? Part of the creeping tendrils of technology, worming its way into my life in more ways than I care to admit?

    Probably.

    This California artist needs to go knit a few therapeutically unwired rows of a non-electric sweater.

    Exploring Lake Kaweah, Part two

    On Chris LoCurto’s blog today is a post by me! Chris’s blog is about “leadership, finances and the occasional random thought”, which is where I fit in as a guest poster. Visit, leave a comment if you’re so inclined, and browse through his past year of really interesting posts!

    Here is the second half of yesterday’s post about the excursion on foot in the bottom of Lake Kaweah. I worked pretty hard at finding things of interest down there – hope you enjoy them!

    I was glad we had this road to walk on because those cockleburs are horrible.

    That’s a bald eagle!

    There is the dam and the spillway and the tower in the distance. This is a large lake, especially if you are in a canoe or on foot.

    It is cloudy in Three Rivers and further up canyon . . . is it snowing? We sure do need some.

    We walked back up along this split off section of the Kaweah River. I think it is remarkable that these willows survive when a good portion of their lives is spent fully submerged.

    Look! A turtle!

    I just knew we would have to go crashing through the cockleburs to get back to the road.

    Cockleburs everywhere!

    Horrid little things

    The green is mustard. Normally the distant hills are green this time of year. We really need rain.

    This California artist is praying for rain. Are you?

    Exploring Lake Kaweah

    Lake Kaweah is formed by Terminus Dam, about 10 miles below Three Rivers. When the lake is full, it reaches up into the lower end of town. When it is not full, there are lots of places to walk. The dam was built when I was a toddler, so I don’t remember anything prior to the lake. (My great uncle used to lament all the drowned flower seeds and I never understood what he was so worked up about.)

    Instead of heading up higher into the hills today, we drove down to the lake. Everything was sort of dust colored, and yucky looking, so I messed with it a bit on the photos. This color junkie had to look hard for nice photos on this excursion.

    Why am I showing you this stuff when I am a California artist? So that you can get to know me a bit, learn about where I live, and hopefully tell me what you think.

    Not much to the Kaweah River right now. We sure do need rain.

    This was once a swimming pool. Can you see a hint of blue tile around the edge?

    Here is a closer view. I wonder where those people went when the Army Corps of Engineers forced them out of their home. That would be dreadful.

    Michael saw this bridge from up on the highway and wanted to find it.

    It crosses Horse Creek. I love older things that had style. Kind of weird to realize this sits completely underwater for months at a time, for almost 50 years!

    7 Warning Signs That You Might be a Color Junkie

    Blushing Pear, 4×6 oil on board, with easel, $40

    1. You notice that all the cars at a stoplight are the same color.
    2. You ask your husband to pull over so you can see if that wildflower you just passed is the same color as your sweater.
    3. You notice that 25% of the people in the room are wearing the same color.
    4. You ask the yarn shop employee if you can rearrange the clearance bins by color.
    5. You grit your teeth to keep from telling someone he is wearing the wrong color of green because he needs one with less yellow because he is probably a “Summer”. (Ever had your colors done??)
    6. You dig down in the stack of baskets at the grocery store to get the teal one because it matches your skirt.
    7. You reorganize the shirt rack by color at the local thrift shop.

    Anyone else have the courage to admit you are a color junkie??

    Maybe it is because I am an artist, or maybe because I am a California artist. Is it just me?? Help me out here, people!

    A new year, still reading

    “Salt and Light“, oil paint on board, 11×14 (Thank you, Steven S., for the title!)

    This year I will continue to tell you what I am reading (Thank you, Melissa, for the idea!). What does this have to do with art? Nothing, except it gives you a more complete view of who this California artist is.  I’ll do it in groups of threes. Just finished or am finishing these books:

    1. Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo (such an unfortunate last name). I was astonished and inspired  by this book. It is a simply told story by the father of a boy who had an amazing life-changing experience at the age of 3. It is very convincing. It is here on Amazon.
    2. Sylvia’s Farm by Sylvia Jorrin. This is a book of essays by a sheep farmer in upstate New York. At first I was confused because the chapters didn’t seem connected. When I read it, I could picture the sheep, the 28 room house, the stone walls and gates, the barn and carriage house. It made me go to her website to see the photos, but they were distorted on my screen. She uses the word “shall” too much, but I liked it anyway.
    3. Losing It by Laura Fraser. I learned of this book from a reference to Fraser’s writing in another book. Her blog is great to read – what a life, what a writer! It made me order all 3 of her books from the library and this was the first to arrive. It is a very engrossing look into the diet industry and how the myth continues, despite the fact that diets are proven to not work.

    What are you reading?

    Peculiar Sights

    Back in the days when I walked a lot of miles, I photographed and showed you a series of what I called “Peculiar Sights” in Three Rivers. (A central California artist has to find her amusements wherever she can!)

    Plantar fasciitis takes a very long time to heal, and now, with the help of an acupuncturist friend, I believe I am back on my feet. Slowly. This means my little camera is back in my pocket, and the peculiar sights might begin appearing on the blog again.

    Indoor Mural, Day 3

    But Wait! There’s More! At the bottom of the staircase mural of Giant Sequoias is an open area with 6 doors leading off of it. Now, each of those 6 doors has its own identity!

    Behind Door #1 is the library. Over Door #1 is dogwood, carolinus florida, or, as it is known in Three Rivers, “Karl Opitz’s tree”.

    Door #2 leads into the workout room; feel happy and inspired to sweat by viewing these Bigelow Sneezeweeds.

    Door #3 is a closet, and those blurry blue-ish flowers are bush lupine.

    Door #4 leads to the Crew’s Quarters, and it is graced by Redbud.

    Door #5 leads to the Captain’s Quarters, a room for crafts with California poppies providing inspiration.

    Door #6 is the under-the-stairs closet and those are (happy sigh, love these little ones) Baby Blue Eyes.

    Indoor Mural, Day 2

    This California artist has completed Phase One of her indoor mural of Giant Sequoias/Redwoods/Big Trees for some exceptional people of fine taste. They have a particular fondness for these trees, and sell fabulous chairs made from some of the fallen ones (from private land – don’t gitchur knickers in a twist!). You can find them on eBay: Redwood Adirondack Chairs.

    One more thing about this mural – it comes with a promise to retouch it if a grandchild goes nutso with a crayon or marker!

    Colors, a post event list of thoughts

    1. What a confusing weather day. It was frosty out when I loaded the car, and I was just sure I’d shiver all day long.
    2. I set up in the direct sunshine on Wendy’s porch and was just sure I’d hot to death.
    3. Notice the spacious spacing on the display panels. What do you think?
    4. It was weird to weed through my paintings and figure out which to show and which to leave out.
    5. Many friends showed up!
    6. I met some new folks.
    7. Despite the counsel to drop pencil and focus on oil painting (from Those In The Know About Such Things), more pencil items sold than oil paintings.
    8. The pencil things cost less; is there a correlation between price and sales?
    9. Does Mickey Mouse have ears?
    10. Colors is a beautiful store/gallery/happening place, and this California artist is grateful to be in such a fine artsy place as Three Rivers!