Five Items On A California Artist’s Brain

  1. Thank a Veteran today. (Thank you Bob J. and Happy Birthday, I can’t believe you will be 80!)
  2. Thank you, Laurie, for pointing out the booboo in the link under See My Work. Now, if you click on Exeter Murals, it takes you to a YouTube video about Exeter, including a talking chin. (weird view of me, good story of Exeter)
  3. Remember the show in Visalia today and tomorrow. See the entry on November 8 for the details.
  4. These paintings might be dry enough to bring to the show. If they are, they will be more detailed than in this photo.
  5. R.I.P. Bugsy, 1994-2011. I’m sorry for the time I folded you up in your bed like a taco and poured you into your kennel (but you had tried to take my hand off on a previous attempt.) I won’t miss your yipping, but you were awfully cute when you came over to my house to find your missing people. And your ears flapped in the most adorable way when you ran!

Paintings In Situ

“In situ” is Latin for “in position”. My brain is full of these helpful pieces of information, and I have no earthly idea how they got there.

These paintings, however, got to their location with great intentionality. My good friend and neighbor wanted to repaint her kitchen. She wasn’t sure how to pick the color, so I suggested that she show me some colors she was considering, and I would mix a small sample for her to try.

One Sunday afternoon I took my paints over, and together we put patches of various shades all over her kitchen walls. When she saw a certain orange that just made her feel happy, with great laughter we dubbed the color “Orange Blossom Special”.

Once her kitchen was all painted, I came over to see it. (Just call me “The Blister”  because I showed up after all the hard work was done.) The kitchen was looking happy, but it lacked some art.

We hustled back to my studio, loaded up a box with paintings that might work and tried multiple combinations until we found the right blend (just like mixing the paint!) Of course, she is only graciously storing them for me until the next show (and the next and the next, ad infinitum, which is Latin for “to infinity” or until they find another happy home).

Spring and fall, both represented here. ( California poppies by a California artist, Mr. Google!)

P.S. You are welcome for the Latin lessons.

P.P.S. It was great fun to mix paint colors and help her choose! Should I add this to my list of art services provided? (Stop thinking I should just lend out my art! She is doing me a favor by modeling the paintings AND storing them!)

P.P.P.S She said “Not to be mean, but I hope they don’t sell!”

Hairstory

After years of having hair all the same length, pony-tails, and infrequent haircuts, this California artist decided to try a Big Girl haircut. This means layers, “product”, styling, and tools. If it doesn’t work out for my inner slob, I can always wear a cap or grow it out or both.

When I finished with my hair tools this a.m. Michael asked me if I like my new cut. I said, “Not yet, because it is doing this flip-up thing and I want it to turn under. I think flipping up is in style, but that doesn’t mean I like it.” He responded with, “It looks like you just slept on it wrong.”

This afternoon, after chiseling paint off a porch post (got about 3 square inches done. . . please pass the caustic toxic paint-stripper juice), washing my car and digging a bucket full of weeds out of the lawn (about the same level of impact as paint chiseling), he said, “Your hair looks good”.

Well, bummer. I don’t have time to fix it using that method every day. Guess I’m stuck with the Slept-Wrong look for awhile. You can see how it looks at the upcoming student art show (unless I am wearing a hat).

Mineral King Bridge, Final Chapter!

On October 20, there was an all employee meeting for Sequoia and Kings Canyon people. The facility manager for roads and trails (Hi JT!) said this: (no quotes because I wasn’t actually there, being a California artist rather than a federal worker) Of all the numerous Federal Highways projects ongoing in the Park, the Mineral King bridge is the only one completed on  schedule.

In addition, it is the only one done by park employees, which come at a fraction of the cost of an outside contractor. YEA, MARSHMALLOW HEADS! Nice work, gentlemen!

These On Schedule Park Guys are attaching the running boards. This is where the tires will go, not on the beautiful boards shown in the last post. However, I suspect that big yellow machine put its filthy tires on those boards. Hmmmph!

This sweet little red machine can’t reach the running boards! No more little footbridge for you, Red Quad.

Wave to the nice man in the parade, boys and girls! It is always good when the boss is happy.

Sorta weird, no railing yet.

It is very pretty. It is very narrow. It is driveable. It isn’t completely finished. It has to wait until spring and summer for the total totality. Totally. The end.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 15

You may recall that the estimated date to have the bridge be passable is October 20. That’s today! When we last left our Marshmallow Heads, they had successfully placed all 4 stringers. So, what is going on in this photo??

Give up? The pre-drilled holes on the stringers did not line up with the holes on the horizontal cross pieces. Oh man, I hate it when that happens.

This is just a scenery shot. I am a California artist, and I appreciate the scenery of my mountains. (Just sayin’, in case Mr. Google has started to forget me.)

Lookie! The first deck slab is in place! (See the floating Marshmallow??)

This hardworking Marshmallow Head is using a rock bar to set the carriage bolt into the slab.

Here comes another one. These units weigh “several hundred pounds”, so a Big Yellow Machine places it with the help of a few good men and one who isn’t wearing proper head garb.

More scenery, because it is just so beautiful.

Guess this will have to be continued tomorrow, because I like the power of keeping you all hanging. Sometimes I am just mean like that. Not only am I mean, sometimes I can’t count either. This problem shows up from time to time in my knitting, and occasionally in my checkbook. In this blog, you may have noticed, as Craig did, that there is no Part 10 in this series.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 11

Have you just been dying to know what is going on with the bridge? There were 2 snow/rain days, a fake holiday, and then Michael took these photos for us on Tuesday, October 11. Since I wasn’t actually present, my comments will have to be taken with a grain of salt or two.

Abutments completed, bridge still fairly intact, marshmallow heads making plans for bridge removal. (If you are squeamish about the thought of this bridge getting hauled away, you might want to change channels now.)

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???!! That man is using a chainsaw on the deck boards!

He really is! See the swept off portions? See the cut marks running the length of the bridge? Holy cow! So much for the deck boards getting salvaged and removed. . . there must have been at least ten different requests for them. They really weren’t in that good of shape.

Bye-bye, railing that has known countless butts.

Sniff.

The chainsaw massacre continues. Sometimes a man’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.

Now what are they going to do with the pieces?

‘Scuse me, please. This California artists needs to go lie down for a bit.

Daily Painting

Oh yeah, I forgot I was supposed to be painting and showing them to you. Got kind of caught up in the excitement of the bridge project and the wildlife and wild weather. I AM painting, just not showing and telling. The lemon and the pomegranate were grown in Tulare County, California. (I am a California Artist, Mr. Google!)

All of these paintings are available for sale at Colors, an art gallery and studio in Three Rivers. Owner/artist Wendy McKellar and I know many women with red and yellow and gold colors in their kitchens. These women often like their colors to coordinate. I also like my kitchen colors to match – anyone know of bright blue and white fruit??

Mineral King Bridge, Part 3

The drive up the hill provided one of the best views I’ve ever seen of Sawtooth. This California artist misses no opportunities to record paintable scenes!

I arrived at the end of a work day, which means I met about 6 or 8 giant trucks of Park folks. They were all courteous drivers, and we waved as we passed, each one of us correctly on our own side of the very narrow road.

Michael’s commute is the shortest, so he was still at work sorting things out at the site. (Pay no attention to the giant yellow machine on the opposite of the bridge that used to prohibit 4 tons.)

To be continued in a really long entry with lots of photos tomorrow. . .  stay tuned!

Rural Living

Homer’s Nose, 16×12″, oil on wrapped canvas, $225

As a California artist, it is a little strange to have chosen this rural, central valley for my home. I like living in Tulare County. Sometimes I actually revel in it. Representing the beautiful parts of my home motivate, inspire and give me purpose with my art.

Only once in a blue moon do I wish I lived in or near a city. Here is one of the reasons that it sounds tempting to me:

I Heart Art: Portland — a collaboration between handcrafted retail site Etsy; the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Craft; and the Portland Etsy street team, a group of local artists who sell on Etsy — had initially planned a series of professional workshops. Instead, a member of the artists’ group suggested a way to hook up makers with sellers.

Just like speed dating, artists rotate on short “dates” with businesses and must make an impression in a short time. Their elevator pitches help determine if their art gains a buyer that night.

“The idea of an elevator pitch is very familiar to the business world,” says Watson, but not so much in the art world. “This whole idea of going to a shop and trying to build a relationship and get an account … was very foreign to a lot of people. It became really apparent to us that we needed to do something like this.”

via I Heart Art: Portland is like speed dating for artists | OregonLive.com.

Can you imagine having so many places to sell and so many working artists that such an event is actually necessary???

Tulare County has about 450,000 people in it. That is a large number, but small enough that I can pick up the phone, call any artist here, state my name, and whether or not we have met, we know of each other and respond with instant friendliness and enthusiasm. Maybe that is a better situation that so many galleries and artist that they are strangers to one another!