Twelve (Non-Thank You) Reasons to Hand-write Notes

This is the most current drawing of the no longer open Kaweah Post Office. This card is now available on my website; the older version is only available only in person IF any remain. (The original drawings have sold.) 

Reasons to write notes besides saying “thank you”

  1. Here is the $11 you spent on postage sending my sweater to me.
  2. This magazine article reminded me of you.
  3. Here is the recipe you asked for; I wrote it out so you won’t have to waste printer ink.
  4. I found this old photo of us in which we look like underfed children.
  5. I made you a bookmark.
  6. Isn’t real mail fun? 
  7. I forgot to tell you this when we talked last and it is so important I want you to have it in a format you will keep for awhile.
  8. Wish you weren’t moving to Colorado/Kentucky/Texas/Oregon/Angola.
  9. My printer is out of ink so I decided to use a pencil.
  10. I miss you.
  11. Our post office is terrific and it is good to buy stamps from them so they stay in business because if they don’t where will we mail things that need to be weighed first, like calendars, and packages of notecards for sale, so here is a note just because.
  12. Here is a happy surprise for you—real mail in your mailbox! (Thank you, Louise!)

This is the older version of the Kaweah Post Office drawing. When these cards are gone, this design will be retired, just like the post office itself. 

I bet you can think of a few other ideas yourself.

Let’s keep this quaint method alive of showing people that we care!

New and Improved

NEW

Here are three new oil paintings of oranges (thank you, Captain Obvious). Each one is 5×7″, on a board or panel, and comes with an easel for easy display on a shelf, $60, and available through the Mural Gallery in Exeter. (Actually, only two are available because one is spoken for, but I don’t know yet which one.)

IMPROVED

These two oil paintings of the Kaweah Post Office have been reworked, lighting corrected, detail added, fuss, fiddle, fix. The top one will go with me to the Holiday Bazaar (scroll down) at the Three Rivers Memorial Building on November 19 (unless it sells first, 6×12″, $125). The second one will return to Kaweah Arts for sale there: 8×10″, $125.

P.S. They always look better in person. I’ve decided to not embarrass myself again by showing you the “Before” version against the “After” version. 

Cool Enough To Paint the Kaweah Post Office

(I don’t mean that I painted the building.) I am referring to the weather in my painting workshop, equipped with a fairly adequate swamp cooler, unless it is over 95 and/or humid.

Every year people say, “It has been such a hot summer!” as if that is news. Every summer in Tulare County is a hot one. My theory is that if it starts mild, you pay in September and October. This is the real world, muchachos, and you are in it.

Kaweah Arts had two oil painting versions of the Kaweah Post Office for sale. This is a quaint little old building three miles up the North Fork of the Kaweah River, which, until recently, was the smallest operating post office in the United States. Alas, it sold, and the new owner closed it. It is still cute and quaint, so I didn’t paint out the images on those canvases.

However, I decided that I could do a better job.

BEFORE:

One would think that I could just make this up without a photo after painting it about 20 times (if you count the do-overs, it is probably more). One might be right, but one isn’t going to know, because I won’t be attempting it AND I might not need to paint it any more. 

DURING:

BEFORE:

 

DURING:

These are hard to photograph while on the easels. When they are dry, I’ll scan them for you (and for my records, of course.)

This is a first for the aloof Jackson. He has never inspected my work before.

 

Completed, Signed, Dry, Scanned, and Delivered

This is how things look around here in the late afternoon. This photo is my attempt to candy-coat things, or perhaps to put lipstick on the pig.

The five oil paintings that I worked on while in Mineral King are ready to see (and buy, if you are so inclined) at Kaweah Arts. (Except Nancy has closed her store for awhile because she has to be ready to evacuate, as we all do here in smoky Three Rivers.)

The subjects are all chosen to appeal to visitors and residents of Three Rivers. (Unless there is no more reason to live in or visit Three Rivers.)

FYI, the sizes are 6×12″ ($125), 8×10″ ($125), and 8×8″ ($100). As always, they look better in person, and California sales tax is extra.

Did you just hear the voices of Charlie Brown adults when you read that last sentence? Or did you hear Eeyore? (Where in the world did A.A. Milne come up with that now iconic name?)

7 New Oil Paintings, 6 of Sequoia

In one day! That’s because only the fun “gravy work” was remaining on 6 of them, you know, the part where I get to draw with my paintbrushes, which were behaving well that day.

The 2 on the easel just needed the edges painted and my signature. The 2 little Sequoias needed better colors, more detail, edges, and signatures.

Being a frugal person, I didn’t want to waste the remaining oil paint on my palette, so I made the impulsive decision to paint this meadow. There is a large painting of Crescent Meadow that is garnering much attention at Kaweah Arts but the price is scaring customers. So, maybe this little one will satisfy that itch.

Here are all the completed paintings, drying in the painting workshop, which won’t take long in the 100 degree days of July, here in Central California. Top to bottom: 2 sequoia paintings (6×6″ each), Crescent Meadow (maybe) (6×18″), Moro Rock (8×10″), Tunnel Log (ditto), Kaweah Post Office (ditto), Giant Sequoia (6×18″).

4 Kaweahs and 1 Dream Cabin

South Fork of the Kaweah, Kaweah Post Office, Middle Fork of the Kaweah, The Kaweah River, and Forrest’s Dream Cabin, all finished. Maybe.

“Kaweah” – “kuh – WEE – uh” is the name of the river (all 5 forks) flowing through the town of Three Rivers. South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, East Fork, and Marble Fork – whoo-eeee, we are a 5 fork place! (But ties are never required.)

P.S. These paintings are 8×8″, 8×8″, 10×10″, 8×10″, and 20×30″. I left the Dream Cabin painting in Forrest’s office, and then didn’t hear a peep from him for 2 days. I finally emailed him with the subject line “Nervous”. He called, said, “How are you?” and I replied, “Nervous”! He was just very busy, only saw the painting late the next night, and said that it looks exactly as he was hoping and definitely better in person. Phew.

Three Rivers Oil Paintings Facelifts

Those Three Rivers oil paintings that were just not good enough have now had their facelifts. I think they are all three improved. Don’t worry–the surgery was bloodless.

The Kaweah Post Office only needed a bit of tree work.
The river needed tree work too.
Some subtle changes in the rocks and water also helped this one.
About that viburnum called a “snowball bush” out my front window, no one cares.
I dropped down the blue from Moro Rock.
And put in some river.
More river, along with more things growing on the hillside so it looks like a certain spot along a certain road.
It photographs more true outside in the shade.
Or maybe in the sun, but then you can see the wet paint glistening.
Wait! This needs redbud in bloom.
Now it is finished and drying.

When they are dry, I will scan them again, and maybe even write a blog post showing each one as a Before next to the After.

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

 

 

Three Rivers Oil Paintings

There are a few paintings in my portfolio and studio that don’t please me. Two were painted when I was learning plein air (painting on location instead of in the studio). The other was painted my normal way, working from photos in the studio. Still, something just doesn’t suit me in any of these Three Rivers oil paintings.

I don’t know why this painting of the South Fork of the Kaweah bugs me.

I painted this while standing across the road from the Kaweah Post Office, then touched it up several times, but the bottom line is that I am more comfortable with detail than blurry things.

This one was painted with my easel standing in the living room while I looked out the window at my snowball bush in bloom, with Moro Rock and Alta Peak in the distance. Once again, it is just too blurry. I have fought to see clearly for most of my 61 years and cannot accept a fuzzy version of life and then pretend as if I like it.

It isn’t good to show and try to sell work that I am not pleased with. So, back on the easels, where I just sat and studied them for awhile.

These paintings will take some thought, time and work. 

 

 

 

Plein Air at Home

We interrupt this travelogue to bring you more examples of practicing and putting to use the skills I learned in Georgia.

Certainly not finished by my standards.

The Kaweah Post Office was awful. I spent more time on it in the painting studio.

Better. The colors didn’t photograph very true. And would you believe I lost 2 palette knives while I worked on this by the side of the road? How annoying.

The next time, I set up inside the painting workshop with the giant doors open up to the outside. This one turned out a bit better than the P.O.

This is my view out the big doors.
It started out in the usual scary manner.
Color helps.
Am I finished? Who can say except Laurel, and she isn’t here. Looks kind of messy to me.

Finally, in preparation for an upcoming exhibit called “Seascapes”, I went through my photos of beach scenes and chose one to try in the plein air method. This means painting quickly, front to back, dark to light, and finishing in one session. Have you ever heard of someone doing plein air painting from a photo? I haven’t.

The blocking in stage.
Beginning with color in the front. I love blues and blue-greens.
I liked working on this one.
I incorporated my own techniques for getting things more accurate. I wonder if Laurel would be banging her head against the wall at my rebellious ways.

This one was completed while listening to Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty get interviewed by Donald Miller. He talked a lot about having fun, and I had fun while painting this. Will I have the courage to enter this in “Seascapes”? More will be revealed.

A Bully of a Painting

The Kaweah Post Office XIV oil painting has been challenging me. By that, I mean it gets in my face each time I paint, and it says, “Whatcha gonna do about me, hunh? Hunh? Can you handle me? Betcha can’t! Besides, you don’t even know how to write 14 in Roman numerals!”

How rude. 

Guess I showed him. Still plenty of detail work remaining, but that’s the part I enjoy. It is drawing with my paintbrush, so there, Art Snobs.

Then I looked out the door and decided it was time to get away from this bully of a painting subject. Besides, I’m going to win this battle, so there.

Springtime beckons.