First mural, revisited

Back when I decided to begin muralizing, I started by painting Farewell Gap in oils and increasing the size each time. After I completed a 24×36″, it was time to paint it on my workshop doors. This was the first time I painted large and it shocked me how quickly it went. Michael stood back and helped me with the shape and scale of the peaks. Louise stood down the driveway and coached me on the water. This is how it looked in April 2008.

The colors faded, and I paint better now. Besides, the Three Rivers  Studio Tour is coming in March 2012, so it is time to repaint.

Now, I can see that the poppy door is faded too. Is this going to be like painting the Golden Gate Bridge?

What you want to see

After I got over the thrill of drawing what was really in front of my eyes, I began to want to make better pictures. Real life is messy; artists get to clean it up. It takes practice to draw what isn’t really there, to make up a tree that you didn’t see, to show the edge of the porch that was previously hidden, to work from multiple photos taken from slightly different angles. It is almost impossible to work from photos taken at different times of day from different distances and at different angles. This often requires the skill of a mind reader, and I have learned to say no to some of these requests. But to a certain degree, I can create what we prefer was there.

When someone asks me to draw a house and provides a perfect photo, I have been known to ask why they want a drawing when the photo says it all. The answer is usually that pencil is so beautiful. This is a thrill to my little pencil-loving heart!

Here is the main photo of Farewell Gap again:

Here is a painting in which I scooted things ever so slightly to suit myself.

If you are standing on the bridge at the end of the road in Mineral King, you are probably just in awe of the view. Your brain knows there is a stream underfoot, a cabin sort of close, and Farewell Gap in the distance. Not very many people outside of careful photographers ever realize that there is no place to stand where all three line up for a complete photo! So, when I draw or paint this scene now, I make the necessary adjustments. Until this blog posting, I have never admitted such treachery and deception in recordable form!

And here it is in pencil from 2005 when I really started becoming bold about deceiving the world! (yes, I exaggerate to make a point – try not to get all worked up here!)

What I did in the Nonweek

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is sort of an off week. People are off work, school, schedules, diets, and budgets. (Hopefully they aren’t off base or off track too.) I think of it as the Nonweek, when there really aren’t many obligations.

During the Nonweek my expectations of myself are low. Write a few thank you notes, put away the Christmas decorations, get the number off my odometer, pay a few bills. Maybe. Maybe not.

This year I set a higher goal. Murals fade. My very first one, a Mineral King scene, was looking sort of tired, so I repainted it during the Nonweek.

If I had taken a before photo, you’d be shocked at the difference. Oops. Didn’t do that. Sometimes I just do my work without thinking about all the ramifications of possible blog posts.

See? Shabby buildings, fancy murals, and a wreath on the studio door to validate the time of year.

Now the California poppies mural looks faded to me!

Mural Celebration!

It was hot, reallly really hot.

If it hadn’t been my mural, I doubt I would have braved the heat, but these folks were hardier than that!

Mickey gave a thorough history on the Mt. Whitney Power Co. and the dams in Mineral King. I hadn’t settled in yet and was hanging out in the back with my friend from the Three Rivers Post Office, so I had this nice view of the group.

When Mickey passed the mike to me, I asked the crowd if I could photograph them for the blog. I love doing that – it always makes people smile. Besides, who would have the courage to say “NO DON”T DO THAT”?

I told a few things about how the mural idea happened, a few facts about the dam at Franklin Lake, and a few stories about painting the mural. I said a pile of “Thank Yous” to the wonderful folks who helped make this mural happen. We ate some REALLY good food (that tri-tip from Exeter Meats was so tender it was easy to eat with a plastic fork!!). We even square-danced a bit – it was much cooler standing up away from the tables after dark, and Paul Pfeninger is a terrific caller! I got to catch up with lots of friends (including Ron Hughart, famous local author) and made a new friend, Matthew, who is also a painter. Despite the heat, it was a lovely evening!

Hidden Objects

Men + Mules + Water + Power has multiple hidden objects. Here is the list:

  1. pick-axe
  2. fish
  3. 2 heart-shaped rocks
  4. 1904
  5. a real rock
  6. a real mule-shoe
  7. 6 varieties of wildflowers – Sierra Columbine, Indian Paintbrush, phlox, Hoope’s Sneezeweed, Golden-beard Penstemmon, Wild Blue Flax.

Here is a little piece of the mural for you to study and identify a few of the objects:hidden.jpg

CELEBRATION!

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September 30, 6 p.m. at the new mural – a CELEBRATION! Men + Mules + Water + Power is on E Street in Exeter, between Pine and Palm Streets. The celebration will consist of dinner (free!), some speech-making (not too much) and a square dance! BRING YOUR OWN CHAIRS.  Questions? Email or call me. See you there!

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Day Twenty-One on the Mural

IT IS FINISHED! That is, it is finished if the Mural Team agrees. What a week – the hottest days and the coolest day of the entire project happened within the 6 consecutive days. Weather is not a cliche or a conversation filler – it matters immensely when working outdoors! Today was marked by the visitation of Bill DeCarteret, who was the packer in Mineral King along with his wife Marilyn for many years. He used to pack the SCE guys up to Franklin Lake to close the dam in the fall, and eventually, SCE just had him do the job himself. His visit gave me a chance to ask him about some old graffiti on the dam. Scratched into the concrete reads “BILL & MARILYN 1949”. The DeCarterets didn’t know each other in 1949; it refers to Bill and Marilyn Reynolds. That Bill worked for either the Forest Service or the Park Service (oops, didn’t retain that vital piece of info!)

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Wildflowers were added, as promised, but here are only two:

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Sierra Columbine

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Golden Beard Penstemmon

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“Dirt” was added to the gutter as the base of the mural for maximum 3D effect.

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Finally, I signed it! (lower right corner)

Day Twenty On The Mural

Today is only in the 90s – almost sweater weather, compared to Wednesday and Thursday! One day left in my mini marathon run of mural painting – oh yeah, I called it because I am an experienced professional! (love saying that after feeling like a poser for so long) Visited with several people (CK returned with a few more stories – but he is not CJK!) Here is what I did today:

  1. “Planted” 2 trees (photos below)
  2. Hid 2 more items
  3. Finished that bottom strip – thank goodness, because it is not very comfortable to sit on asphalt while painting at worm level.
  4. Detailed and added many rocks
  5. Added the white border to historical dam “photo” (“How’d you git them pichers on the wall??”)
  6. Finished the remaining dirt/rock/ground areas.

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To the untrained eye (or to someone who hasn’t been reading this blog), the mural may looked finished minus the signature. BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!  Tomorrow the flowers will bloom in full color and detail!

Day Nineteen on the Mural

  • Katie and Paul at Mineral King Publishing rescued the crying kitten today! I named it Franklin, but since I am over my quota of stray cats for the year and won’t be taking it home, I have no right to name it.
  • It is very very hot (111 in Three Rivers yesterday!) but should be cooler tomorrow
  • The Las Vegas Review-Journal is in town because 2 of Nevada’s governors grew up in Exeter – I may have been less than gracious to the photographer who appeared as I was almost ready to go and asked if I was working on a new mural. John, I’m sorry for being cranky and sarcastic.
  • A nice man gave me a tee shirt – guess I looked like I needed something better (cleaner) to wear! Thank you, nice man!
  • I hid 2 more things today.
  • Betsy and I came up with a plan for a mule shoe (thanks, Bert!) and a rock (thanks, Betsy!)

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The names of those who helped project (plus a couple of hitch-hikers) have been painted out.

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Two more days ought to do it! (Louise, I toned down the roof, but it doesn’t show in this photo)

Day Eighteen On The Mural

Progress is being made despite the fact that today was unspeakably hot and I bailed early. Today was marked by three things:

  • the hottest day yet
  • the saddest day – heard a kitten crying off and on the entire time
  • the weirdest guy came by and told me Exeter has the most murals per capita of any town in the world. . . I questioned him as to his source and he said “that tv show”. Umm, thanks.

For comparison, here is 3 days from the same angle:

 

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