Friends who care enough to tell me the truth have suggested I be a bit more bold about the fact that I have original oil paintings for sale at ridiculously low prices. Okay. Here goes. Try not to be disgusted by my crass commercialism.
The Crowley Cabin, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50, SOLD
The first 2 orders of 2013 calendars were all spoken for. Now I have the calendars available for order, right here on my bl0g!
To see the pictures of each month, here is the link to the blog post that showed each painting.
Usually at a garage sale I am overtaken by the desire to go home, fill a box with stuff, and bring it back, sneak it onto a table, and tiptoe away. Stuff stresses me out. Too much stuff makes me twitch, mumble to myself, and randomly toss objects into the trash or a give-away barrel.
There might be a mental disorder that is the opposite of Hoarding. I might have it.
HEY! I THOUGHT THIS BLOG WAS ABOUT ART!
I’m getting there; keep your shirt on.
I found a cupboard door at a garage sale. It was all alone, no cupboard, no twin, no handle. It suddenly looked like a canvas that wanted paint.
So, I bought it and painted it. Stuff with a clear use is exempt from my Too-Much-Stuff-Problem.
Sawtooth is one of the prominent landmark peaks of Mineral King, visible from Visalia. (I prefer to look at it, hike beneath it, photograph, paint and draw it rather than climb it or be flown off of it.)
Sawtooth on cupboard door, approximately 9×21″, oil, sold
It sold to a visitor to my studio on First Saturday Three Rivers while it was wet. As long as it was signed, she was happy. And if the customer is happy, I am happy.
Taste the Arts takes place on Saturday, September 29 in Visalia, California. It is a little division of a week long event called “Taste of Visalia“. Maybe. I’m quite confused on the whole shebang.
What I am not confused about is that I will be one of many artists showing and selling my work at a former lumberyard in downtown Visalia from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The former lumberyard is encircled by Oak, Garden, School and Bridge Streets. I think the entrance is on Oak. I think it is free.
I am also not confused about the fact that I did several new paintings for the event. Here is one:
This is Sawtooth, in Mineral King. The painting is 16×20, the price is $375. Maybe people in Visalia aren’t as interested in Mineral King as people on this blog, in Mineral King and in Three Rivers. We shall see! (Who uses the word “shall” seriously??)
See what I mean?
This was the largest painting I had ever done back when I did it. Can’t remember, but I think it was in 2007, after I’d been oil painting for about one year. I thought it was mighty fine indeed. This year I took a long hard critical look at it and came to the conclusion that I paint better now.
Maybe it is just my opnion, or maybe it is true. Regardless, it is my goal to invoke the same feeling one gets while sitting on the bridge in Mineral King and looking at Farewell Gap. I think this painting is closer to that. Here, I’ll make them smaller so they can be side-by-side.
“Better” is a somewhat subjective term. Perhaps it is more modest and honest to say that I like my work better now. It has more detail. I like detail.
Frankly, I am too chicken to ask for your opinions today!
Cluck-cluck.
Mineral King is the second most popular subject that I paint. Oranges are first, pomegranates are third. Thanks for asking – does me good to know you care.
Many of the artists I know have taken to creating small paintings in this crummy economy. Since Tulare County’s economy is usually crummy anyway, I was already doing that. It is very seldom that I am on the cutting edge of anything, so this has just been a real thrill, I tell you, a real thrill.
Stop yawning.
I’ve been really working hard on these little jewels this summer, because the Silver City Resort is doing a great job of selling them. They’re selling well for 3 reasons (just my opinion):
1. $50 is dirt cheap for an original oil painting (especially if you are from a big city)
2. People on vacation in the area would like a real souvenir of their trip that isn’t an unnecessary plastic item stamped with Mineral King.
3. (Ahem). They are sort of good. Not as tight with the detail as many of my other paintings, but whaddya expect for $50, hmmmm?
Just try to be polite, ‘kay? And might want to duck, in case there is a lightning strike for excessive braggadocio.
P.S. These might have sold – I haven’t checked since delivering them to Silver City a few weeks ago. BUT, do not lose heart – I can repaint anything for you. Just ask!
The Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King sits at the beginning of the Eagle/Mosquito/White Chief trailhead.
It was part of the resort, back in the days of a store and rental cabins in Mineral King. That era ended in 1969, when an avalanche took out the store. By then, Walt Disney owned the place, and what the snow left behind, Uncle Wally’s people finished with fire.
This is the only remaining structure from the resort, and now it serves as a museum of Mineral King history. It is maintained by the Mineral King Preservation Society.
I paint it over and over and over. (I mean I paint canvases with its image, but I’m guessing you were tracking with me well enough to understand that.) This is #12, maybe. Since it is at the Silver City Resort and I am not, I can’t flip it over and check for you.
Remember I needed to repaint a bridge painting that burned up in a cabin fire?
The first one was this:
And now (DUM-DUM-DE-DUM, BOOMITY-BOOM!) here it is as a redo:
I’m thinking that fire wasn’t all bad. . .
Sawtooth Peak probably has many many stories. It is visible from Visalia, and when it is viewed in Mineral King, folks are often surprised by its smallish size. “How could that be visible from down there?”, I’ve been asked a time or two. My answer is always the same, “I dunno!”
On July 22, 1976 I was on a backpacking trip with a group of kids and 3 adults. We had a layover day at Columbine Lake, just below Sawtooth. Several of the group decided to climb the peak, but really wanted to make a mark in history by taking a less travelled route.
It was dumb. I got a helicopter ride, a hospital stay and many booboos from that experience. I also learned a number of things.
The main thing that stays with me is that I’d rather look at Sawtooth, photograph it and paint it than climb it.
The last time I painted it, my intention was to take it to the Silver City Store to sell it there. Instead, a man saw it at my cabin while it was still wet, and he bought it!
Thanks, Sawtooth Peak.
Love,
Jana, the scarred California Artist
p.s. I went back and climbed it in 1981. It wasn’t fun. My friends helped me. Otherwise, my scared (and scarred) bones would still be up there.