Tag: Mineral King

2015 Cabin Calendars for Sale

There are still a few of the 2016 calendars, “The Cabins of Tulare County” for sale. This calendar is a collection of pencil drawings of cabins in Tulare County. (Captain Obvious speaks again.) It is heavy on Wilsonia, followed by Mineral King, and there is one token Camp Nelson. These drawings are gathered from the book The Cabins of Wilsonia, and various commissioned drawings I’ve done in the past year or two.

Have a look at the unidentified months. I didn’t attempt to find seasonal pictures, other than a snowy cabin in December. Cabins, for the most part, are summer homes.

2016 calendar drawings

The calendars are $15 each, including sales tax. If you send me a check in the mail or money using Paypal, AND YOU GIVE ME YOUR ADDRESS (excuse me for shouting – someone ordered via Paypal and didn’t give me her address or answer my email – how is she going to get her calendar??), then I will get your calendar to you and pay the mailing costs. (in the USA only)

Fall in Mineral King

We spent our last weekend of the season in Mineral King over Columbus Day weekend. The weather was beautiful – about time, after all the smoke this summer! It really seemed weird to shutter things up for the winter when we were running around in shorts and sandals, but it certainly is better than closing in a cold storm.

There hasn’t been very good color this year. It could be due to the drought, although there were 15″ of precipitation this summer (mistakenly reported in an earlier post as happening in July – thank you, Trail Guy, for keeping me straightened out on the facts!) The leaves mostly turned brown early and then fell off. Just turned brown and fell off! Sigh.

mineral king

Hey! I painted this scene a few years ago. I sort of lost track of the painting – did it sell? Who bought it? Or is it in one of the places that sell my work and I forgot to list it? (Sounds like someone needs to pay closer attention to her business. . .)

mineral king oil pianting

This is the part of the trail that looks like a yellow tunnel in some years. These are cottonwood trees. The aspens are further up the trail, but we had work to do instead of popping around chasing colored trees. Such responsible adults.

yellow

This was in 2010.

The grasses were sort of yellowish. This coming winter will be a big one, it will end the drought, put lots of white in the mountains and water in the rivers and the lakes and the aquifers and green on the hills. (You listening, God? That is actually a request, not a demand. Amen.)

Mineral King Mineral King oil paintings Mineral King photography

Mineral King Cabins

I believe that cabin communities are a true treasure of Tulare County, here in Central California. I love to draw cabins. Don’t believe me? My business has been called “Cabin Art” since 1987.

As a studio artist, I work from photos. There is no way to get the level of detail I like while sitting outside. Besides, I’m oldish now, and need a giant magnifying light, along with cheater magnifier glasses.

So, here are a few photos of Mineral King cabins for you to enjoy. Sometimes the light is just right, so I take the same scenes over and over and over.

Mineral King cabins

mineral king cabins

cabin drawings Mineral King Mineral King photography Tulare county

Short Hike in Mineral King

This wasn’t a big hiking year for me in Mineral King. I went to White Chief two times, and Franklin Creek once, and up toward Farewell Gap once. I noticed that someone moved White Chief farther away and higher up the second time I went. Who would do such a thing??

white chief

This is a bizarre thing – 4 stumps in a row, all of equal height. Avalanche damage. Happened in the olden days when it used to snow in the winter.

white chief

In spite of the drought and the lateness of the season, there was a great patch of Bigelow Sneezeweed. They like to have their feet wet, so there must be a natural spring on this slope.

Yuck. Look at that smoke rising up in the distance. That fire should have been suppressed the very minute it was spotted. It has caused tremendous damage, expense, and heartbreak.

Water makes for a nice lunch spot.

So does knitting.

Mineral King

Too Smoky in Mineral King

There is a terrible wildfire roaring along in the Sierra Nevada, in Kings Canyon National Park, just north of Sequoia National Park. Mineral King is on the southern end of Sequoia, but it got plenty of smoke from the “Rough” fire. It was named for the location where it began, a place called “Rough Ridge”. The name is very appropriate, because it is a rough fire indeed.

Timber Gap and Empire are barely visible.

Okay, forget about hiking. Let’s sew instead.

Sew? Did she say “sew”?

Indeed.

I sold my treadle sewing machine to my cabin neighbor and then spent the weekend setting it up, teaching her to use it and helping her make new cabin curtains.

No electricity required for this beautifully effective piece of machinery. You just put your foot on the treadle and begin to peddle.

I didn’t photograph what we used for ironing. It was a Coleman iron, supposed to be powered by white gas, but instead we heated it on the wood stove.

I am not making this up. Did you doubt me, an axe-wielding, wood-stove-cooking, knitting, Central California Artist, surrounded by those who understand this bizarre way of life??

The day we headed back down the hill was a clear day. Why?

timber gap in mineral king

“Clear” is a relative term. Normally we’d call this a cloudy day, but after the horrors of breathing smoke for 2 straight days, this is wonderfully clear. The Rough fire continues to wreak its havoc, but the smoke didn’t come to Mineral King for this day.

And here is my favorite bridge on the way home. I don’t want a fire here, but it would clear the view to the Oak Grove Bridge if one happened.

oak grove bridge

Mineral King

Painting Mineral King

This has been a fine season for selling paintings of Mineral King scenes. Very fine! Each time I go by the Silver City Store, I stop to see what is remaining. Sometimes I bring a few new paintings along, other times I just make some notes about what to paint next.

Here are the newest 3 for you to enjoy. (You may buy them, if you beat out the others who are interested.)

Mineral King oil paintings

Honeymoon Cabin XXII, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $55 (plus tax)

1542 Kaw Hdwtrs

Kaweah Headwaters, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $55 (plus tax)

1537 OGB XV

Oak Grove Bridge, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $60 (plus tax) It was twice as hard as the others and should be considered a bargain because it doesn’t cost twice as much.

Relevant links to this post:

Landscape Oil Paintings available

Silver City Resort

Mineral King Mineral King oil paintings oil paintings

Mineral King Photography

Trail Guy has really become quite the Mineral King photographer. He was back in the olden days of 35mm SLR cameras with film (remember those??). After we married, I stole his camera because I needed 2 going at all times. (black and white in one, color in the other, or prints in one and slides in the other) He didn’t mind, but I sort of wished he’d take photos too.

Now he carries a little digital camera with him on his hikes. Without my hogging all the good scenes, he is finding his own photographs of Mineral King and the surrounding trails.

If you want specifics, you can ask in the comments or email me using the contact button under the About the Artist menu item.

Mineral King photo by Michael Botkin

Mineral King Mineral King photography

Hiking in Mineral King

White Chief is my favorite place to hike out of (in?) Mineral King. So far this summer, it has rained often, I’ve been preoccupied with family matters, and often I only want to sit, knit and/or split (wood) while in Mineral King.

We have a tradition with a friend who spends time with us at our cabin each summer. This was summer #13. Our traditional visit includes barbecued pizza, Yahtzee (I may have one once in 13 years), M&Ms, and a hike to White Chief. There are other traditions, but they aren’t quite as sacred as our White Chief hike.

White Chief can be 4 miles round trip or it can be as long as 9. No matter how far you choose to go, it is always beautiful, always interesting, and always challenging.

I’ll refrain from further chatter. If you have questions about any of the photos, ask in the comments or use the contact button under About the Artist to ask.

White Chief

Mineral King Mineral King photography

Discovering More in Mineral King

There is more to my life than selling oil paintings of Tulare County scenery.

I spend a lot of time in Mineral King in the summer. It is a great source of inspiration, because it is the most beautiful place in Tulare County. (Go ahead and argue with me – present your case! I’m ALWAYS on the lookout for beautiful places in Tulare County!)

The last time I went to Mineral King, I photographed the official name of my favorite bridge. The sign is wrong, I just KNOW it. It is THE OAK GROVE BRIDGE, because that’s what Trail Guy told me about 30 years ago. So there.

oak grove bridge

Sometimes being in Mineral King is about hanging out with neighbors on their very inviting front porches.

Sometimes it is about discovering favorite flowers in new locations. Your nose often leads you to this leopard lily before you spot it.

Here’s a weird puffy mushroom or toadstool. Whatever it is, it is large. (And yes, I washed my hands after touching it. Thanks for your concern.)

Trail Guy went off trail to look at the “Three Falls Below The Gate”. Nice photo, Trail Guy!

We went off trail together to look at more damage from the flood on July 2.

Always more to see, more to discover, more to inspire in Mineral King.

Mineral King Mineral King photography Tulare county

Unusually Wet Summer in Mineral King

It has been an unusually wet summer in Mineral King (along with measurable, puddle-making rain in Three Rivers 3 times in July!)

Most of the times I have gone up the hill, it has been wet. Rain, hail, drizzle, fog, overcast. It’s all good. It’s all very good. I pray for rain every day, and I am very very thankful for water.

One long weekend, this was the only photo I took on the only walk I took on the only time I got out when it wasn’t raining!

I had to leave at 7 a.m. one morning. This is how things looked, sort of. When it is really beautiful, the camera doesn’t usually do the trick.

This is Squirrel Creek, just below the Park boundary. It hasn’t had much water in it this year, so when I saw this in the morning, I pulled over to take a picture. I “YESSED!” a couple of times, too.

Not much light on the bridge itself in the morning. It is getting so overgrown around it that there is now only one good place to get photos.

And when I got home to Three Rivers, the ground was WET and there were PUDDLES AGAIN!!!

Mineral King Mineral King photography