Mural on a South-Facing Wall in September. . . Part Two

When the mural was this far along, I begin having doubts about the wisdom of trying to complete it in one day. However, I knew the forecast was for even hotter temperatures the next day. It was difficult painting, but with my plan of attack, I decided to persevere to the end.

With shade on the sky, it seemed like a good plan to smooth out those clouds over that lumpy surface. I was in the sun, but at least the paint stayed a bit more moveable and smoothable.

Next, the tree. The upper parts were in shade, so it seemed manageable.

The shadow of the power pole is completely off the wall.

I added blades of grass, some yellow flowers (mustard?)and 3 very small cows. Please, may I be excused now?

 Yeppers: signed it, removed the tape and the drop cloth.

 

There were four other murals planned by other artists all around the park, so I thought I could stagger around to see what had been done. Meanwhile, there was a huge cross-country track meet taking place. I didn’t get a good photo of the crowds of fit young people running past, and I was too beat to wait for a good photo opportunity.

First stop: my murals at the museum on their lovely shaded north-facing wall.

This mural is by Joy Collier. She has worked on it in several three-hour sessions and was quite displeased with the surface of the wall. I agree with her that it would be quite difficult to get a pair of bear eyes looking good with all the lumps and bumps and holes. (I don’t think anyone will criticize these bear eyes.)

It is fun to have a bear in Lion Country.

Mooney Grove Park is so beautiful. The variety and abundance of trees just stuns me every time I walk (stagger) around. They have a TERRIBLE squirrel problem, so I had to watch my step very very carefully.

This one will be a beautifully designed Welcome to Mooney Grove picture in the style of an old fashioned postcard. I met artist Katy Nave Kemalyan earlier in the morning. Later, when I saw her design on the sign with Joy’s bear, I was very impressed with her work.

Colleen Mitchell Veyna and her business partner Kelsey Giles do their painting on some sort of vinyl in the studio and then “wallpaper” it to the wall. Excellent plan in this situation; they have a west-facing wall, like Katy’s. At least they get shade in the mornings! I wonder if there used to be a carousel at Mooney Grove.

The final wall was completely untouched and will be a beautiful poppy scene by Heidi Steinman.

Then I staggered back to my wall to see if it was truly finished. I think yes.

We were paid well, a good thing, because  I stopped for petrol on the way home. I was so stunned that I thought I’d share this photo with you: approximately $6.50 a gallon in Three Rivers.

And thus we conclude another mural at Mooney Grove Park, a jewel in Tulare County.

Mural on a South-Facing Wall in September. . . Part One

This is not ideal for mural painting, particularly in contrast my last experience painting at Mooney Grove on a north-facing wall in February and March.

Realizing that the entire day would have strong hot sunshine on the wall, I determined to finish it in one day instead of the prescribed four. I knew it might possibly take 2 days, but I was focused, locked and loaded, ready to rock and roll, and whatever other cliché you can find.

This will be one day of painting and two days of posting.

First, let me be clear about something: I am Very Thankful to have been chosen to do this job and at the same time, I wished it could have been done at home in my studio with these creatures hanging around. (Pippin is barely visible in the bushes, and Jackson appeared after I took this poor photo).

Alas, sometimes an artist has to go out into the world, kill something, and drag it home to the cave. (Don’t get worked up—it is only a euphemism for doing work away from home.)

Instead, I saw this creature. Mooney Grove is known for its peacock population, although now there are way more Canada geese. Fortunately, they were not in mating season or hanging around my location like the last Mooney Grove mural.

Hello, restroom. I was happy to see some shade. I didn’t know what was coming.

There were domestic geese waiting for me to set up, and very very bold about it. 9 a.m. and it was already hot in the sun.HEY! BUG OFF! Apparently he had a conference to attend, so eventually he waddled away. 

Let’s get to work. You guys too.

Farthest thing first – the sky. I didn’t have a colored copy of the painting that I submitted to the committee, so I was trying to recreate the scene using the original photos and a very poor pale copy of the painting.

Now it is in total sun, with the power pole shadow working its way across. I decided to put base coats on each segment, then return for detailing, rather than trying to complete each section as I went.

After applying blocks of color to each section and trying to squish the paint into the holes in the concrete block, I had to figure out how to proceed. The plan of attack: stand in the shade, plan the next move, decide the necessary colors, quickly grab the paints and brushes, sprint to the wall, and slam out the next small segment before running back to the shade to evaluate my work and figure out the next steps.

Watch the shadow of the pole move across. I kept dragging my crates of paint to the shadow as it inched to the right.

I ran out of water, and 2 wonderful park maintenance men brought me 4 bottles!! 

I finally realized that I couldn’t hold the palette, brush, and the photo, so I taped it to the wall. Sometimes I don’t want to do that because the tape causes the fresh paint to peel. This paint stopped being “fresh” about 20 minutes after application. The maintenance men eventually brought this sign.

They also gave me permission to cross out the incorrect title. I didn’t bother with the incorrect dates, but I did add an “L” to Colleen MitchelL Veyna’s name.

Just rewriting this makes me almost collapse from the memory of heat. We will continue tomorrow with the rest of the very hot day of painting a mural on a south-facing wall in September at Mooney Grove Park.

Mooney Grove Tour VI

Today’s tour will consist of views – oak trees, the pond, the arbors, and finally, the views from the 2 hills on the north east corner of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park.

I felt sad to not be going to the park when my murals were finished, and this tour was my way of lingering. Now that our extended tour of Mooney Grove has concluded, we will return to the actual business of art next week.

Mooney Grove V

Today let’s look at some of the more unusual pieces of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park. It will require a little bit of talk today.

Hugh Mooney often gets credit for donating the family’s acreage to Tulare County, but this sign says the Mooney family sold it the County for $15,000.

Maybe Hugh used that rifle to shoot squirrels. They are certainly a plague on the place now. Active squirrel holes are rampant.

What’s this? A platform to put a thingie for Frisbie golf, which can now only be called “disk golf”. There is an entire course for this popular game on the north side, but I saw the gizmos (“holes”) in other areas too.And here is another platform which used to hold a statue called “The Pioneer”. The plaster statue crumbled. (End of the Trail in plaster was traded with the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City for a bronze version).

There are 2 hills in the Park on the east edge. They were created with the dirt dug to form a recharging basin in the park. The formation is useful as an amphitheater, and one hill has a disk golf “hole”. When I went to Redwood High School, I used to look through the fence at a little log cabin that appeared to be abandoned. It was. After I grew up and became The Central California Pencil Artist (a self-ascribed title), the Boy Scouts reclaimed it, disassembled it, moved it to Mooney Grove, and reassembled it. I drew it as a fund raiser to help pay for the enterprise. (I wonder if I still have a copy of that drawing. . .)

Finally, I leave you with this Peculiar Sight.

Tomorrow we will conclude our tour of Tulare County’s Mooney Grove Park.

Mooney Grove Tour II

More photos of Mooney Grove Park, where I took a walk each day after I finished working on the murals on the Tulare County Museum.

Speaking of the museum, let’s focus on that treasure today. I’ve included pictures of the Pioneer Village behind the museum (entered through the museum) and 3 photos inside the museum.

Tomorrow, we’ll look at a bridge, not my favorite bridge (Oak Grove), but a simpler bridge in a true oak grove. 

Mooney Grove Tour I

This is a virtual tour. Enjoy it from the comfort of your easy chair. No viruses to be spread this way.

Mooney Grove Park is 100 acres of about 50 types of trees. The Valley Oaks (quercus lobata) make up about half of the tree population. The land was sold to Tulare County in 1909, with the agreement that only dead or dying Valley Oaks could be removed. Meanwhile, many new trees have been planted, a few of which I recognized, some that I learned about, some that surprised me, and all of which contributed to the specialness of this interesting and beautiful place.

It helped that I was working there during March, my second most favorite month. The grounds were green and many trees were in bloom.

Stop talking, Central Calif. artist, because we want to see some photos.

Okay. Photos. No more talk. Just pictures of a beautiful park in spring.

Any questions? To be continued Monday.

Mooney Museum Mural, Day 7B

Really it is Day 6B, but there was that careless numbering incident. Let’s not dwell on that. Instead, have a look at the finishing touches for Day 6, my final day on the mural on the Tulare County Museum in Mooney Grove Park, Visalia, California, the county seat of Tulare County, where I was born.

Shut up, Central California Artist, and just show us some pictures.

I painted the inner rim to match the wall color so it would be lighter in there. This scrub jay landed atop the circle. Obnoxious birds, but such a pretty color.

That’s not a real bird!

Okay, it didn’t land. It got painted on.

I signed it in two places. Never had to figure out how to do this before, because this is the first 4 part mural I’ve painted.

Here is the final look. I finished earlier than usual, so the light wasn’t that great for photography.

I’ll miss working here. The people are great, the museum is interesting, and the grounds are beautiful.

Tomorrow I will show you one more interesting thing about these murals. 

Thanks for following my mural project!

Mooney Museum Mural, Day 7A

Not really. It wasn’t Day 7; it was Day 6, but I seem to have trouble counting accurately on occasion. (You may have noticed that the mural saga jumped from Day #3 to Day #5.)

My goal on Day 7 (6) was to finish basket #2, along with some finishing touches to all the other murals.

This is the basket design I chose for the second circle.

This time I painted the inside rim in addition to the circle itself. I learned from the other one that there was no point to making it look as if it was in shadow, because it truly is in shadow, due to the rim.Next, I drew on some guidelines. This was easier than the first time. That’s how practice is supposed to work.

Here is a photo to help you see where basket #2 will go.
The paint colors were already mixed, so I was able to dive in.But wait, what is this??Sometimes I like to just have a little fun.

Allll-righty-then! Tomorrow I’ll show you the finishing touches. Stay tuned.