Tag: Murals

Exeter’s Mural Gallery

Mural Gallery & Gift Shop, 121 South E Street

In the olden days when my studio was in Exeter and I was the president of the Mural Team, we opened a little store called the Mural Gallery. The idea was to have a place for visitors to learn about the mural project, take home mementoes of the murals, and for the Mural Team to have some income. Only mural artists were invited to show and sell their work.

This past summer, the store closed for refurbishing. Many of Exeter’s muralists are far away, don’t make lower priced art for sale, are retired, or have assumed room temperature. So, upon reopening, the Mural Gallery invited many local artists (whether or not they have murals in Exeter) to participate. A new option is for the artists to work one day a month in order to lessen the bite that the Mural Team takes from the sales (still much less than a commercial gallery, which starts at 50% and is rumored to be as high as 90% in some cities, no thank you).

I worked one day in October, met some new people, had some customers, caught up with some old friends, enjoyed being surrounded by pretty things while spending time in the town where my studio was located for 9 years, PLUS I finished one of the paintings from Monterey.

When we started the gallery, we didn’t have very many murals or artists to participate, so I did this drawing of Yokuts baskets and had prints made for the Mural Team to sell. I wasn’t a muralist, but we needed merchandise, and when we started the project, I told my teammates that I would do whatever it took to make the project succeed. Those first years were tough—the equivalent of having a second job without a second paycheck, a second job which shoved my business onto a back shelf—but the project made a HUGE difference in Exeter.

Since then, the Mural Gallery has sold many paintings and cards for me. I appreciate them enormously!

Today is my November shift. Want to come say hi?

SIMPLY HOME

Big Oak, oil on wrapped canvas, 11×14″, $300

Gallery Hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, different each day, in the middle of the day. Might want to call first!

Library of My Youth, Chapter 4

Today I will show you what I submitted for the 2nd mural on the Ivanhoe Library.

For review, here is what the selection committee provided.

Here is what I submitted for this entry way.

Here is my explanation.

“Mural B shows 2 Valley Oaks, quercus lobata, which is the largest American oak, native to Tulare County. In and beneath the trees are local birds, all seen in and around Ivanhoe, along with a few wildflowers at the base. This could be used as a fun method for children to learn their local birds.

Now, we shall see if I actually get to paint these two murals.

P.S. The commenting part of the blog has been misbehaving but comments are coming through anyway. So to those of you who soldiered through, thank you!

mural Murals Tulare County art

Library of My Youth, Chapter 3

Okay, I’ll quit stalling now. This is what the Ivanhoe Library mural project gave to the potential artists.

First, I introduced myself with this.

“I am very pleased to be able to submit two designs for the library of my youth. I grew up outside of Ivanhoe, attending Ivanhoe Elementary School K-8. I credit my 6th grade teacher, Tom Stroben, with teaching me to draw, and much of my childhood was spent reading books from this library. It would be a huge honor to be selected as the muralist for this Tulare County treasure.”

And this is what I submitted for the long wall.

This is the explanation that accompanied the sample. The selection committee didn’t ask for this, but they got it anyway.

West Wall is an orange grove with the mountains in the distance and three insets. The mural shows a picker on a ladder (partially hidden), smudge pots, and a wind machine. In the distance are the Sierra Nevada as the peaks show on a clear day from Ivanhoe. The insets are (L to R) Twin Buttes (a geographical landmark north of Ivanhoe), an old citrus label from Klink Citrus (chosen because of the colorful rooster and the name “Venice Cove”, a nod to another geographical landmark, Venice Hills, east of Ivanhoe), and the old Ivanhoe School Auditorium, which housed the school library in the years I attended school there. (1964-1973).

Okay, I’m going to drag this out for another day. Next post about this project will appear on Monday, November 27.

commissioned mural mural Murals Tulare County art

Library of My Youth, Chapter 2

I am stalling in showing you the actual designs because I feel gun-shy. After 14 months of working with a large organization and then never getting the job, I am cautiously optimistic that this mural job will come to fruition.

So, today I will simply show you the pictures I presented to the mural selection committee of previously completed murals. Had to prove that I knew what I was talking about.

Top to bottom:

1. Mineral King in Our Backyard, E Street, Exeter, 13×110’, completed in 2009 and refreshed in 2017, as seen looking east

2. Same mural, looking west

3. Oak tree, St. Anthony’s Retreat, Three Rivers, interior mural completed 2020

4. Yokohl Creek, Mooney Grove, 4×8’, completed 2022

5. Tulare County History Museum, 4 exterior murals, completed 2020

Murals Tulare County art

Whatever Happened to. . . (Five items to satisfy your curiosity)

. . . the mural/graphics at the Three Rivers Historical Museum? You’ll have to attend the exhibit opening of Native Voices to see!

2. . . . the murals at the giant Catholic church in Visalia? After 13 months of much wrangling, negotiating, emails, phone calls, designs, rewriting of proposals, and rebidding, I withdrew my proposals. They’ll have to find someone else for this. (I’d show you my designs, but I don’t want anyone to kipe them.)

3. . . . the mural for a county library, mentioned back in August of 2022? Nothing. It was promised to me, then silence. A call to artists went out, I submitted my designs (because it expanded from one wall to two walls), then silence. The deadline for a decision passed (May 31), and the silence continues.

4. . . .my overgrown unmowed lawn? After the 5th summer of not mowing, hand trimming, transplanting, and fertilizing, it is looking quite nice. Now that it is mowed, I can see the gaps, and next year I will continue to transplant clumps as I find them at the back of the house where there used to be lawn.

5. . . . my gardening efforts once I started using an expensive humus, Deer Out, and milorganite fertilizer? Things look moderately better, although not magnificent. (Let’s remain in Realville, people!) This is the herb garden, fenced against deer, many plants with underground baskets against gophers, very poor soil, direct hot sun in summer, and zero sun in winter.

Any questions?

Murals Three Rivers Historical Museum three rivers museum

New Mural at Mooney Grove Park

About two and a half years ago, I worked on several murals on the outside of the Tulare County Museum at Mooney Grove Park on the south side of Visalia, California. Each day when I finished painting, I walked around that giant park of a zillion trees. As a muralist, I am always aware of blank walls, and I counted 7 concrete block restrooms, all painted white, all with multiple walls screaming for murals.

I photographed several of the buildings, photoshopped some of my paintings onto the plain buildings, then wrote up a proposal to present to a committee that meets 4 times a year. I also wrote a letter and asked to be on the next meeting’s agenda.

Then, The Plague struck. No response to anything I requested, no followup, nothing.

A few months ago, the Arts Consortium invited artists to submit five designs apiece, each proportioned to fit a 4×8′ horizontal mural. Five artists would be selected to paint a mural on a restroom. I submitted 5 ideas, and included my photoshopped versions for their visualizing convenience. (Always make it easy for the customer!)

Eventually, I got a congratulatory email saying my painting of the North Fork had been selected for one of the restrooms. Not my favorite, but I have painted and sold this scene about three times, so it seemed like a good candidate for a juried situation.

Next, I got instructions that all the muralists would be painting their restrooms on the same weekend, from a Friday through a Monday, and would be finished on that Monday, no exceptions, so there.

I looked at the weather, saw that Friday would be 104, contacted the nice man at the Arts Consortium and asked for a postponement or to be fired.

Being reasonable, he agreed that paint dries too fast in those conditions and went to the committee making the decisions.

We were then allowed to pick our own four day block to paint, and I chose September 21-24.

The forms began flying back and forth, along with a visual to remind me which painting had been selected, and a photo of it on “my” restroom wall.

Excuse me??

All-righty-then! So, I will be painting Yokohl Creek, which might indeed be my favorite. (GREEN!!)

Supposed to begin tomorrow, but many of the project details have been fluid, so time will tell. . .

mural Murals tulare county mural

Day Six on Indoor Murals

Mr. and Mrs. Customer sent a photo of the mural to their son who said, “Dad, be careful you don’t trip on those rocks!”

This time I started at the bottom of the stairs, adding texture to the boulders, along with more lichen.

Then it was time for the flowers to start blooming. Mr. Customer said, “This is a magical place, and all the flowers bloom at the same time.” That gave me the freedom to put in every foothill wildflower that came to mind.

I finished the carnival of colors, and moved to the other side of the stairs. The sequoia mural that I painted 10 years ago is on the right-hand wall leading down.

My instructions for this wall are simply a manzanita shrub.

Mrs. Customer requested blooms on the manzanita. Mr. and Mrs. Customer have asked many times for me to be sure to sign and date every one of these mini murals.

I told them to live with it all for a few days. This gives them a chance to ponder any ways to make it fit their vision better. They have great suggestions and have been right every time.

Next time, I will put blooms on the manzanita, maybe add some more leaves above and behind the bannister, fulfill any correction or addition requests, and sign everything.

indoor mural Murals

Exeter’s Mural Project

In 1996 the small town of Exeter, California embarked on a journey to create an outdoor art gallery. At that time the town was slowly dying commercially. There were always parking spaces available in front of business on the main street, there were many empty spaces available for rent, there were very few shops and fewer places to eat. There was a desire to do something and many random ideas but no central theme or person with passion willing to stick his neck out and pursue an idea.

The idea of murals was brought to me by three separate and unrelated individuals at different times. Suddenly things began happening at a rapid pace and the city council voted to hire a consultant to teach us how to become a mural city. Through a series of odd coincidences, I was made the president of the group. I knew nothing about such things, so I surrounded myself with folks who did know how to make things happen. I had nothing to lose (except perhaps my struggling art studio), so I poured myself wholeheartedly into the task of turning Exeter into an outdoor art gallery.

We tackled the process of laying the foundation for Exeter, A Festival of Arts by writing job descriptions, by-laws, contracts with artists, contracts with wall owners, gathering photos, learning about artists, and fund-raising, always fund-raising. It was exhausting at times, but I knew that Exeter had two choices: get cute or die. Although I have never lived in Exeter, I truly love that town! Sometimes people would ask me when I was going to paint a mural, and I’d laugh and remind them that first, I didn’t know how to paint, and second, the Mural Team’s by-laws prevented any of its members from profiting from the project.

In 2002 I closed my Exeter studio and moved into a little building at home in Three Rivers. This move meant I could no longer be on the Mural Team, but I never lost my interest in the project. Three years ago I started oil painting, last year I learned how to paint murals, and in February of this year I began painting Exeter’s 26th mural.

Today the town is vibrant, alive, busy, interesting and full of visitors coming to see the murals, the shops and the restaurants. Buildings have been renovated, parks and street corners and even alleys are landscaped, a gallery and museum have been added, and the town continues to thrive. Other towns in the county have tried to imitate Exeter’s success, but there is a specialness to Exeter lacking in other places. It may be the size, the history, the pride, the level of education, or the combination of all those elements, but in my opinion Exeter is the star of Tulare County.

Meanwhile, the fund-raising continues. Murals are expensive to prepare, paint and maintain. Exeter, A Festival of Arts has never sought grants, but has generated all its own financial support. And here is the real question: would you like to participate? Visit Exeter’s murals, and decide if you’d like to join in this worthy project. The Mural Team (I REFUSED to let us be called a “committee”) is using the opportunity of a Mineral King mural to raise more funds. (Don’t worry, I am getting paid with or without your donations.) Contributions are tax deductible. Details on how to donate and an informational letter about the current letter may be found on the Mineral King web site in the documents section: http://www.mineralking.net/documents/ExeterMural.pdf

Exeter Murals