The first painting that I sold at Kaweah Arts was a 6×18″ oil of a Sequoia tree. Immediately I painted another.
My mama didn’t raise a dummy. This time when the big tree sells, I will have another one ready for delivery to Kaweah Arts. Call me “Butter” because I am on a roll!
Don’t be scared. It will turn out just fine. They always do, except when they don’t, and then I repaint them into something else.
Sequoias, Big Trees, Redwoods. Since discovering the 6×18″ canvas size, I have painted redwoods on them seven times.
You can see that sometimes I used the same photo. I don’t know if these are shown here in the order painted, but I know for sure the last one is the most recent (and still quite wet at the time of this writing). I happen to like it best, which is a good sign that my skills have improved.
P.S. These trees are in Tulare County, right here in California’s flyover country. They are something about which we can feel good. There are many things about which we can feel good here, but if you know someone who wants to move here, go ahead and remind them that we are fat, uneducated, and poor. Oh, and there is high unemployment, bad air, and no Trader Joe’s either.
P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org
The Big Trees, AKA Redwoods, AKA Sequoia Gigantea, take centuries to achieve their height and girth. Nay, millennia! In my painting workshop, they take about 2 days to 2 months, depending on the size of the canvas.
Orange groves were holding my interest more than Big Trees for awhile. But, this is an art BUSINESS, and it is prudent to paint what people want to buy. So, I returned to this painting. Here are the steps of growth.
The tree is unnamed, based on a photo of a named tree, but not followed exactly. Why not? Because the colors were a bit dull and the details were obscured either by poor light or branches. Exactness is required in architecture, portraiture, and some landscapture.
I made that last word up so it would match.
Usual disclaimer that all my paintings look better in person.
P.S. It costs a fortune to have a transplant, and while insurance covers much, there is much more that it does not cover. If you feel generous and inclined to help my friend, Rachelle, this is the best way to do so: HelpHopeLive.Org
There is something new coming to Three Rivers, but I don’t yet know any details. Might be a simple retail shop where one can pick up local art, maybe some tchotchkes. This is why I wanted to get those little Three Rivers paintings looking better. This is also why I started a new river painting.
This is painting session #1. I want to do this in many thin layers, striving for perfection. But why?
It might be an overreaction to how I felt about the blurry Kaweah Post Office painting. It might also be some residual from having drawn this exact scene in pencil with a touch of colored pencil a handful of years ago, a commissioned piece. I want to see how close I can get to perfection with paintbrushes. I’ve already decided to leave out the tree on the left side, but like everything I do, more will be revealed in the fullness of time.
My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. TWO DAYS LEFT, Thursday, noon-5:30 and Friday, noon-5:00. I will be there on Friday, April 30, and will take away the unsold pieces at 5 p.m.(MB, I will be sending you your painting next week!)
Forrest’s Dream Cabin was ready for more work, so I flipped it over in order to reach the mountainside at the top of the 30″ canvas.
After finishing the mountainside, adding more detail to the distant chapel, straightening out the roof, adding more stilts and a railing, I put in a few windows and turned the lights on inside. Suddenly, I froze and was assaulted with “Yikes, this is too hard”, and “What do I think I am doing here??”
The cure for that is to go pull weeds.
Then I moved on to an oil painting where I KNOW the subject matter*. 
That’s more like it. I know what I am painting and can just start at the beginning and finish at the end. With Forrest’s Dream Cabin, I am just fumbling along, so it is slow, requiring much thought and time. Forrest is not in a hurry, is appreciative and easy to work for.
Here are two last thoughts (visual thoughts):
*Mineral King, of course
The title of this commissioned oil painting is Forrest’s Dream Cabin, so it is imperative that I move it from nightmare to dream status. Here is the next painting session of step by step improvement.
2. The colors on my palette look so dull.
3. Water next. I could reach this part right-side up. 
4. Mountain and foreground branches
5. I want to start drawing with my paintbrush on the cabin detail, but I think the water and background mountain will need more layers first.
The colors are so much duller on screen than in real life. Forrest said, “it’s like a ghostly cabin is emerging out of the scene, nice!”
P.S.This is not a houseboat; it is a cabin on stilts in a lake in Northern Italy.
Lest you worry that I am spending too much time taking walks, visiting friends, admiring daffodils, and weeding my baby poppies, here is some evidence of forward motion toward completing the paintings needed for the upcoming show Still Here at Arts Visalia in April.
It was getting dark, so it was hard to see the right colors and the detail. Plus, the cats were ready to reclaim their home/jail/safe space for the night.
As a thank you gift for a gift of oil paints, brushes, and an easel, I am painting a Karmann Ghia.
No, not painting a car, making an oil painting of a Karmann Ghia.
This is for a former drawing student, and because my students and I always tell each other the truth about our art, I asked him to tell me if the painting was finished.
In the photo he sent to me, there was a piece of chrome missing from the door. I wasn’t sure what he was referring to, so I took a close up photo of the door on the painting to ask.
He replied with another photo of the car. (I deleted it before remembering that you might want to see it.)
Aha! I fixed the painting.
This received approval, but I told him that I think oil paint is so wobbly compared to pencil. It is. The canvas has texture, the paint doesn’t often flow smoothly, and the brush hairs go rogue. But I keep trying to make my paintings look as good up close as they do from the back of a fast horse (or across the room).
I touched up the sky, brought the painting into the house to dry, and then scanned it.
Another one of my drawing students asked me why I painted it so small. BECAUSE IT IS FREE! Besides, when you give someone a piece of art, it isn’t wise to assume they will love it as much as you do or that they might have space for something large.
The weather was stunning last week, which made it difficult to focus on work. Trail Guy invited me to go enjoy the great outdoors with him, so I spent 2 hours doing non-work. Then I dove back into my show prep.
First, I chose photos for Arts Visalia to use for publicity. They requested 4; I chose 12. Oops.
Then I worked on the artist statement, which I streamlined a bit more (thank you, Blog Reader Sharon!)
Next, I filled out the contract. Seems a little bit out of order, but maybe they know that I am a woman of my word.
Finally, I painted.
These big boys are a little cumbersome to move around and store while wet.
Finally, I decided this smaller one is finished, no more messing around.
You may breathe easier, seeing that I didn’t put this Sequoia oil painting in the dumpster.
You’ve seen most of these photos before. I am showing them again so you can see them all on the same page in order of progression on this painting. Besides, it will help me to see them all together because then I will know I have actually accomplished something.
A few more details (including the flag and porch railing), painting the edges, signing, and then maybe this will be finished.