I haven’t returned to Mineral King yet, either metaphorically or literally. (And unlike many people today, I use the word “literally” to mean literally, actually, for real.)
Instead, I stayed in Birdland, working on chickens and a great blue heron.
Meanwhile, there is a quail wondering when it will receive its additional feathers layers, and 4 6×6″ canvases waiting for their wings. Or are they waiting in the wings. . .?
If you have read my blog for awhile, you may remember seeing occasional references to a friend whom I call “The Captain”. She is exploring oil painting as a new hobby, and she requested my assistance. Naturally, I said YES!
I traveled the 2 hours and 7 minutes to her house (could have been shorter and more stressful but I chose the rural roads instead of the freeways) so that we could spend time painting together. The plan was for 4 people in a 2 day workshop but the other 3 bailed. (What?? Am I a scary teacher?) The Captain and I were able to concentrate and learn and catch up on life, and in the end, she had a wonderful 8×8″ oil painting of a pomegranate.
I’ve left Mineral King and have now entered Birdland.
(If you grew up in Visalia, you may remember an area on the north side of town called “Birdland”. This was because the streets were named things like Dove and Robin. Birdland might still be in Visalia, but the name is seldom used, now that the town is 125,000 instead of 35,000.)
What in the world am I referring to when I say I have entered Birdland?
So glad you asked. Here, have a look and see for yourself.
By now you may be accustomed to how terrible my paintings look during the first layer. If you are new to this blog, rest easy. The paintings improve with time and layers.
As promised, here are some finished Mineral King oil paintings from my Phactory Phases. Factory Fases? Too much cuteness for you? I’m sorry. Must be the oil fumes.
They are all oil paintings on wrapped canvas, which means the sides are painted so they don’t need frames. The prices don’t include 8% sales tax; if you live outside of California, you don’t have to pay it, lucky you. If you want to order, you can go to the sales page and use shopping cart and Paypal or you can send me a check in the Real Mail, the US Postal Service, my favorite way to reach out and touch.
I love to blog, to post here on my web log, weblog, blog, online journal. Mostly I just run on about the business of art, but sometimes I show you things for sale. I don’t wear plaid pants, assault people, lie or talk fast; instead, I just provide opportunities for my handful of readers to buy the things I make.
It is my hope that you enjoy my blog, and find enough opportunities to buy my work without feeling sold to.
Cute little things? What is this about?
This is a post about 4 cute little oil paintings of various Mineral King scenes on boards, each one sitting on its own tiny wooden easel. (Well, yes, they are for sale – thank you for asking!)
The rectangular paintings are 4×6″ and are $50; the squares are 4×4″ and are $40.
Such a deal! They are available on this page. (Sort by price, lowest to highest, and they will appear on the first page.)
Now there’s a creative blog post title for you. . . just the facts, ma’am.
I’m almost finished with this phase. Paintings need to dry, get signed, scanned, and varnished. Have a look at the various stages.
Maybe next week I will have a host of completed, signed and scanned Mineral King oil paintings to show you.
This year I have set the goal of finishing all the Mineral King oil paintings well before the season begins. The Silver City Store has been selling my oil paintings since 2010, and it is good for them, for me, and for the customers. The past 8 years have provided a good idea of what sells and in what sizes and quantities. Why not look at this information and make a plan?
Phase I was finishing a large quantity of paintings in the month of January, some that were begun in December. The total was something crazy huge, like 2 dozen or so. I hadn’t planned on buying 4×6″ canvases or painting on 4 little boards that used to contain things like tomatoes, so the number went up. All this production forced me to figure out how to use my painting hours more efficiently, and in February, I am continuing with this plan.
(Do you need a nap yet? A cup of espresso?)
Phase II is filling in the gaps – do I have the right quantities of the best subjects in the most popular sizes? Nope, not yet. Here is how beginning another 8 paintings looks. It’s not that pretty, but it is not as gross as making sausage, I guess, although I’ve never witnessed that operation.
There are about 6 more subjects I want to paint. These are also Mineral King, but they involve new scenes.
If this seems a little repetitious to you, well, it is. It is a little repetitious to me to. That’s the thing about doing work for a seasonal business – it is repetitious because there are new customers every week, and they haven’t seen my paintings before. Or they saw them last year and want to add to the collection. Or, their friends saw their painting and wanted one too.
That’s me, talking to myself. Keep painting, Central California artist, keep painting!
I messed up and ordered 4×6″ canvases instead of 6×6″. This means I have some adjusting to do and some decisions ot make.
The first step is to see how it is to paint on this size and shape.
This is an 8×8″ of my tied-in-second-place Mineral King oil painting subject, the Honeymoon Cabin. It was part of the resort; then Disney bought up parts of the resort in hopes of building a ski area. That didn’t happen, and now this little cabin is a museum of artifacts and photos of Mineral King.
You saw it yesterday hanging on the wall drying. In my normal manner, I got things a little mixed up, posted yesterday as #4 and had today as #3. Then I switched things a few times and finally corrected it, but here is the Honeymoon Cabin at an earlier stage. I might be a bit dizzy from the oil fumes, or maybe the turp. Could be the propane, but I doubt it; the oil painting workshop room is extremely well ventilated (read “drafty”).
Oil paintings don’t dry very quickly; that is both the good thing about oil paint and the bad thing. Trail Guy set up this handy little shelf in front of the heater in the painting workshop/studio, and that will help things move along.
Will these Mineral King oil paintings ever be finished? Yes. Then I’ll have to decide what to paint next. I’ll still need more Mineral King for my inventory (I’m painting ahead for the first time ever – finally have learned that summer starts on Memorial Day weekend and this year I will NOT be surprised.)
Some of these look like the same paintings as in other photos because they are the same paintings. I move them all around depending on their state of dryness. Some of them just look the same because the subjects are the same, only with differing amounts of snow or water or with different lighting.
The bridge is still a little bit too hard for me. It will have to wait until I am out of my Mineral King Oil Painting Factory Mode.
Aren’t these little 4×4″ boards sweet? I can’t sign my name on that size, so only put J.B. They will each sit on a tiny wooden easel, and will be $30 each. A man from Marin Co. told me he saw 2×2″ paintings sitting on tiny easels at $120 each.
Nope. Not moving to Marin County.