Images of Home

The show continues at the Tulare Historical Museum. The address is 444 W. Tulare Street and the phone # is 559-686-2074. I’d advise calling for their days and hours because their website is looking a bit wacky at the time of this posting. Although it is a museum with an entry fee, you DO NOT have to pay if you are visiting the attached gallery. It is a little confusing, but humbly speaking of course, my work has NEVER LOOKED BETTER than it does hanging on their walls under their lights! The show is up until July 16. Now, have a look at 2 more pieces:

Kaweah Post Office IV, sold

Spring Sycamores, 11×14″, oil on wrapped canvas, $175

The Kaweah Post Office is a much loved little building 3 miles up North Fork Drive in Three Rivers. You can read more about it here. And, in case you were wondering, sycamores are native trees in Tulare County. They like to grow in drainages and to live near water.

Images of Home, #4

Mineral King may just be the jewel in the crown of Tulare County. It certainly is for this California artist!

Eagle Lake Trail, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $350

Not meaning to taunt you – just want to show you what summer looks like in Mineral King, should it ever arrive.

Aspens IV, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $350

This is along the Nature Trail in Mineral King. It looks like this in July; right now there are probably no leaves on the aspens, and the ground will be muddy, with flowing water and snow patches. But summer IS coming – always does!

Images of Home, Continued

Here is a continuing peek at the new paintings in the Tulare Historical Museum. Of course they look better in “real”, but for Cousin Maggie and other long distance friends, this is the fulfillment of my promise to show the paintings.

Tulare County Barn, 10×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

When I was a kid, I assumed this was the shape of all barns. At age 16, I visited Oregon, Idaho and Washington, and was AMAZED to see the different architectural styles of barns. Didn’t take much to impress an Ivanhoe orange grower’s daughter, who grew up to be a California artist in Tulare County. (Hey  Mr. Google, are you paying attention?)

North Fork Drive, 10×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90

Regardless of the time of year, this is such a scenic little part of this Three Rivers road. The people who own this building probably refer to it as their “barn”!

More Images of Home

This is the traditional opening weekend for many people in Mineral King. While the gates will be unlocked, the road is still blocked by snow from about Highbridge on up. If you are up for a walk, you can go into the valley. Here are a few more pictures from my show at the Tulare Historical Museum, this time of Mineral King in the summer to just whet your appetite. If you are planning a visit to the area, stop by the show!

Vandever V, 8×10, $90

Mineral King Morning, 14 x 11″, $175

The Show Opened and It Is Good

Images of Home

Tulare Historical Museum

Tulare County art (oil paintings) by a California artist

There is a level of apprehension to a show opening. It may be a regular occurrence for all artists, or it may just be unique to me. Some of the unreasonable thought that go through my head sound like this:

  • What if my work looks like insignificant little postage stamps in that giant gallery?
  • What if no one comes?
  • What if I really can’t paint and no one has the heart to tell me the truth?
  • What if someone says rude things and I overhear them?

The horribilization of the event before it happens is something I’ve learned to subdue. It lurks, it hovers just below the surface. It drives a bit of avoidance behavior – yesterday I actually washed my car, for Pete’s sake! (It was more for the other JB’s sake so she wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with me.) It gets caught up in trying on about a dozen combinations of skirts and tops.

Reality is that there is a thrill to seeing a room filled with my artwork, hung in groupings, labeled and beautifully lit! A thrill, I tell you. Yep!

Add to that thrill dozens of friends, acquaintances and a handful of strangers all being complimentary and encouraging. (Those little Girl Scouts were cute beyond words!) It was a lovely event, I am touched deeply by those of you who took the time and used the gas to come, and I am speechless with gratitude to those who actually parted with hard-earned dollars to possess a piece of my art.

These photos happened at the end of the reception because talking to people was more important than documenting the event.

Danny had to sort of run a little bit to grab one last treat before it all got removed! He won an I TOLD YOU SO with his brother about one of the paintings. 😎

I left the electrical outlet in this photo so you could get an idea of scale – these are all 10×10″.

Lynda did a superb job of grouping the 60 paintings!

And the 720 square inch painting is here! The title is “One With The Stream”.

The show will be up until mid-July. You enter through the museum door and if you are only visiting the gallery, there is no entry fee. The directions and the hours are here: Tulare Historical Museum.

Images of Home

From 5:30 – 7 p.m. tonight is the opening reception for “Images of Home”, a solo show of my oil paintings. Sixty of them. Many have not been shown yet. Are you even half as excited as I am? Never mind, don’t answer that.

I am a California artist, but instead of representing the entire state, I focus on Tulare County. It is my great hope that in viewing my artwork, you will see that we are more than bad air, high unemployment and other nasty things. We have Mt. Whitney, sequoia gigantea, poppies, oranges, Mineral King and the Kaweah Post Office. That’s here in our county! (And, our air has been quite clear for awhile, thanks for asking.)

Hope to see you at the reception – I’ll be the one with the giant silly grin.

This image is on the postcard for the show. So is the address – 444 W. Tulare Ave. in Tulare, California.

An 864 Square Inch Oil Painting

The background trees are finished. Hmmm, about 1/3 of 864 square inches = 285. That leaves 589 square inches to paint. Approximately. Careful inches. (Fishing Guy appears to be in need a superhuman orthopedic surgeon.) This photo represents 5 days of painting. 10 more days on this??? Needs drying time. Needs to be varnished and more drying time. Needs to be delivered May 2. Guess I’ll just try not to get distracted by any more yarn paintings or other odd items and see what happens! You all will have to visit the show in Tulare, opening May 5, to see if this Giant Oil Painting made it!!

Product or Process?

Day Four resulted in more trees, brushy material, layers, working back to front, left to right. This left to right and top to bottom is the method I use when drawing with pencils. As a right-hander, it prevents smearing. As a Get-‘er-Dun Chick, I love the efficiency, and when it is finished, I’m in signing position.

Knitters often discuss the topic of Process Versus Product, deciding if we enjoy the process or just desire the finished product. In drawing with pencil, I’m usually 75% Process and 25% Product. I’ve found that in knitting, drawing and painting, the enjoyment of process increases with my skill level. In painting, it depends on the subject, photo quality, paint behavior (or misbehavior), brush obedience (or disobedience), and deadlines. Sometimes deadlines motivate me; other times they “pressurize” me. (My friend/neighbor Charlie says “Don’t pressurize yourself”.) This painting is probably a 50/50 situation of enjoying the process as much as I am looking forward to the finished piece.

P.S. Isn’t this a classic California Sierra scene by a California Artist? 😎

Will this painting get finished?

What I really mean is will it be finished in time for the show at the Tulare History Museum, opening May 5. My good friend DJ and I love to discuss business. I asked her to look at the paintings I have for the show to see if she thought it was a good mix. She said it could use one large central point, a grab-’em-and-pull-’em-in kind of painting. We tried on several ideas. The mail came, and there was a large envelope from Kodak. I opened it, showed DJ some of my photos, and she said “THAT’S IT!” She pointed to a pair of photos, asked if I could paint the two together for a large picture. After dithering a bit, I asked Michael if he minded being painted for a show. He liked the idea, so here we go!

This is HUGE for me. 36×24″ is MASSIVE. It feels bigger than a mural, because with oil I layer and layer and layer, and use as much detail as I can manage. Murals use acrylic, and sloppier strokes look tight and careful on a giant scale. Murals are fast compared to this size of oil. Oh-oh, I’m shutting up now or I will talk myself out of trying to finish this! If it is finished, I will tell you but not show it. I want you to come to the show! The opening: Tulare Historical Museum, May 5, 5:30-7:00

And, just in case you may have forgotten, this is a painting of a man fishing in a stream in the Sierra Nevada, in Sequoia National Park, in California. I am a California artist!

Style

#11 in the series “Thoughtful Thursdays”

Several months ago, I showed a few of my paintings to a gallery owner.  For the first time in my five year and three weeks painting career, I was told that my paintings don’t have enough detail, that they look as if done plein air. That is French for “on site”, which also translates into “I’m painting as fast as possible because the light won’t hold still and I can’t possibly be careful at this crazy pace”.

This description shocked me, because I love detail! Pencil and the detail possible with that humble instrument have held my attention since 6th grade. I’ve even been accused of “drawing” with a paintbrush. How could someone possibly think my paintings are lacking in detail?

I strive for accuracy in my paintings. My favorite way to paint is to add layer after layer until every last blade of grass is visible. This degree of thoroughness is virtually impossible to attain, both with my emerging (a polite way of saying novice) skills and the need to finish a painting in a timely manner.

The most commonly known and identifiable styles of art are abstract, realism, surrealism, impressionism, primitive. Abstract does not show recognizable objects and is also called “non-objective” art. (Thank you, Captain Obvious!) On the opposite end is realism, which shows things as they appear in real life. Surrealism presents strange subjects as if they were real. Impressionism is lacking in detail because it is all about color and light: I remember how to identify this style because it looks as if the painter didn’t have time to truly study his subject but needed to leave the right impression. Primitive art is childlike with no visible understanding of perspective or proportion.

In addition to level of detail and texture of paint, style is also defined by subject matter and the use of light and color.  A Vermeer is recognizable by the subject of a woman at a task near a window using primary colors and a certain quality of light. Monet was known for his water lilies, Van Gogh was known for his irises and sunflowers, and Botkin is known for her oranges!

One of the reasons it is important to establish a style is to receive commissions. This happens when one’s style is recognizable and consistent. If an artist is tinkering with many styles, a potential customer won’t know if a technique can be duplicated or if it was a fluke.

As I achieve greater proficiency with paint, brushes, and canvas, I’m hoping that my true style emerges. I’m hoping for the detail of Rockwell with the light of Vermeer and the brilliance of Bierstadt!  When my paintings are as consistently recognizable as my pencil drawings, I will know that my style has been established.