The Mineral King Preservation Society maintains a mini-museum inside the Honeymoon Cabin. Trail Guy and The Captain (frequently referred to in this blog) are both board members of the MKPS. Cowboy Bert and I help, because we are married to these board members.
Honeymoon Cabin, pencil drawing, $300, 11×14 framed, for sale here
What are these guys doing?
We nominated The Captain to be the official Straightener of Pictures.
This is the way a cowboy sharpens pencils.
One of my drawing students is so good that I asked The Courthouse Gallery in Exeter ( where I teach drawing lessons) to feature her in an upcoming show.
I’m defining “so good” based on several things:
The Courthouse Gallery selection committee asked her to show there in July through September!
We thought they were booked further ahead, but suddenly, we both felt some time pressure. We realized we would have to work together to get her work titled, framed and priced. We decided a postcard would be a good thing. We decided that scanning her work would be prudent. We realized that this could get expensive. We remembered that I have lots of mats and frames.
We had a lovely 1/2 day together, along with her daughter Jenna, digging through my mats and frames, deciding if any of them complement her drawings. We found several that worked. We scanned, we scrutinized, we did the work.
You will be seeing more about Wendy Miller and her work in this blog as her show approaches. Without giving away too much of her work, here is a teaser. (I want you to come to her show!)
“Hey Mom”
11×14, pencil on paper, by Wendy Miller, private collection
A list is coming. First, please enjoy this drawing of a Wilsonia cabin:
Turned out pretty well, especially considering it was another one of those cabins with cedar trees blocking much of its detail.
Here is the sort of thing that runs through my head while I draw.
1. Yea! This is #________. I’m on schedule/running behind/might be getting ahead. (A continual evaluation of my progress)
2. Why are there ALWAYS cedar trees blocking the views?
3. Persistent thoughts on a loop – one day last week I ruminated about whether it is better to have work at a gallery that doesn’t sell very well but pays reliably OR work at a gallery that sells but won’t pay. The answer kept returning to me that the lesser selling gallery was infinitely better. Do you know how awful it is to try to collect from someone for 3 years, someone who sneers at you and says, “Patience is a virtue, you know!” I hope you never have to know that firsthand.
4. I wonder if I am enough on schedule or possibly ahead of schedule in drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia to take a day off to paint.
5. It would be nice to paint instead of making yet another trip to the sneering, virtue-spouting, non-paying vendor.
6. Maybe she’ll have a check for me this time.
7. I can always visit a yarn store afterward. Wool fumes are soothing. Alpaca is soothing. Lots of color and nice people are soothing. Soothing is good.
8. Now what number am I on in my drawing progress?
9. Hmmm, I think I have an idea for a blog post. I wonder if it belongs on my “real” blog (this one) or my new blog (the Cabins of Wilsonia)?
10. This is hard. Maybe I should just go to Chicago for a few days. . .
Fear is a great obstacle to creativity. This post lists common info about fear and a list of my personal worries (an easier word to stomach than fear, as if I’m not a Big Chicken).
Here is a list of random thoughts about fear:
1. The greatest fear that is most common to people is public speaking.
2. Fear of the unknown is another biggie.
3. “The only thing to fear is fear itself” has always struck me as mysterious, weird and hard to understand.
4. Fear of failure is another common thread running through life.
5. I’ve had friends say to me, “I only knit scarves; aren’t you afraid to knit a sweater?”
6. Seth Godin says that fear is what holds people back from making art – fears of vulnerability, being discovered to be a fraud, or not connecting honestly with people.
Drawing an entire book, The Cabins of Wilsonia, completely self-publishing (not assisted self-publishing like Lulu or CreateSpace), designing using a difficult program (InDesign is NOT intuitive and NOT anything like the Apple stuff I’m used to), marketing – all on a subject with which I am familiar in general but not specifically . . . that is PILE of unknowns.
Check out this list of worries:
1. While I spend a year on nothing but pencil drawings of cabins (reaching for a total of 230 with the start # of 86 on January 1, 2013), how will I earn a living?
2. What if the books don’t sell?
3. What if the originals don’t sell?
4. What if I don’t find a good printer?
5. What if no one comes to the book signings?
6. What if the economy tanks further and people can’t afford a luxury picture book?
What if, what if, what if?
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Christmas.
I’m not done telling you about The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.
These are thoughts that struck me as I read through her chapter on happiness at work. (You can call me “List Lady” today.)
1. “Enthusiasm is more important to mastery than innate ability.”
No kidding! My drawing students who are unexperienced but enthusiastic often excel as much as those who come to me already knowing how to draw.
Gretchen says that if you pursue a profession that you love, you will be eager to practice more and thereby earn a competitive advantage.
Well, I DO practice. . .
Anyway. . .
2. “The brain is stimulated by surprise, and successfully dealing with an unexpected situation gives a powerful sense of satisfaction.”
I do love surprises. Not many surprises for me in pencil drawing anymore, particularly in drawing cabins. Lots and lots of practice there. My Very Wise Dad often said, “Life’s full of surprises”. Maybe there will be some as I work on The Cabins of Wilsonia.
3. “We tend to overestimate how much we can accomplish in an hour or a week and underestimate how much we can accomplish in a month or a year”.
Since one of “my galleries” sold a few paintings last month, I will need to take some time off the book to paint. This may cause me to be overestimating the number of drawings for February. (It is embarrassing to say “my galleries” – sounds so pretentious!)
4. “Research shows that the more elements make up your identity, the less threatening it is when any one element is threatened.”
DON’T TAKE MY PENCILS AWAY!! Just sayin’. . .
5. “. . . doing what you love is itself the reward.”
Covered that one on Tuesday.
The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
has captivated me. She is a writer who had a flash of insight: “The days are long but the years are short”. She realized that she wasn’t enjoying her life and appreciating her blessings as she ought to, so she set out to study happiness and learn if a person can boost one’s own happiness.
Normally I borrow books from the library and this was no exception. However, I wanted to underline and scribble notes in the margins, so I actually bought my own copy! (Gasp of shock, but it IS a used copy!!) You can buy one too. I am now an Amazon Associate*, so that is my recommendation of a place to get yours.
Why am I telling you this on a blog about being a California Artist?
In her month of working on more happiness at work, Gretchen lists “Enjoy Now” as one of her resolutions.
I have set a goal of drawing an entire book. It occurred to me that as someone who is motivated by completion, I am in danger of just gritting my teeth and plowing through 230 drawings with the “wake me up when it is over” mindset.
NO NO NO!! I love to draw! Sure, it gets lonely in the studio. To say “Yes” to completing this goal, I am saying “No” to every interruption, diversion and spontaneous opportunity for a year. Wah.
So? This is a self-imposed deadline. It is a well-thought out plan. Drawing is a privilege. I get to work in my home studio without commuting. I love to draw. I plan to enjoy it every step of the way.
Thank you, Gretchen Rubin!
*This means that if you click “The Happiness Project” under “Books I Love” on the left side of my blog, and then actually buy after clicking the link, I will earn a little bit of money from Amazon.
1. Nothing to report about Mineral King. You can look at the webcam. I’m drawing in the studio, and Trail Guy is probably skiing. I think he should be renamed “Ski Guy” this winter.
2. I used to have a Blog Roll, which is a list of blogs I read. I don’t think any of my readers were checking those out, so in the interest of less visual clutter, I removed them. I still read those that post regularly.
3. I added the link to my other blog, The Cabins of Wilsonia. It is called “my other blog”. It is all I think about. I draw almost every day. Pencils, cabins, drawings, Wilsonia, the book, The Book, THE BOOK, THE BOOK.
4. No wonder Ski/Trail Guy is always on the slopes.
5. Trail Guy/Ski Guy had dinner waiting for me 4 nights last week! Isn’t that fantabulous?
6. If you know someone with the initials REC in Three Rivers, wish her Happy Birthday today!
Perhaps I should have titled this “Book Report”. Then, you might have gotten it confused with my old Reading Rabbit reports. So many decisions. . .
Remember that I am working almost exclusively on The Cabins of Wilsonia this year? (I told about it here.)
Good thing I love to draw. At the time of this writing, I have 96 pencil drawings of cabins and cabin related items completed. That leaves approximately 133 to go.
Will the owner of this cabin recognize this pencil drawing? Will he and/or she contact me?
More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .
To follow the progress of The Cabins of Wilsonia and to read about the decisions necessary in order to even begin the book, you are invited to visit my other blog, dubya dubya dubya the cabins of wilsonia dot com
I still have a very large commissioned oil painting of redwoods to complete. Redwoods are sequoia gigantea, not to be confused with California redwoods. We grew up calling them “the big trees”, and I had no clue what a privilege it was to live so close. (I might have been a bit of a twit.) I choose to call them Redwoods now because I went to Redwood High School, and although I will skip the upcoming reunion, I have retained enough loyalty to hang onto the name. But, I digress.
The customer liked a similar painting that I made for someone else, which was based on the pencil drawing called “Redwood & Dogwood”.
You can see the drawing, plus a photo of a sequoia on my laptop. The reason the palette is on the floor is because I was kneeling there to work on the lower portion of the tree. You can see the primary colors running across the top of the palette and the redwood colors running down the side.
But wait! There’s more!
Sheesh. This California artist has a thing about redwood trees. On the left is half of the pair of doors to the painting studio. I had to open them because it is sort of dark in there. Then, the swamp cooler had to be on high, so the doors were blowing around.
It’s rough being a California artist in the heat of summer.
Wah.
This is how it looked at the end of the noisy, dark, overheated day of painting. It should dry enough overnight to begin adding the dogwood flowers on top of the redwood tree. I mean layered in front of the tree, not up at the top of the painting. You knew that, right?
Last week I experienced some things that only happen when one lives in a small town. Three Rivers in Central California qualifies as a small town, with a population around 2600, and many of whom are weekenders.
(The Kaweah Post Office in this pencil drawing isn’t my post office, but it isn’t very far from home.)
As I passed South Fork Drive, a car pulled across my lane onto the highway going the opposite direction. I almost locked up my brakes to avoid him, but there was no audible squeal. He didn’t seem to notice anything amiss.
At my next stop, my very good friend pulled into the lot behind me and said, “I saw that! Are you okay??” Wow, what what a thoughtful friend she is! I was fine, and was especially touched by her kindness.
She told me who the driver was, and we both were a bit a worried and puzzled as to his behavior. We speculated about his state of mind and hoped he was shaken awake.
Back at the studio, I ripped into my mail. It included a bank statement, and I was astonished to see that I’d taken a trip to the coast. My first thought was “OH NO! Identity theft!” Then I had the presence of mind to read the top of the statement. Aha! It belonged to someone else.
I grabbed the phone book and called her. She was home, so I jumped back in the car and zipped over to her house. And, I apologized for reading her business, but hoped she had a great time over at the coast.
Where else but in a small town would you know the one whose mail you received by accident, know where she lives, and just run it over to her?
And, where else would you understand that the more experience postal clerk has hand trouble, so she switched places with the other clerk who isn’t quite as experienced with loading up the P.O. boxes?
P.S. I noticed that this is full of exuberance – “ripped into my mail”, “grabbed the phone book”, “jumped into the car” – may you all be blessed with such energy as fall arrives.
