8 Recent Happenings

Today there are many topics to address, so we will have a long list.

  1. I went away with my sisters and our Mom for a family funeral. Supposed to be a sad time, but it was surprisingly fun. 

    Me and four of the most important women in my life feeling happy to be together
  2. Tomorrow and Sunday is the South Valley ARTists’ Studio Tour. Will I see you there? You can buy tickets the day of the event at the places listed on their website.
  3. I hope the studio tour has more attendance than First Saturday Three Rivers. There were 4 people covering for me at my studio while I was with my chicky-babes (see #1) and 11 visitors.  ELEVEN?? Bless you, those eleven who came out in the rain. I hope you enjoyed your wildflower freebie!
  4. What a week of learning! I actually designed a website for my friend who manages vacation rentals here in Three Rivers. She got tired of waiting for the guy who said he’d do it for her, and I jumped in with both feet but perhaps only half my brain. We will do a lot of polishing, but the site is ready to be seen. Sequoiavacationrentals.NET It was thrilling to be able to help her, to have some experience, to have all sorts of photos to supplement hers, to FIGURE THIS OUT!! It was hard. I did it anyway.
  5. Why am I designing a site for someone and paying someone else to design a site for me? Because mine is very very complicated. There is much work ahead for me. Good thing I practiced on my friend.
  6. It was so beautiful in Three Rivers this week that instead of working in the studio (drawings to be done for the 2019 calendar and a few more paintings, including a Sawtooth commission), I pulled weeds. It was a nice break from figuring out how to build a website.

    Lots and lots of weeds.
  7. Piper is doing well. There may be kittens soon; I hope the little guy adjusts and is polite.
  8. Trail Guy took a day trip to Mineral King. The road has a gnarly slide across it above the ranger station.

See why I had to make a list?? And, in case you were wondering, I am not superstitious about today’s day and date combination.

First Saturday December

In Three Rivers, the first Saturday of each month is a special day. Some artists open their studios, some retailers offer discounts, and it is just a little more of an event to visit our town.

For First Saturday December, I will have my studio open for first time in several years.

You can see the newest mural, buy a calendar (other things too), and perhaps even get bitten on the ankle by Samson (unless he worked the late shift and is sleeping in one of his secret hideaways).

Pick up a map at Anne Lang’s Emporium to get directions to all the participating businesses, and this month it includes two other artists in my own neighborhood.

P.S. My studio has come a long ways in the past almost 16 years!

Flowers in Pencil

I may have mentioned a time or two that I love to draw in pencil. 

It came to my attention that the group behind the First Saturday Three Rivers events appreciates pencil drawings of their subject matter, because they are useful for an ad in an old-fashioned newspaper that doesn’t print in color.

I had provided photos of many flowers and 2 pencil drawings for this year’s theme of wildflowers. Hearing that the drawings were useful, I did 2 more for their use.

The first is Columbine, a flower which comes in several colors – yellow and red in the Sierra, blue in the Rockies.

The second is Farewell To Spring, which is a purplish pink. It always makes me a bit sad when it appears because it means that spring and green are over to be replaced by heat and brown. Without the color, it sort of looks like poppies.

I rarely participate by opening my studio on the first Saturday of the month for a variety of reasons. However, I do support them with my checkbook, photos, and drawings every year.

Nice Day on the Farm

I didn't want to leave home in the morning, but we grownups have to face things.
I didn’t want to leave home in the morning, but we grownups have to face things.
Look how beautiful it is around the barn!
Pretty nice place to work. Don’t these folks have gophers and deer??
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This is the same view that I painted from real life and from photos in April 2015.
spring
April 2015

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This is all I saw of the baby animals. There were lambs but it took several people running around to catch them and I had to work instead of cavort with lambs.
This is all I saw of the baby animals. There were lambs but it took several people running around to catch them; I was not cavorting with lambs that day.
These folks are heading off to catch a lamb.
These folks are heading off to catch a lamb.
Wow, eh?
Wow, eh?
Oh yeah. I was working. Look at that merchandise with the afternoon sunlight!
Look at that merchandise with the afternoon sunlight!
And look at the light show in the afternoon light!
And look at the light show in the afternoon light!

Thus we conclude the boutiques, bazaars and shows for 2016. 

Isn’t “thus” a stuffy word? I don’t think it gets used much in conversation.

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A Different Type of Event

Tomorrow I will be participating in a different sort of event. It is part of 1st Saturday, Three Rivers. I will be with 3 other Kaweah Artisans in a barn at a farm outside of Three Rivers.

You can learn about 1st Saturday Three Rivers by clicking (or tapping if you have a “device”) on the words “1st Saturday Three Rivers. You go to Anne Lang’s Emporium to get a map, and on it is listed all the participants. Here is the link about the part where I will be, but you still have to go to Anne Lang’s to get the map – Mosley Farm

This is how the place looked in the spring of 2015. Come see it in December of 2016!

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Redbud Report

Redbud is shorthand for The Redbud Festival, an annual arts and crafts fair in Three Rivers. It happened this past weekend. Because I live nearby, I was able to set up my booth on Friday afternoon with the help of Trail Guy and the trusty Botmobile. (That is his 1986 Toyota pickup with 300,000+ miles. If you need a fabulous mechanic, I HIGHLY recommend Foreign Autoworks in Visalia – Toyota, Honda, and their derivatives only. 559-734-8285.)

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I purposely brought fewer oil paintings than usual. Just wondering and experimenting with how the booth looks to see if less is more or if less is a bore.

IMG_2816I knew that coloring books would be the big deal, so I hung the somewhat cheesy sign where it could be seen from each entry. And I brought the finished commissioned painting of the Three Rivers house, along with the in-progress version of the Oak Grove Bridge.

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I liked the uncluttered look of the screens. Along with oil paintings and coloring books, I had Mineral King tee shirts (now sold out enough to be removed from my website), notecard packages, and Wilsonia cabin books.

It was all mostly a backdrop, a little gallery for the purpose of selling coloring books.

FIFTY-EIGHT COLORING BOOKS SOLD!

Heart of the Hills is available here and at Kaweah River Trading Co., Three Rivers Mercantile, and the Three Rivers History Museum, all in Three Rivers.

 

 

 

Stocking Stuffer Boutique First Saturday Three Rivers

IMG_5744Saturday, December 5, 2015, is what is called “First Saturday” in Three Rivers. I know, thanks, Captain Obvious.

Every first Saturday of the month, special things happen at various businesses and artist studios in Three Rivers.

Tomorrow, the Kaweah Artisans will hold a little show and sale called the “Stocking Stuffer Boutique”. It will be at the same location as last year’s – a one-day location from a generous business person in Three Rivers.

Stocking Stuffer Boutique

Saturday, December 5, 2015

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

41831 Sierra Drive (at the downstream end of the Kaweah Commonwealth Bldg.)

 

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I will bring;

  • original oil paintings – priced from $20 – $400
  • 2016 calendars, “The Cabins of Tulare County” – $15
  • The Cabins of Wilsonia books – $80
  • Mineral King tee shirts – $25
  • blank journals with photos or oil paintings on the cover – $12
  • notecards – priced from $7 – $10
  • molasses raisin cookies – yum, free snacks!

 

Little Post for Little Event

Two miles from home in our little town of Three Rivers, a little art show in a little dining room of a little restaurant and a little space to show a little art on a nice fall day. (A long incomplete sentence!)

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This is the view behind the place where the show was. In the trees across the river is the Three Rivers Arts Center, where there will be another show soon.

Hidden in the Leaves

hidden announce

Hidden in the Leaves is the title of a show sponsored by the Arts Alliance of Three Rivers. At last count there were 17 Three Rivers artists participating. The show hangs in the dining room of Sierra Subs, along the highway in Three Rivers just before you see the Shell gas sign. (Easier to spot than an address!)

Here’s a link to a little thing about it: Fresno Bee Events Page

First Saturday Three Rivers: Its opening reception is Saturday, November 7 and I will be there, set up in the courtyard, showing, and selling from 11:00 until 2:30 . (That’s tomorrow if you are reading this on Friday, November 6.)

Three of my oil paintings are in the show, and one is two are already sold!

Stop by, say hi, order a FABULOUS lunch, sit near the river, look at the paintings, introduce yourself to me, browse through my stuff, hang loose and be cool. Or, buy something. Just have a good time!

The Two Mister Blacks

Mister Black is the name I give to the ravens I paint. There are two so far, painted because of the Raven Festival in Three Rivers.

Three Rivers does something special-ish on the first Saturday of each month. A new theme is chosen each month, and for October, it is ravens.

The amazing Nadi Spencer had the idea of a raven theme and took it a little further than just a normal First Saturday. October is a busy month for me, so I haven’t been around for the festivities.

However, I have done a painting for 2 years now. This is the first Mister Black.

1443 Mister Black
Mister Black, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, sold
1549 Look Out Mr. Black
Look Out, Mister Black, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $55

In this is this year’s version he was looking out from atop that pole (which was actually white and fiberglass.)

At Sierra Subs and Salads in Three Rivers is a show of the raven artwork. You can learn more on the First Saturday Three Rivers page.

Gotta go paint now!