Stocking Stuffer Boutique

What is a “boutique” anyway? It isn’t a bazaar. Is it like “luncheon” as opposed to “lunch”?

The dictionary uses the words “sophisticated” and “specialized” to explain a boutique. (Nope, didn’t look up bazaar – I saved that for you.)

Sophisticated? Me? har har har har har. . . I’m from Tulare County, a Realistic Regionalist from Ruralsville.

Specialized? Yeppers. I specialize in Tulare County images. Nikki specializes in high-quality hand woven items. Karen specializes in clay mono-prints (hunh?? Guess you’ll have to come see for yourself.) Anne specializes in lathe-turned wooden items. Sam specializes in gourds. We are specialists!

Stocking Stuffer Boutique

Saturday, December 6, 2014

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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

 

Another Three Rivers art event, on First Saturday Three Rivers!

Perfect Gift Boutique Post-Game

Perfect Gift Boutique Post-Game? Remember when the terms “pre-game” and “post-game” weren’t used? It is a sports/television term. “Wrap-up” also works, as does the stuffier sounding “evaluation”.

The weather was beautiful, so the day after Thanksgiving was a busy one. It was a little hard to be indoors, but I managed to corral my independent streak and behave professionally. The opportunities to interact with and sell to the public are rare, so I need to be focused.

The second day had less traffic, so the conversations were longer. I met so many interesting people, sold lots of art (the hottest item was the calendar), and even did a bit of photography and a little knitting in between.

I know. . . blah, blah, blah, just show us some pictures!

There were eight of us showing and selling out work. We call ourselves “The Kaweah Artisans”, a loose association of makers mostly from Three Rivers, each working in different media.

Sam sits and sews in the sunshine. She is working on one of her fantastic gourds.

Carole works in metal and clay, making whimsical and often highly detailed decorative items. Very unique in the true sense of the word – no 2 are ever the same, and no one else does what she can do.

Told you it was pretty out!

The Three Rivers Arts Center is such an interesting venue. It has stone and wood details all over the exterior. It is beautiful in a rustic manner, using stone and wood that appear to be from the area. I don’t know who did all the work, but I find the place to be simply fascinating.

The Perfect Gift Boutique

First of all, in case anyone is wondering, I am thankful. Very thankful for many things. Didn’t want you to wonder, since I’ve turned Thanksgiving into a commercial here on my blog.

(This is because I forgot to post it on Wednesday. Besides, who reads blogs on Thanksgiving anyway??)

The 13th Annual Perfect Gift Boutique will happen on Friday and Saturday of this week!

Friday, November 28 and Saturday, November 29. Three Rivers Arts Center, North Fork Drive (just across the bridge, first building on the left), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

These are some of the returnees from previous Perfect Gift Boutiques.

Ahem. Me too, but maybe you figured that one out all on your own. 2015 calendars, paintings, cards, prints, Mineral King tee shirts.

Have a look at some little cuties I’ll have with me – these are original oil paintings on canvas, 2×2″, $15 each.

Three Rivers in Fall

Today I want to share photos of Three Rivers in Fall with you because in spite of the drought and the sense of endless summer, there is seasonal beauty here in this fine corner of Tulare County.

Happy Birthday, Shirley Goodness!

(Why do I say “Fall” instead of “Autumn”? Because I witnessed leaves falling from a tree today.)
 
The best color is in the non-native Liquid Ambar (yep, that’s the way it is spelled for the tree) and the Chinese Pistache (also not a typo!)
Wild Grape?

Bazaar in Photos

I live within walking distance of the Bazaar. This is what I saw on my way to work Saturday.

When I got there, I was relieved to see that my booth did not look like a garage sale., which is a concern each time I set up in a different location. Even though booth sizes are almost always 10×10′, the lighting, the walls, the traffic patterns and the amount of work I have changes, so I don’t have a standard floor plan.

We had steady traffic all day. As usual, it was mostly people I know with a handful of new folks. It is so interesting to me that there are people in a town as small as Three Rivers that don’t know one another! Often it is because they only live here part time and/or they live far up one of the canyons.

There were regular raffle drawings and a live auction. I actually gave a 2015 calendar to the raffle – me, who does not give away her work! Got caught up in the excitement or succumbed to peer pressure, perhaps. . .

It was nice out on the patio. The doors are open all day long, so if it is cold, it is cold everywhere. Back in the olden days when we had winter, this was a cold cold show. Not so this year.

There’s my amazing friend Nikki, weaving in her booth. I am showing this to you so you can see that the Chinese Pistache trees outside weren’t yet in full color, and that there were vendors outdoors too.

These beautiful wood items turned on a lathe and polished to a remarkably smooth sheen will also be available at the next show, The Perfect Gift Boutique, which will be on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend at the Three Rivers Arts Center.

P.S. I sold a ton of calendars, but there are more remaining. Remember, when they are gone, they are gone. $15 includes tax and mailing if you need that done.




Bazaar, Not Bizarre

The annual Senior League Holiday Bazaar will take place on Saturday, November 15 at the Three Rivers Memorial Building from 9-4. Maybe. The marquee in front of the Memorial Building says 10-4. This means that if you come at 9, you’ll get first chance at all the best stuff!

This is how it looked on the morning of Tuesday, November 11. Don’t you just want to come to see the Chinese Pistache trees in full color?

There is a jeweler who brings the cutest Christmas earrings I’ve ever seen and she sells them for a peanut butter sandwich! (This is a figure of speech my Dad used when something was seriously underpriced. You don’t have to brown bag it to buy her earrings.)

Some years there is a fabulous selection of homemade jellies and jams for what it would cost you to make them yourself, MINUS your labor!

My 2015 calendars Beautiful Tulare County will be there, $15 including tax. Such a deal – you might want to buy several (but remember, when they are gone, they are gone.)

I still have some Mineral King tee shirts, a few photo books (Mineral King in Photos – $45, Three Rivers in Spring – $30) and new oil paintings. (This year a few knitted items will be sold by my friend Sophie, a weaver, spinner and knitter of extraordinary skill.)

Here are a few photos from previous years.

@0c*wNSzRya^

 

Nikki Crain at her loom

Home Improvement

A dear friend manages vacation rentals. A few years ago, she was asked to take on a home that needed a ton of loving care, and she had to provide it on not just a shoestring, but a frayed shoestring. (This means she had almost a zero budget.)

Because we love to do projects together, she asked for my help. Together we figured out how to rearrange furniture, do things with paint, color, pictures on the wall, fabric, rocks and pine cones.

It was an amazing transformation, and the house became a successful vacation rental.

Now the same owner has handed over another house to my friend. Of course she called me and of course I said yes. (HEY! Does this mean I am a Vacation Rental Consultant?) As a Central California artist, I am used to people needing help and not having much to spend. I don’t know what I’d do if someone actually had a real budget with real money in it!!

The upstairs loft resembled a dorm in an orphanage (not that I’ve ever seen such a room, but I read plenty of orphan stories as a child.)

I sketched layouts, wondered if we could dump various pieces of furniture, lose a few beds (there were seven or eight), get better bedspreads, buy a trunk for the foot of each bed, rip out the carpet, paint, something, anything.

My managing friend eked out a small budget from the owner. We found a few treasures at a yard sale, pulled the faded ’70s art off the walls, discussed furniture, found a nice rug at World Market (found many, but only bought one), messed with paint colors and ideas, and finally came up with a good plan for that loft.

It was a ton of work.

This is where I came in for some real work as opposed to just coming up with ideas.

We’d love to have ripped out the carpet, but the budget was just too eensy. If you want to see the whole house, here is the link. Click here.  It was voted Best Vacation Rental in Three Rivers this year, BEFORE my friend and I went to work on it! (It might be wise to book it before the owner figures out that he can raise the price.)

A Central California Artist Paints Her World

I live in Three Rivers so sometimes I actually paint the Kaweah River. This summer it is running low, but as a studio artist, I work from photos, and with 22,000 on my computer, there are some choices outside of going to the river and taking a photo as it looks during this very dry summer.

When an oil painter does the glazing method, paintings begin thin and rough.

Each successive layer adds texture, both visual and actual, if one is a thick painter. Most of my texture is visual.

You can see that I am continuing in my current vein of “juicing up’ my colors. Real life is messy and it is a little dull.

Maybe that is the smog here in Central California. Thanks, Bay Area. It’s blowing down the Altamont Pass. Did you know that?

The next time I show this painting, it will probably be signed, dry and scanned. it is for the 2015 calendar of my paintings – now you know one is coming, so you can plan.

And just in case you were thinking of moving to Three Rivers, here is a little reminder of why it isn’t all rivers and artistry.

Frankly, I am so squeamish that I really don’t deserve to live here. I have a friend who routinely hacks the heads off the rattlers in her yard with a shovel.

Me? I routinely call my friend S who either brings a shovel or sends her nephew to rescue me.

Gross.

I’m sorry to wreck your day like that. How about just being thankful if you live in a place that doesn’t deal with such creepiness.

Happy Customer

Customer? Client? How about a long time friend who commissioned me to paint for her? Commissioner?

Never mind.

I delivered “Spring In Three Rivers” to my friend and hung it on the wall where she had planned for it to go. We looked at the pictures around it and knew it wasn’t the best combination.

Being slightly self-focused, I suggested that we place one of my pencil drawings on either side of the painting. Now, lest you think I am more than slightly self-serving, she already owned these two drawings, and they truly looked right together. Lighter, a touch of pink in one, and all places around here. Please forgive me for not taking my camera and documenting the wall.

You know how it is if you move a thing or two. . . it means you have to move another and yet another. We had a great time placing pictures around the room, and the results made us both very satisfied.

Spring in Three Rivers
“Spring in Three Rivers”, commissioned oil painting, 24×18″ on wrapped canvas