Is that a funny title for a post during the hot time of year? I love spring. It isn’t hot. This painting in progress reminds me of the beautiful season.
I’m juicing up (exaggerating) the colors a bit and it is fun. I love dabbing on little specks of different shades of pink. These redbud are so fabulous up the North Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers. I’m so glad that my customer chose this subject for her commissioned oil painting.
Spring in Three Rivers just might be an appropriate title, although there is little evidence of any river, much less three of them in this picture. But, we are in a canyon that follows the North Fork of the Kaweah, and the presence of sycamore trees indicates a source of water near by. (Can you tell which trees are becoming sycamores?)
Getting that fence the right size and in the right place really was difficult. I kept painting out the rails and repainting them, all in a very rough and messy fashion. Oil painting can stay rough and messy for a long time, with each successive layer showing signs of improvement. Of course, in art “improvement” can mean different things to different viewers. Many painters in recent history have a huge following and reputation while making a ton of money with paintings that I’d call rough and messy!
Meanwhile, I choose to refine my own work with each successive layer. When the background of the photo just seemed too rough and messy for me to sort out and then enlarge, I just detailed the closer parts. Normally I work back to front, top to bottom, left to right and dark to light. For this painting, I just do what I am able to do, when I am able to do it.
With those messy types of sections where the detail in the photo isn’t helpful, I paint what I can see and hope it trains me to fake (i.e. make up) the parts that I can’t.
I think the fence placement is almost correct, but with all that painting in and painting out and painting over, it is too wet to continue.
This means I get to use a new color! It is some sort of magenta, and I’ve veered from my primary colors only palette because I know from experience that I cannot get to the color of those redbud blooms from those primaries.
If you’ve known me for awhile, you may have heard me say that it is all my friends and relatives who buy my work because they feel sorry for me.
Another friend used to tell me this: “If your friends and family won’t do business with you, who will?”
A long time friend asked me to paint something for her home. She lost her husband about 2 years ago, and now she is slowly changing things to fit her tastes rather than their joint tastes.
She borrowed a book of my photos called “Spring in Three Rivers” (sometimes I just amaze myself with cleverness), and found a photo that rang her bell.
I took paintings to her house so we could determine the most appropriate size and orientation (that means vertical or horizontal).
She decided, and I began:
Now that just gets you all excited, doesn’t it?
How about this view? Painting upside down usually means I have the photo also turned upside down, but I reversed it so you could see what the goal is.
I think this is going to be beautiful! “Spring in Three Rivers” might even become the title, because of that cleverness I mentioned earlier.
It got busy at the Redbud Festival in Three Rivers at the Memorial Building this year. As usual, I saw a ton of people I knew, but I also got to meet new people. The standout to me was meeting Earl from BLOWING ROCK NORTH CAROLINA!! Really! I am that excited! That is where my G’ma grew up, and I visited there in 2010 and just fell in love with the place. And Earl is going to be a friend, I just know it. He came back on Sunday and told me about some books he has written. When I am finished with this series of blog posts, I will be searching for them on Amazon. He is also an oil painter and a retired pastor.
The Writer’s Corner was a busy place. I really enjoyed listening to them and learning about how the different writers chose to publish. All were self-published, some using assisted self-publishing companies like CreateSpace, and others just going at it pioneer style, as I am doing with The Cabins of Wilsonia. (Guess I am a little like my distant relative from North Caroline, Daniel Boone.)
I bought a book about old people who downhill ski, written by Mr. Fischer, who taught at Redwood High School when I was there in the ’70s. I don’t remember him. That’s okay. He doesn’t remember me either.
And isn’t this weird? The Memorial Building has a drinking fountain! Remember in the olden days before we were all raving environmentalists carrying around plastic water bottles, people just got a drink of water whenever they wanted one? No fuss, no muss. Probably no chlorine or special filtering either.
But I digress again.
There were quite a few musical performers who kept any radio dead air away. Sometimes I would say to a passerby, “Want to come into my booth so we can shout at one another over the music?” Most weren’t loud. The belly dancer’s music was really loud. I couldn’t watch her because I was too embarrassed. Guess I’m about as old fashioned as a drinking fountain.
Yesterday I left you contemplating the word “dumb”.
Today we will continue our Redbud Festival Tour.
Check out the primary colors. The sign being carried by the man says “Slow! Event Ahead”. So glad it used punctuation, because I’d hate to participate in a Slow Event.
I think this pottery comes to the Redbud Festival every year. Sure looked pretty in the morning sun.
So did these bracelets. There were a lot of jewelry vendors there. There are always a lot of jewelry vendors at these types of shows. I wonder how they can all make a living. I think the products go in cycles, and we are currently in a heavy jewelry phase of the art and craft fair world. I’m glad there aren’t many oil painters around right now. Of course, maybe they don’t do little podunk shows. I like little podunk shows that are walking distance from home. What does podunk mean, anyway?
Look! I got to be by the window with natural light, and my paintings popped out to folks as they entered from the lobby.
This is inside the Memorial Building, a funny shaped place that was probably built in the 1960s. I went to a play there when I was a little girl with my Great-Aunt Mary. The witch got shoved into the oven. Must have been Hansel and Gretel. . . but I digress.
Those drapes were a heavy hassle. Michael tied them together to let more light in, and I clothes-pinned tee shirts onto them. (Lemons? Lemonade!)
It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself. Why do people say that? I did say so myself.
Redbud Festival in Three Rivers was on a new weekend and in a new location. It was walking distance from home for me!
Bye-bye, studio, I have to work somewhere else today.
Does your commute look like this? It is WONDERFUL to walk to work.
Most exhibitors parked at the Presbyterian Church. Me? I took this shortcut across the field. It was a trail, but got turned into a bit of a road when the neighborhood got a new water system.
It brings me to the backside of the Memorial Building, where there is a dude on the roof, and the cars match the fire hydrants.
Vendors were setting up their pop-up canopies in the parking lot. I was very thankful to have an indoor space, because it got hot out there on the asphalt later in the day.
See? lots of hot pavement.
BJ is from Tulare and he has BEE-YOO-TI-FUL rustic furniture and very cool yard ornaments. I was briefly tempted to get some quail, and then decided it is dumb to put metal quail in a yard full of live quail. I try to not be dumb whenever possible. It’s dumb to be dumb. Don’t be dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.
There. Have I wrecked the word “dumb”?
Perhaps it would be good to continue this tomorrow.
I wanted to say “Redbud Returns” for alliteration, but didn’t want to confuse you any more than already.
What? You confused?
Maybe not you specifically. The general population has confusion about the Redbud Festival in Three Rivers. Let’s tackle this as a FAQ session.
1. Will the redbud be in bloom? Nope. It blooms in March.
2. Why is it called the Redbud Festival? Because that’s the way it is. It was established in the 1970s, and maybe they held it in March. I don’t remember.
3. Why isn’t it at Ardfarkle’s anymore? Because Ardfarkle’s doesn’t exist anymore.
4. But I liked Ardfarkle’s better. Do you have a question for me?
5. Why is it at the Memorial Building this year? Because that’s the way it is. The Memorial Building is a lovely location, a non-dusty place with both indoor and outdoor booth spaces.
6. Did you say the Rosebud Festival? Nope. It’s the Redbud Festival.
7. When is it this year? So glad you asked. Here is the official poster, beautifully created for you by the talented Karen Kimball.
The Redbud Festival is an annual (except when it isn’t) event in Three Rivers, held in May. It will be on Saturday and Sunday next. I’ll give you the specifics in tomorrow’s blog post.
Meanwhile, back at the workshop:
Oops. I’m sorry. I went for a walk. Here, look at the paintings in progress:
I already showed you this, right? But I just noticed that I transposed 2 numbers in a friend’s phone number on my chalkboard!
Cool fence, eh? The yellow stuff is some sort of fungus. It matches the fiddleneck. Oh wait, I’m distracted again.
You’ve already seen this too?
Okay, let’s go for a walk.
Wait, I keep showing you photos of this scene. Sorry. Guess I’m just really distracted today. Lots of work to do to prepare for Redbud Festival.
A glorious time of year in a beautiful place – that’s spring in Three Rivers, and it brings me inspiration.
In Three Rivers, this is called “Karl’s Tree”. It is a group of 8 dogwoods, a variety called “Carolinus Florida”. It blooms around the first of April, give or take, based on the weather.
Did you know that locust trees come in pink? These are also in Karl’s yard. They are more purple in real life than in this photo.
Fiesta flower is common in my driveway in early April. Mid April too.
Here is a pink dogwood and a white one too, both in bloom at the same time.
But what is there to DO in Three Rivers? Oh, trespass along the flume, look at the flowers, see the views, you know, just boring stuff like that.
The poppies look yellow in this photo. Colors don’t always work out to be accurate in digital photography or on the computer. But, it is still beautiful!
February is my favorite month. No wait, it’s March! Hold on a minute – I think it might be April!
Salt Creek ought to be raging about now. Instead, we are pathetically grateful for a tiny amount of flow.
My cousin loves to watch birds. I learned a ton from him and his sister in just a few days.
Green doesn’t last long around here so I soak in as much as I can.
More bird watching cousins. I am a cousin watching my bird watching cousins.
Way too much inspiration around here – this will have to be continued next week.