Tag: Three Rivers

On the Easels, On the Wall

These are some of the paintings on the easel and drying on the walls around the painting studio/workshop. I did them for the Studio Tour. After spending an entire year just drawing the cabins of Wilsonia, it was time to paint again.

Always gotta have citrus paintings – what else would you expect from a California artist? These are each 6×6, a very popular size in kitchen art.

These pomegranates are 4×4″. Like the shoes? Ugly as sin, but oh so very comfortable. I thought about cropping them out of this photo, but got lazy. This palette served as a convenient tray for transporting these little wet paintings. The weird circle behind the painting on the upper right is an old color wheel. The palette is a gift from someone whose mother used to paint. Most of my supplies are gifts from people whose mothers and mothers-in-law used to paint.

The yarn in the photo is lavender and blue. I have been on a roll for a couple of years just loving the combination of teal and brown, so that’s what I am making the yarn in the painting. The photo is showing me the twist pattern, the size of the strands, and the way the light and shadow fall. This is called “using a photo for reference”, because out there in ArtWorld, working from photos is met with a lot of contempt.

The Kaweah River is on my list of Oil Painting Subjects To Always Have On Hand. I’ve painted this scene before. This time it is 10×10″ square, and the colors are a bit juiced up, although it is hard to tell when looking at a photo of a photo.

Ditto the Kaweah Post Office. This is the first time I’ve included the monument marker. Painting it on a square canvas got my eye confused, and the proportions were whacky at this stage. I fixed it later.

Careful! The paint is wet on these! The piece of paper is how I keep track of where I am on which painting. I could just look around the room and see, but a list makes me feel more productive and efficient. Never mind that it might be a waste of time to make the list and to keep it current. I’m 53 and I can do what I want. Wait a minute – am I 54? I can’t remember!

The top and bottom paintings sold at the Studio Tour. Time to paint another Mineral King!

Walking in Three Rivers For Inspiration

People: “Where do you get your inspiration?”

California Artist: “Everywhere.”

Here are photos from a recent morning walk in Three Rivers.

The Redbud tree is beginning to fade. This is the extent of the snow on Alta Peak that forms “the elephant”.

Popcorn flower under the oaks.

Nothing to say here except swing. Or “swang” if you are feeling Southern.

Spelled “loo-pine”; pronounced “loo-pin”. Go figure.

Lady Banks Rose grows like a weed. Looks best in yellow, also comes in white. The yellow is a bit amplified here on the screen.

These may be called “Fields of Gold”, “Pots of Gold” or “Gold Fields”.

I keep taking this same photo, year in and year out and year after year. If you are sick of it, stop looking.

These are fiddlenecks, common as dirt in the spring.

For not having any flowers, this is a rather colorful shot.

Thus we conclude today’s walking tour of Three Rivers. Hope you too feel inspired! What does it mean to feel inspired, anyway??

Three Rivers

Sold!

The Studio Tour was a success in many ways. I found 2 new drawing students, saw old friends and students, met new friends, made contact with folks that I’d only talked to on the phone before, and lots of other important things.

And, these are some of the paintings that sold.

Meadow Fence, 10×10, oil painting on wrapped canvas, a Sequoia National Park oil painting

Vandever-Mineral King, 10×10, oil on wrapped canvas, a Mineral King oil painting

Peach on Tree, 6×6, oil on wrapped canvas

North Fork of the Kaweah, 11×14, oil on wrapped canvas, a Three Rivers oil painting

Mineral King oil paintings oil paintings Sequoia painting Three Rivers Three rivers oil paintings Three Rivers Studio Tour

Wrapping Up the Studio Tour Wrap Up

On Monday I told you about the number of visitors who came to my studio during the Studio Tour. What I didn’t tell you was that they came in groups, such as nine people at a time, and they came steadily without ceasing until the next to last hour of each day.

My studio is in two parts: the lower building where I paint and the upper building where I draw. Isn’t it pretty in Three Rivers in the spring? Bet it is pretty everywhere in the spring.

See? Little green building with Cabinart sign for drawing, big brown muraled building for painting. It was tricky business to race from building to building, trying to greet and direct people so no one missed one of the buildings.

There is NO WAY I could have managed Saturday’s crowd without the help of my dear friend Rachelle. Yeppers, we always look like this when we hang out together!

Let’s peek into the painting room, which we call The Workshop. We named it before it was used for oil painting.

It normally does not look foofy like this. However, I was anticipating guests so Trail Guy and I worked like crazy setting things up and prettifying the place.

I left up a few paintings in progress on the easels so people would believe it is the room where I paint. Actually, they could look at all the spots on the floor and figure it out.

Now let’s peak into the drawing studio.

Normally there is a big table covered with work in progress, specifically The Cabins of Wilsonia, an upcoming book of pencil drawings of cabins. (Duh, I know. . .) But when a studio is 11×13 feet, a 6×3 foot table is sort of in the way of groups of visitors. We covered up the air conditioner and wall heater. No one noticed. Maybe they were all so blown away by my art, or maybe they were just being polite.

This is the working side of the studio. See the 2 blue crates on the far desk? This is the 260 drawings for The Cabins of Wilsonia. The drawing table has 2-3 unfinished drawings on it. These keep me busy while I contemplate all the computer work ahead for the upcoming book. I’d rather be drawing. The flat files are the coolest most helpful piece of furniture, provided for me by the most resourceful friend I’ve ever had. (Nope, not telling – sometimes an artist has to protect her resources.)

There is a sign over the window that says “Draw, Pray, Persist”. This is what reminded me to keep pushing through the 260 drawings for the upcoming book. Now I need to keep it in place but change the word “draw” to the word “compute”. Ick. I’d rather be drawing.

Tomorrow I’ll show you some of the paintings that sold. Why? Makes me happy!

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Studio Tour Eleven Wrap-up

Here are a few facts about Three Rivers Studio Tour Eleven.

There were 37 visitors to my studio on Friday, 96 on Saturday, and 45 on Sunday. I may have miscounted. If you have followed this blog for awhile, you won’t be surprised by this.

The weather was perfect. Look at Friday morning:

This year my studio was number 3 instead of #13. Either number is fine as long as the visitors can find me.

And get this: on Friday one friend brought me some tahini. THANK YOU, MARY ELLEN! She gave me the best ever hummus recipe several years ago and I’ve made it weekly ever since.

Another friend brought me a dress – yes, a dress! THANK YOU, MICHELLE! It isn’t my normal style, fabric or color, but she is cute and in style and I am, well, never mind, I am none of those things. So I tried it on and looked okay. (I can trash it up with a homemade scarf or something so you will still be able to recognize me if I wear it.)

Another friend brought me a fabulous photograph of a view of my favorite bridge. THANK YOU, GARY! Two years ago I told him how to find the bridge, because he is a wonderful photographer and I knew he’d appreciate the beauty of this landmark. When he told me where he stood (hung) to get the photo, I knew that either I’d never see that view myself, or it’d would be the last thing I ever saw before waking up at the pearly gates.

I’ll tell you a few more things about Studio Tour Eleven on Wednesday. Tomorrow I want to show you something about drawing lessons.

P.S. If you want to see more blog posts with paintings and drawings and photos of my favorite bridge, type “favorite bridge” into the search box at the top of this blog.

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Painting a Post Office

One of the most popular subjects for painting, drawing and photography in Three Rivers is the tiny Kaweah Post Office about 3 miles up North Fork Drive.

I’ve drawn it more times than I can remember and painted it 10 times. The reason I remember how many paintings is because I have called them Kaweah Post Office I, Kaweah Post Office II, Kaweah Post Office III, Kaweah Post Office IV. . . et cetera. Clever, no?

Here is #10, AKA Kaweah Post Office X in 2 stages. You may have to attend the Studio Tour this coming weekend to see it finished.

In order to keep each painting a little different, I paint it different sizes, from different angles, at different times of the year, and with different details. Sometimes I layer it (called “glazing” in Artspeak) and sometimes I try for alla prima (which means to finish all in one session).

This one is 10×10″, so it is slightly stretched out, and it will contain the historical marker, a new thing for me when painting. I thought the rocks looked fun – all those different grays to mix! Don’t know yet if they are fun, because I haven’t gotten to them at the time of this posting.

Kaweah Post Office oil paintings Three Rivers Three rivers oil paintings

Poppies on the Easel

It is time to get some paintings finished for the upcoming Three Rivers Studio Tour. This is what is taking place in the painting workshop these days.

It’s a start to a picture that might work in my 2015 calendar, in addition to being available for the studio tour. Besides, it is just fun to paint with such brilliant colors!

I’m a California artist. What else would you expect me to paint? Oranges? Sequoia trees? You wouldn’t be disappointed. . .

California Artist California poppies Three Rivers

Drawing Because I Love To Draw

After spending an entire year completely focused on completing one drawing after another after another after another until 268 drawings were completed. . .

What was I saying? All those after anothers got me lost.

I love to draw. It has been a long time since I drew simply because there was a picture I wanted to draw instead of a commission or a cabin related drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia.

See?

Grazing in Kaweah Country, graphite (AKA “pencil”), 14×11″, $250

If you live in Three Rivers, you’ll be wondering where this is. It is on Kaweah River Drive, at the place called “The Catfish Farm”. It might be called The Chess Ranch. Whatever you call it, the place is for sale. It is a huge piece of wonderful property, which can be yours for about $5,000,000. Yeah, five million dollars. Whatever. Just write a check or something.

Makes this pencil drawing look like the bargain of the year!

drawing Three Rivers

Three Rivers Studio Tour

Do you know what “biennial” means? Nope? Maybe?

It means every two years, or every other year, or this year but not next and then the one after.

2014 is the year for the biennial Three Rivers Artists Studio Tour.

March 21, 22, 23, 2014

Click here to get the information about tickets. It is a little complicated, depending on how many days you want to attend or how soon you buy the tickets or how young you are.

I hope you can come!

I hope it rains and that there is green around my studio when you come.

This blog has been receiving upwards of 600 spam comments per day, so I am not accepting comments at this time. (You can comment, but I won’t be able to find it among the zillions of junky ads so it will be deleted along with the jillions of junky ads.) If you want to tell me something, you may use the contact tab, or if you have my eddress, you may email me.

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It Snowed in Three Rivers

Of course it snowed in Mineral King too. You can see 2 Mineral King valley views on webcams here.

We might get snow about once a year in Three Rivers. It doesn’t stick, but it is beautiful while it is here. This was on Saturday, December 7. I was too busy to show you then. (The Stocking Stuffer Boutique went well – thank you for asking.)

My studios in snow

Trail Guy and I had to go for a walk and see how everything looked.

Looking downstream at the Kaweah River toward Comb Rocks

Looking upstream at the Kaweah River, toward the mountains (We say “the mountains” around here when referring to the Sierra Nevada.)

I like this view of the Kaweah River so much I painted it once. Wanna see? Here. (Yikes! I can’t remember if it sold or not!)

This tree would be a perfect subject for photography if it wasn’t for that chain-link fence in the background. A former neighbor once said to me, “Chain-link fences are the vernacular of Farmersville.” (That is a smallish town here in Tulare County.)