A Bazaar With Knitting, Calendars, Tees, and a Mineral King Box

That is a bizarre title; please be impressed with the way I incorporated Mineral King into a Friday post. (Tahoe is postponed until next week.)

Would you like to see some of the things I will have at tomorrow’s bazaar?

Great, glad you asked.

The lavender purse is spoken for – please forgive me for taunting you with it. See the bright stripes at the very bottom of the photo? Those are socks,  which are too big for me, dang it. I think a women’s size 7-11 foot would work in them. See those red felted slippers? They are too small for me, dang it. I think a women’s size 5 would work in those.

But what is this box? Yes, I hear you wondering about it.

 

Trail Guy and I are not above scrounging in places where people have disposed of items. I INSISTED that we rescue this box. He said it was junky. I agreed but asked him to shore it up anyway, because storage boxes are functional and cool and it would be great to paint on. He complied with my request. and then added wheels too. The lid doesn’t quite shut, it isn’t completely smooth or totally square but it is clean, has wheels, and will hold lots of knitting or whatever floats your boat.

A functional all-purpose Mineral King painting on wheels! 

And this is the final selection of calendar photos. We did it!! Thanks to you, Tulare County photo calendars are now available!

See you at the Senior League Bazaar

Saturday, November 16, 9-4

Three Rivers Memorial Building

Drawing and Knitting??

The annual Senior League Bazaar will be on Saturday, November 16, 2013, at the Three Rivers Memorial Building, from 9 – 4.

What does this have to do with drawing and knitting, you ask. (Yes, I can hear your thoughts from time to time – keep them sweet!)

Because this year is dedicated to finishing all the drawings for the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia, the only paintings I’m doing are commissions. This means I don’t have any new paintings to sell at the Senior League Bazaar.

However, I have knitting to sell! Yeppers, knitted wooly cuddly cute handmade colorful useful items.

Why do I have time to knit but not time to paint?

Great question – glad you asked. (Remember, all interviewees respond to questions with either or both of those phrases and I don’t want to be left out of the current culture completely so this is my token way of faking as if I am “normal”.)

I can knit in the car, at home in the evenings, when I am in a meeting, if I am waiting somewhere. Bringing an easel and oil paints is somewhat frowned upon in a doctor’s office or at an airport.

That green purse is spoken for – forgive me for taunting you with it this way.

There will also be calendars! And Mineral King tee shirts! And a very cool wooden box which I will show you tomorrow! And some cards, because I have lots of those.

Your Opinion Sought

Greetings, oh Gentle and Faithful Blog Readers.

Last year I printed a calendar of paintings.

This year I have only been working on The Cabins of Wilsonia drawings and a few commissioned paintings. I don’t have any new paintings for a calendar.

On my computer there are 21,500 photographs. With the help of my husband’s honest and strong opinions, I have chosen 12 of those photos.

Now, I seek your opinion.

Shall I turn these into a calendar? Or are there enough calendars out there in the world? You all know me as a pencil artist, a painter, and a portrayer of the beauty of Tulare County. But, will anyone care enough to buy a calendar from me of photos of Tulare County?

It includes Sequoia, Mineral King (duh), and Three Rivers. Yes, I occasionally go to Visalia or Exeter, but please forgive me for not including either of those locations.

Thank you for reading, for considering this question and for responding!

LATE BREAKING NEWS – Great positive response from you all! The calendars will probably be between $20-25 and that will include shipping. They will have staples for the center instead of the spiral thing. The paper might be stronger than last year. They will have squares for writing. The folded size will be 8-1/2 x 11 (like copier paper). And Mary Jo, I will look through my photos and see if there is something that fits your very good suggestion. Katie, I’m with you – would love to do a year of nothing but fall photos. . . might be a bit too odd for normal people. (We’re special, don’t you know?)

The Kaweah Post Office Goes to New Jersey

Remember I was struggling with finding the oomph to paint this? Once I got to the finishing details, I wanted to paint and paint and paint some more. I finally stopped so the nice lady with my favorite name in New Jersey could get her painting.


Elizabeth looked through my photos and chose this view for her commissioned oil painting. It shows the fence and gate behind the Kaweah Post Office up the North Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers. (sorry for being so wordy – Mr. Google likes that.)

The California Artist Finds Her Big Girl Pants

I got serious about working on this commissioned oil painting of the Kaweah Post Office in Three Rivers for a nice (and hopefully patient) lady from New Jersey.

Kaweah Post Office oil painting in progress

Now, this is more like it. layers, details, contrast, texture. It needs to dry so I can paint the words on the signs – KAWEAH, POST OFFICE. The year established and the zip code are too small. The other words are sort of too small too, but I’ve done it before and I can do it again. I’ll probably end up tightening up other parts of the painting too. That’s usually how it goes.

So, I’ll just lift it off the easel, paint the edges, hang it up by the window, and then wipe the paint off my forearms. I always get paint on my forearms when I paint the edges of the canvas.

Kaweah Post Office oil painting hanging upside down by the windows

OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Would you just look at that!?!!

The wire is on the wrong side. The title on the back will be upside down too. I’ve only done this about 800 times so far.

I might need some time off soon.

Kaweah Post Office and Big Girl Pants

Dabbling, thinking it might be good to finish this before it gets hot again when I’d rather be in the drawing studio with its A/C unit instead of in the painting studio with its swamp cooler. Dabbling, deciding, doodling. . .

Has anything even changed from yesterday?

Get going – drink some coffee or eat some chocolate!

Here’s the problem: I’ve been concentrating so hard and long on the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia, just drawing like a pencil machine, that I’ve gotten nervous about my painting abilities.

This is a commission, I’ve been paid, and the customer is waiting. Put on your big girl pants and get busy.

Wow. That created a sense of urgency. Stay tuned. . . more will be revealed.

 

Painting the Kaweah Post Office Again

Commissions are good! They mean I get to paint something that has a definite buyer. They are the opposite of speculation painting.

Contractors build “spec houses”. It means they build a house like the Field of Dreams philosophy, in anticipation of a buyer. (“Spec” is short for speculation, not specifications.)

Very few artists admit to “spec paintings”. However, isn’t that what we are doing when we paint what we want and then schlep it around to various web sites, galleries, shows and shops?

This new painting of the Kaweah Post Office will only be schlepped to the post office to be mailed to a really nice lady from New Jersey.

Kaweah Post Office in progress

An oil painting begins its life in a rough manner.

When folks in Tulare County, particularly Three Rivers, have guests, we love to show them our sweet little Post Office up North Fork Drive. It is possibly the smallest operating P.O. in the United States, but that factoid depends on whom is being asked.

Anyhoo, we are proud of our cool little Post Office, even though it is technically in Kaweah and not in Three Rivers.

And thank you for being polite about how sloppy my painting looks when it is young.

More about lavender

My amazing friend Barbara grows lavender. She opens her lavender gardens (or is it a farm?) to the public each June when the lavender is at its peak. People can harvest bunches of lavender.

English lavender in bloom

The dates of this event are a little squishy, because the bloom is dependent on the weather.

This year, it is possibly Saturday June 15. This happens here in Three Rivers, and you just sort of have to pay attention to the paper and to people who might know.

Barbara and I like to collaborate on art projects. She had me paint lavenders on saltillo tiles for her garden and to sell during the Hidden Gardens Tour. These sold well, so I have painted more for her Lavender Harvest Event.

In addition, I have finished 2 new paintings based on her beautiful lavender. The hope was to have them printed into blank books to be useful as journals. More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

Livingston Lavender, oil painting, 8×10″, private collection

I know I said 2 paintings. Guess you’ll have to come back tomorrow.

My Amazing Friends, Chapter Five

Back when I had a list of 80 people waiting to get into my drawing lessons (dang, what happened??), I met Nikki Crain. She eventually became one of my drawing students, and we became friends. Not only does she draw very well, she is a master weaver.

We have done many shows over many years together. (I used the word “many” too many times and it has ceased to look right to me. Isn’t that a weird phenomenon?)

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 We like to be neighbors on the stage at the Perfect Gift Boutique, where we often help one another set up, talk to customers, and pass time between customers.

We enjoy the Senior League Bazaar each year at the Three Rivers Memorial Building. Nikki weaves and educates customers about weaving, the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, how to wear a shawl or a scarf, fibers, soy candles, and just stays cheerful and helpful. That in itself is uh-MAY-zing.

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One time I handed one of my plates to Nikki and she made some wonderful placemats to match.

 The mini version of the placemats,  called “mug rugs”,  are coasters that don’t stick to the condensation on your cold glass and then drop off in your lap and startle you. They are beautiful and useful, a winning combination.

Nikki and I spent a morning together so that she could learn more about blogging. It was fun, of course, and now you can follow her beautiful work on her blog, Handweaving by Nikki.

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Nikki usually opens her Three Rivers studio on First Saturdays. You can see her looms, her fibers, her work and her amazing self!

Still Goofing Off Instead of Working

How does a California artist goof off and get away with calling it “business”? It’s all business. Everything is a source of inspiration. Everything is inspirational when one lives in a beautiful place.

Sorry to rub it in. Forgive me?

Thanks. Glad I got that cleared up between us.

A California artist gathers her two closest friends in the entire world, who immediately love each other. They invent a game of dropping a pebble off a bridge over the Kaweah River to see who can land a hole-in-one in the rocks below. The California Artist takes photos and wonders how anyone can be so blessed to have such Ah-sum and Uh-MAY-zing friends.

It becomes a business trip when your walk takes you to the lavender garden of an amazing friend where you view your painted saltillo tiles and help place them while your friends get a preview of a breathtaking yard.

Definitely a business trip. No miles to write off. But, my hard-working conscience is eased by the fact of visiting my tiles and helping to place them.

On Sunday, I really did take a day off. I got to meet Gizmo and Gonzo, a taggenberg (maybe that is what the goat girl said) and a nubian.

After meeting these little guys, I finally understand why we call nasty bike tire-popping thorns “goatheads”. They are shaped like the heads of goats. Duh.

Isn’t Three Rivers the most interesting place to live?