My Amazing Friends, Chapter Four

Tomorrow is the Three Rivers Hidden Gardens Tour. I think you can still get tickets here.

My favorite spot on the tour is my amazing friend Barbara’s lavender garden. (Your favorite might be Anjelica Huston’s place, which I’ve only seen from the road or in Architectural Digest a few years ago.)

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Barbara and I have been having great fun putting together some stepping stone/plant identifiers. Her daughter painted a couple of saltillo tiles with lavender for her a few years ago. Barbara loved them, and decided she wanted more. Her daughter now lives far far away, so she commissioned me to do these tiles.

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I think it may fall into the category of Odd Jobs.

But, this post is about my amazing friends, and Barbara is truly amazing her knowledge of plants, her ability to work tirelessly in her gardens, and her appreciation for beauty.

When people talk about lavender, they sometimes mention English, French and Spanish. If they are like me, they most likely don’t realize there are many many version under each of those categories.

This is Spanish. The flower tips look like butterflies.

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French lavender has leaves that are sort of toothy and serrated. I didn’t paint anything that detailed on the tiles.

 

I painted 24 tiles with different names, and another 11 with pictures and no names. They are all for sale for a price not determined at the time of this writing, and a percentage of the sales benefits the Three Rivers Union School Foundation. (Sorry, we don’t ship tiles!)

 

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My Amazing Friends, Chapter Two

This will be a long post. I hope you will savor it, instead of filing it in the category of TLDR*.

The series, My Amazing Friends, began this week with Bob. Let’s continue with Barbara, also of Three Rivers, a gardener extraordinaire.

oil painting by Jana Botkin

Barbara grows many plants, knows them all and is best known for her lavender. She is so passionate about her gardens (not just a yard, not just a garden, but GARDENS, plural!) that she works under floodlights at night in order to keep them in order.

wisteria oil painting by jana botkin

Two years ago her lovely grounds were featured in the very first Hidden Gardens Tour of Three Rivers, to benefit the Three Rivers Union School, which is always in peril of closing or being absorbed into the Woodlake School District.

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I had the honor and privilege of seeing the place on the official pre-tour, a return visit or two with my camera, and being present with my easel and paints during the official tour.

This year Barbara’s garden will be on the tour again. Tickets are still available, and you will get to see 4 places, including Angelica Huston’s place. Barbara’s will be the best on the tour, in my completely unbiased (harharhar) opinion!

Okay, getting too long, to be continued tomorrow. . .

*Too Long Didn’t Read

My Amazing Friends, Chapter One

The word “amazing” is overused these days. It is often pronounced “uh-MAY-zing” and has taken the place formerly occupied by “awesome”, pronounced “AHHH-sum”. My uh-MAY-zing and Oh-so-wise Dad was bothered by the description inflation of “awesome”. He said that very little was truly awesome, short of God or his (God’s, not Dad’s) handiwork. I’ve grown up with the word “amazing” usually reserved for God’s grace. . . heard the song?

Nonetheless, I have some friends who amaze me with their creativity and generosity and abilities. Today we begin learning of those friends.

First, there is Bob. He lives in Three Rivers and is a superb craftsman, a unique Tulare County artist (or would that be “artisan”?).

Look what Bob has made:

Fantastically beautiful and functional, oversized and modified Adirondack chairs from salvaged redwood. These chairs have arms large enough for a cat, some knitting, a plate of food, a skinny friend’s hiney to perch, or the Wall St. Journal in its entirety. When I sit in one of his original designs, my feet stick out in front of me, and I want to shout, “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!”

Bob modified his design to fit smaller humans, such as myself. I am not small, but medium. Bob is not medium, so sometimes I have to remind him that things which fit him swallow up medium people such as his sweet wife or me.

Look what else Bob made for me:

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This is a GIANT easel on wheels that lock. I’m reluctant to get paint on it. When it is all set up with a canvas (AFTER I finish the year of drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia) then I will take the plunge and begin using this AHHHH-sum and uh-MAY-zing piece of equipment.

To view Bob’s work, go here: Kelbro Stoneworks

Tomorrow I will post at The Cabins of Wilsonia.

Mural Make-over

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Nope, that’s not the subject of this blog post. But, sometimes an aunt has to do what she has to do. I’m in awe of my niece, proud of her, and so pleased to be her aunt.

In March of 2012, I painted a mural on the side of the building that was to become Sequoia Outdoor Sports. This is a business that is needed in Three Rivers, where thousands pass through on their way to Sequoia National Park for camping, backpacking, hiking and snow-shoeing.

I thought it turned out well, in spite of the fact that they requested sequoia trees where there are none. I am a hired paintbrush, and it is my job to make the customer happy (even when it causes a slight tic under my left eye).

The mural faded. This is highly disappointing, since I use high-end mural paints that are formulated to be lightfast and very saturated. I work from just the primaries, so I order the blues, yellows and reds with the highest lightfast rating. Apparently, even the magic of chemistry is not enough to compete with the sun on a south-facing wall.

Heehee, this reminds of those horrid photos they take of people right before a makeover. Weird unbrushed hair, no make-up, icky facial expression . . . in this case, it is shadows on the mural. That’s so you can fully appreciate the contrast to the final product.

Okay, now I know people will be slamming on their brakes, chattering excitedly to one another, “Where did that come from? What sort of business it that? We must check it out!”

I agree! You should check out Sequoia Outdoor Sports. It is a classy place, with a tremendous amount of great gear for camping and backpacking and who knows what else – ummm, they do! Why lug your old gear to Sequoia when you can travel without all that stuff, rent the best, turn it in at the end of your trip and not have to clean it up? Hmmmm?

P.S. In the local paper’s annual Best of Kaweah Country, this mural was voted the favorite in Three Rivers! In my humble opinion, it was because it was the newest that year. But, thanks, Three Rivers!!

Want to Paint On A Mural?

A year ago I painted a mural for a store in Three Rivers that had not yet opened. Sequoia Outdoor Sports had a grand vision to supply visitors to the area with the equipment they need for backpacking and camping. It is a great idea, because there are so many folks who fly over here from other places without their gear.

They asked me to paint  a trail scene and include Redwood trees.

 

The store is great, but the mural has already faded.

Today I will touch it up. If you would like to put a few brush strokes on it, stop by!

Three Rivers Oil Paintings all called “Kaweah”

A couple of oil paintings sold, so I moved them from their pages on the website to the Sold page. In the process, I realized that several paintings are not on the site that should be.

Kaweah River in Fall, 10×10″, $125

 They won’t load. Technology confounds me once again. Just when I think I can manage my own website, I have to go running to the web designer.

 

Kaweah Post Office VII, 11×14″, $175

These are not brand new but they are among my newest paintings. You might remember seeing them awhile ago. But, should you want to buy them, technology might confound you too! So, here is another opportunity to see them.

Kaweah Post Office VIII, 8×8″, $75

Pioneers In Paradise

What means this? It is the title of a new book, the 100 year history of Three Rivers by my dear friend, former drawing student and fantastic knitter Sophie Britten!

Pioneers in Paradise

I had the privilege of helping Sophie with the proofreading of this book so it was quite the thrill to hold it in my hands and celebrate with her! (and if you find any typos, I don’t think we want to know about it.) Here she is on the porch of my cabin. She looked so cute and happy that I insisted on taking her photo to use in the book. (what a pushy chick I am!)

Sophie knitting on the deck of a Mineral King cabin

Book Signings

 March 9,  Tulare County Historical Society Meeting

March 23, Three Rivers HIstory Museum

The book is available on Sophie’s website and on Amazon.

Everyone Loves a Rainbow

We enjoyed a fabulous rainbow last week. It was the full deal, complete with an echo or a reflection or whatever the right term is.

I love rainbows. Who doesn’t love a rainbow? They are a gift from God. Just are. There is a verse in James (in the New Testament of the Bible) that says “every good gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights”. This rainbow was definitely in that category.

I know. I’ve probably lost half my readers with my God-talk. I’m sorry. Here. Let me make it up to you with some fantastic photos of the rainbow. How can someone not feel inspired by this? (especially someone who draws every day in shades of gray instead of painting with lots of colors!)

What passes for winter in Three Rivers would make my friends in Northern climates just moan in envy.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

1. Nothing to report about Mineral King. You can look at the webcam. I’m drawing in the studio, and Trail Guy is probably skiing. I think he should be renamed “Ski Guy” this winter.

pencil drawing of Wilsonia cabin

 

2. I used to have a Blog Roll, which is a list of blogs I read. I don’t think any of my readers were checking those out, so in the interest of less visual clutter, I removed them. I still read those that post regularly.

3. I added the link to my other blog, The Cabins of Wilsonia. It is called “my other blog”. It is all I think about. I draw almost every day. Pencils, cabins, drawings, Wilsonia, the book, The Book, THE BOOK, THE BOOK. 

4. No wonder Ski/Trail Guy is always on the slopes.

5. Trail Guy/Ski Guy had dinner waiting for me 4 nights last week! Isn’t that fantabulous?

6. If you know someone with the initials REC in Three Rivers, wish her Happy Birthday today!