2015 Calendar Coming!

Two years ago I published a calendar of oil paintings.

Last year it was a calendar of photography. (I was too busy drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia to paint.)

This year it will be a calendar of oil paintings.

It will be called Beautiful Tulare County. If that sounds like a joke, stop being cynical! There are beautiful places and times of year around here. It is my business to find those places and times, and then to share them with you.

The calendar’s pages will not be precisely seasonally correct. They will be close, but summer is a dominant season around here, so those types of paintings will be dominant in the calendar.

Waiting for the price from the printer (NOT the book printer!!) and the estimated time of arrival before making them available for purchase. I’ll make it an easy price, a round number that includes tax and mailing costs.

A Well-Organized Show in Visalia

The organizers provided pop-up tent-tops, lunch and handled all the filthy lucre.

I began the day with high expectations and much optimism.

The pop-up tent was 10’x10′ in theory. In reality, it tapered inward, so instead of fitting all 6 of my display screens, only 5 would fit. So, quite a few paintings didn’t make it. Still, I have a TON of paintings.

There were 3 or 4 blocks of these tents with umbrellas in the middle of the street, because it was hot and shade was very welcome.

After setting up, I went exploring down the street. (or was that up the street? I walked North on Garden, so I think it would be “up”) This is GORGEOUS work by my amazing friend Nikki.

This was a simple booth with 3 different books for sale. (Hi Carole and Irene!) I thought the display was EXCELLENT. I wonder who won the best booth prize??

An hour before the show was advertised as open to the public, there were VIP guests. Except there weren’t. It was a nice idea, but just meant we had an easy first hour.

Then the public began to arrive. I saw many old friends, former and current drawing students, met new people, and had my sister with me for about 2 hours.

People were nice, and many of the comments and conversations were either puzzling or funny.

“I have 2 lemon trees in my back yard.” 

“Oh?” (What is an appropriate response? “Great! Want to buy a painting of a lemon?”)

Or, “Oh my gosh, I thought those were pictures!!” (usually pronounced “pitchers”)

Couldn’t really say what I thought, which was, “They are pictures. Did you mean photographs?”

“Oh my gosh, that’s $50??!”

“Uh, yes, it is an original oil painting, Doofus.”

Nope, I didn’t say that either.

In conclusion, I don’t think my work is suitable for a street fair in Visalia, no matter how well organized it is.

Visalia is the largest city in Tulare County, and it would be good to have my work in a place with a greater population than Three Rivers. However, I don’t know what would be the right venue.

More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

Painting for a Show in a City

With the first fall show coming on October 11, the pressure is on to get some paintings finished, signed, dried, scanned and varnished. Let’s see what is in the painting workshop.

Yikes. This photo shows me that my Mineral King mural needs to be freshened up. Wouldn’t it be fun to repaint it every 3 months to reflect the actual season? Forget it – I have to finish paintings that can be sold!

I had no trouble finishing these pumpkins. The bridge might be finished. The poppy fields are rough – this is after one pass over the canvas. The orange wants a few more blossoms.

I thought this would be too hard, because it is a challenge to turn 2 rectangular photos into one square scene, and real life is very messy so I’m trying to clean it up here. The rocks and background trees have been really satisfying. I love detail – did you know that?

On the advice of a trusted friend, I added more foliage to the poppies. It probably isn’t enough to suit her, but I like it. Those 4 orange poles will become The Four Guardsmen, 4 sequoias you pass among as you enter Sequoia National Park from Three Rivers. There is Farewell Gap (Mineral King) as it appears in early fall – leaves changing a bit, no snow, and very low water. Getting the water and rocks to look right is stretching my limited abilities. And the bottom scene is the trail to Farewell Gap. The light was wonderful that day! It isn’t finished in this photo.

Upcoming Show: Taste the Arts, Saturday, October 11, 11-5, downtown Visalia on Garden Street from Main to Oak Streets. (no idea where I will be – I’ll just follow directions like a good soldier when the time comes.)

Woohoo, world, I’m going to the big city of Visalia to meet some people and sell some art!

Yeah, I know, I really don’t get out much. Visalia is the county of seat of Tulare County, population around 125,000. “City”? It is to me! Three Rivers is 35 miles east and has about 2500 people, including all the part-timers. Just sayin’ so you can keep things in perspective from where I live.

 

A Question Artists Don’t Like

The question that most artists don’t like is this:

Will you donate a piece of artwork to My Good Cause?

And then it is followed by something like “You can write it off on your taxes” or “It will bring great exposure”.

The answers to the follow-ups are “Only the cost of the materials” and “People die of exposure”.

If a good Cause needs items for raffles and auctions, it would behoove both parties (the Cause and the artist) to buy the items. 

All those causes are good. One year, I donated more than I sold. It didn’t bring me more business; it brought me more requests for more donations.

A Cause can spend some of its resources on an item and then sell the item for more than it paid. It will make a profit. If it doesn’t make a profit, it can write off its expenses.

An artist who gets asked to donate her individually produced items depletes her inventory, can only write off the cost of the materials but not her time or the value of the item, and gets worn out.

An artist who gets worn out begins donating items of lesser quality, items that haven’t sold, items that aren’t her best work. (Honestly, I had an artist friend say to me one time, “Just give them your junky stuff that hasn’t sold – that’s what I do!”)

In a small community like Three Rivers or even anywhere in Tulare County, word gets out that you can either buy a piece of art for full price or you can just wait for the next fund raiser for The Good Cause. Then, Mr. Good Taste who spent money on art, sees that someone got a similar piece for 1/3 of the price, and the artist’s credibility goes down.

So, I don’t give my art away anymore. If your Good Cause would like to buy a piece, call me or email me. Perhaps we can work out some sort of a discount. When you truly value my art, I may be more likely to value your event.

Hint: if you have never bought any art from an artist, how do you have the chutzpah to ask for a gift??

There are a few Causes I choose to donate to, because they are part of my life. One of them is the mural project in Exeter, which was started by me and an awesome group of volunteers in 1996. Someone called me for a piece for their upcoming Garden Party fund raiser (a very nice event on May 5 this year); I explained my point of view because I’m teachy like that, and then I offered a painting.

Because it hasn’t sold in spite of the fact that I really like it (Obviously, my opinion does not causes pieces to sell), I took a hard look at it.

I paint better now.

Before

After (New and Improved!!)

If you don’t think it is improved, just be polite, ‘k?

I wrote about this a few months ago and called the post “Donations Bloviations”.

A California Artist Paints (Without Benefit of a Crystal Ball) in Tulare County

The Redbud Festival is coming soon. First weekend in May this year, and at the Memorial Building in Three Rivers, which is a new location.

As usual, I have no idea what to expect in terms of visitation or sales. A crystal ball certainly would be useful.

Oh well. Guess I’ll just paint a combination of what has sold well before and what floats my boat.

The first draft is bright but rough.

Now they are drying in the window sill. The colors look funky because they are wet and reflective.

What is that stack of stuff? I looked through my fruit photos (Phruit Photos? Fruit Fotos?), picked the ones that floated my boat, attached hardware, then wrote titles and inventory numbers on the backs of each canvas.

Now they are almost finished, drying on hooks next to the window. When they are dry enough to handle, I’ll sign them. When that part is dry, I’ll scan them. These are 6×6 wrapped canvases, in oil paint, and will sell for $50 each.

Or not.

I may be a California artist, but Tulare County is the 13th poorest out of 58 counties. And in spite of putting the price next to the painting, people always ask how much. We are also the 3rd least educated county in the state.

Always gotta do things the hard way, eh? Do you think my paintings of fruit would sell in Marin County? I could add another zero, maybe borrow my neighbor’s BMW, have someone dress me so I could pass, and make a run up there.

Nah. They’d see right through me.

Tulare County is where I was born, and it is where I’ll stay and paint. Sometimes I love it here, and sometimes I want to run away. That’s probably how it is with every place in the world.

Visiting Sequoia

When I was a kid and there were guests from out of the area, my folks would take them up to visit Sequoia National Park. I remember thinking, “Do we have to go to the mountains again?”

What a punk. A punk in the Park. A Park Punk?

Two very dear cousins of mine were here recently. We had family business to attend to, and then, we went to Sequoia! I wanted to go, and I really wanted to go with them. They had spent much of their childhood summers in Sequoia, and many of our memories were from times there together.

It had snowed several days before and the previous night. Our first stop was Beetle Rock, which involved some fun stories and binoculars for bird watching.

It was overcast and cold. Doesn’t matter. We were in the Park, and surrounded by Sequoia trees. I love this fence, even when there is no sun on it, even when the snow is tracked.

Cousin Joel seems tall to me, but not compared to a Sequoia tree. He has binoculars, because he sees a bird. Or maybe he hears a bird and is looking for it.

We walked up toward Tokopah Falls, stepping in the tracks of some previous hikers. Doesn’t this look cold? It was 34 degrees.

This is the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River. It flows through Lodgepole. Brrrrr.

It got so foggy we descended to enjoy the foothill part of Sequoia. This is the Middle Fork of the Kaweah River as seen from a suspension bridge out of the Potwisha campground.

Isn’t this a cool bridge? When I bounced on it, it was hard for my cousins to hold the binoculars still and identify their birds. I tried to not be a punk and mostly succeeded.

Isn’t this cool?

This is an old flume and provides water for hydroelectric power. Very clean energy, and nothing gets wasted. There were no birds in the flume, so the binoculars weren’t necessary.

For the record, this former punk really enjoys Sequoia Park. I am now a California artist who loves the special places of Tulare County, and that’s the truth! (Raspberry sound, but I can’t spell that)

 

 

Mineral King in February?

Nope, I’m not there. (Where did the word “nope” come from??)  But, it is Friday, so have a look at some Mineral King art from my pencil archives:

Fret not. Summer will return.

Mineral King is one of the treasures of Tulare County, a place I love.

We break for this commercial message: This pencil drawing of Mineral King has sold. If you would like your own original pencil drawing of this (or of something else), I can do it for you. In fact, it would be a pleasure to draw for you!

9×12″ – $200

11×14″ –  $250

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.)

Snow, see?  It wasn’t on the other photo because it melted. (Captain Obvious here)

Hard to believe this scene is the May page of my calendar. I love seasonal variety.

Here comes the sun means there goes the snow. (Captain Obvious again)

Now instead of just looking toward the mountains, we are looking into the sunshine. (Okay, Captain, we get it!)

Manzanita might be the most beautiful wood in the world. It certainly is in the world of Three Rivers.

My studios, melting in the sunshine. No, they aren’t melting, the snow is. I know that!

2014 Tulare County Calendars Here Now!

12/11/13 – 3 calendars available

12/1/13 CALENDARS SOLD OUT!

12/10/13 – 4 calendars left!

12/9/13 – 8 calendars remaining!

As of 12/6/13, there are only 23 calendars remaining. When they are gone, they are gone. If you only said, “Save me one”, and you still want it, use Paypal NOW. 

The 2014 calendar of Tulare County photographs are here now, available right here, right now.

This calendar is full of what I consider the best of Tulare County. I am a California artist, a studio artist who works from photos, a regional artist who doesn’t get too far from home, a Tulare County artist with 21,600 photos on her computer.

The 2014 Tulare County calendar is full of my favorites, taken by me and by my husband, aka Trail Guy.

2014 Tulare County calendar


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