Jones

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Today I came home from photographing a house for a new drawing. Jones was on the porch, as usual. I said, “Jones, don’t lie that way. You look dead!” She was.  Zeke just looked over at her body and had lunch.  I went into the house to put my things down and  realized I needed a friend, because I am just a big baby.   S came over and brought Ralph with her. They are so kind.  They found no signs of injury, so they loaded her into a box, and I am now trying to get a hole dug in the DG (or whatever the heck this hard excuse for soil is) so I can properly lay her to rest.  Jones was a dropped off cat who came to us about 8 years ago. She had pretty coloring, a brown tabby with clear green eyes and very soft fur. I used to tell her that she was made up of the leftover scraps from the Kitty Factory. Her legs and tail were short, and her eyes were too big for her face. She squeaked rather than meowed, and she always let me know exactly what she wanted. “Let me in”, “let me out”, “Perkins wants to come in”, “the food bowl is empty”. . . she was very clear.  Each time we got a new kitten (she watched 5 new cats come into her space), she was outraged. If the new cat got too close, not only did she hiss and growl, she actually snorted! Not real ladylike, but she had a point to make. She was preceded in death Wilson, Scout, Prudence and Amos, but is survived by Zeke and Perkins. I got tired of her barfing, and I didn’t always like her, but I loved Jones and I will miss her. So will Perkins, but Zeke will just have dinner.

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 Perkins and Jones looked out for one another. Zeke looks out for his bowl.

Angels in the Wilderness

Today I had the privilege of hearing author Amy Racina speak about her 4 days of survival alone with 2 broken legs in a remote part of the Sierra. I used to be a backpacker and was always taught to NEVER NEVER NEVER go backpacking alone (not that I wanted to!) Amy is far more adventurous (reckless?), brave (foolish?) and strong (incredibly!) than I have ever been, and her survival story is remarkable, using extraordinary physical strength, rational thought and mental determination. She is a captivating speaker, and when she told of seeing someone after 4 days of dragging herself along, it brought tears to my eyes.  I bought a copy of her book, Angels in the Wilderness. I hope I can put it down sometime before midnight tonight! http://www.angelsinthewilderness.com/ 

busy busy

Here is the painting that was a little bit shy yesterday. It is a bit of an experiment, using the purple (Sorry, Lisa!) violet/blue background. I’m still not sure which way should be up, so it isn’t yet signed. (besides, it is too wet and I might mess up!)

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 Then it was just too hot to paint, so I moved into the studio and worked on this piece. Remember this? I wrote about it and showed it in the June 6 posting, titled “Commissions”. Here is another small portion of the piece:

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 Working on the snow portion helped me not hot-to-death. (This is not proper English, in case my Chinese friends are wondering!)  I was a little worked up because the A/C in our house croaked and no one was calling back to repair it. This caused snow to have a strong appeal.

 And, I’m sure you’ll be pleased to know that Juan from Lindsay answered his phone, showed up on time, gave a fair estimate, got the new unit and by 8:00 p.m. it was installed and keeping us all cool! Thank you, Juan!!! (possibly my new best friend)

Paint ’til you faint?

Nope, I’m not going to faint, but hoo-eeee, it is hot! Here are all the pieces I worked on yesterday – I love to paint! 😎 Of course, it helps to go get wet in the neighbor’s pool. . . thanks, Robin!

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The bridge is slowly becoming a good painting (I love this bridge and have drawn and painted it many times). I began a new one from a friend’s great photo of Evolution Lake (K, does this look familiar?). The pumpkins are finished, but the basket they are in could possibly cause a case of hives. And, just because I miss them, there is another poppy. There is one other piece that is too shy to meet you just yet (its back is to you – please forgive its bad manners). Here are the completed lemons (loved loved loved doing these!):

 Okay, never mind. WordPress has changed something and it won’t show the close photos of the lemons! More will be revealed (unless I faint from heat) 

 

A Peak

sawtooth.jpg8 x 10 “, $99 framedThis is the peak, Sawtooth, for which my cabin neighbor group is named (see the post “Friends”). They have all climbed it at least once, as have I. However, I am the only one who got a helicopter ride down. . . life at 16 was full of excitement. I am happy to report that the scars are minimal. I lived to climb it again 5 years later and this time I made it to the top AND back down under my own steam (with a little help from some friends because I was SCARED!!)Now I am old enough to enjoy the view without the need to prove anything (except that I can paint it!)

View from Farewell Gap

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Sold

Just in case you think I am only messing around while in Mineral King, here is proof that (almost) every place can be a business trip! This is what you can see from the trail leading to Farewell Gap. That is Timber Gap in the distance, and the flowers are lupine and some yellow thing whose name I have never learned.

I painted this a few years ago and would like to do so again. (Remember the blog entry about Series?) Besides, this year’s views were too smoky! The weirdest thing to me is that I kept looking for this very view while hiking to Farewell Gap and I never did see it this year. Too busy counting switchbacks. . . there are 21 between the last water source and the Gap, in case anyone cares.

drawing from photos

People ask if I work from photos or from real life. The answer is both, but with a heavy emphasis on photos.

I use a camera to gather my information, and I use sketches to arrange and improve a scene. Real life is messy, and I try to clean it up! There are principles of composition that make 2 dimensional art more pleasing without seriously altering reality.

Here is a photo and a drawing of the same scene. You may notice there is more stuff in the drawing than the photo – this is because I work from multiple photos to create the scene that I experienced, rather than copy the photo by rote. True confessions: I used to copy everything exactly as it appeared in the photo because I was greener than grass, didn’t know any better and thought it would be “cheating” otherwise! Live and learn . . . this is called GROWTH!

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Friendship

For one weekend each summer at the cabin next door to ours, there is a group of men who call themselves The Sawtooth Six. They met in college, and have been assembling in Mineral King for 25 years now. The one who owns the cabin was one of my first commission customers back in 1986, and I may have met his buddies that same year.

Each year we learn a little bit more as we gradually move from acquaintances to friends. They have grown (less howling at the moon), married (some more than once), become fathers (one has 4 boys!), gotten more degrees (at least one Ph.D and probably several MBAs), changed jobs or careers, moved to different cities, states, or even countries, and traveled the world. There is a definite aura of confidence and success, combined with a sense of humor and courtesy. Several have returned to the area with their families, renting places at Silver City just down the road. ( www.silvercityresort.com ) When they bring their wives, parents and children up to show them the cabin, if we are around we have the pleasure of meeting their families.

Usually one or two will wander over to our cabin and we’ll sit and visit. We love hearing about their lives from around the country (currently San Francisco, Long Beach, San Luis Obispo, Spokane, somewhere in New Jersey and Snohomish, Washington). We don’t know where each one works, all their wives’ names or even all their last names. They live in entirely different worlds than we do, and yet while hanging around in the mountains, we are all just people. They seem to like hearing about my husband’s job and my art, and watching me split firewood (with lots of jokes about taking photos home to their wives to show them what “real women do”!)

So, Sawtooth Six, I thank you for taking the time to visit my studio today and I wish you a happy, healthy, safe year so we can visit again next year in Mineral King!
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(if you count seven, that is because one of these handsome guys is my husband!)

Inspiration, Part 7

If you check my blog regularly, you might have been wondering if my computer croaked in last week’s heat wave. No, it is fine, and so am I (thanks for your concern)! I was gathering new inspiration in a place that has no electricity. Here are a few glimpses into that place for you:

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This is a view of Timber Gap this morning. It was smoky out from all the California fires, and a thunderhead was already forming.
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This is the view back toward Mineral King from Farewell Gap, a very long walk. It is always worth the effort, especially to see the Sky Pilot flowers, which only bloom above 10,000′.
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This is Farewell Gap as it looked a few weeks ago. The lowest point between the two peaks is 10,589′, and that is where we were!