Jana Botkin | Cabin Art

Just kidding! This is not the mural’s progress today. Whoever said it takes 30 days to form a habit hasn’t met me. I FORGOT to photograph the mural when I finished painting!  So, I’ll just tell you a bit about the day. The most memorable event was when a gust of wind blew the umbrella [...]

Oooh, ooh, I think I might be 2/3 finished! My first guess at how long this would take was 60 days, and it may be that or even less. My hope is to have it look finished, and then have lots of time to dink around and improve and perfect and of course, hide a [...]

I knew today would be good when a man from Verizon drove up, got out and handed me a cup of coffee! Thank you, Mr. Verizon!! That was really really nice!  It was a very busy morning at the mural – a social event, to be sure. Then, Betsy came by and wondered if perhaps [...]

Now I can confidently say that I am half-way through. Today I realized that White Chief still needed some reshaping, and also concluded that it is much hotter on the truck than on the ground. Therefore, my new plan is to work on the truck in the a.m. and on the ground in the p.m. [...]

Today was a very pleasant day on THE WALL. I met the four Dumas brothers who chose Exeter as the destination for their annual reunion from several parts west. The lovely, gracious, and always accurate free lance reporter Lisa McEwen interviewed me for the Tulare County Lifestyle magazine (’twill be in the Visalia Times-Delta the [...]

Today I was greatly and ably assisted by Betsy, my “boss” from the Mural Team. Wow, it certainly does help to have help. It is difficult for me to determine what my helpers can do because I am not always certain of the next step. Or, sometimes the next step is actually a week or [...]

Today my dear sweet thoughtful capable friend Ellen helped me! She really really helped me! She declined any publicity photos, so instead you can see the tremendous progress we made together. She did the base coating that has been haunting me. Yes, I know this is sort of weird and not lined up, but lookylooky! [...]

Today my friend Sandi called. She asked what I was doing, and I said i was wiping up blue paint from the bed of the truck. You know how paint glues the lids on the containers? Well, all you have to do is WHAP the lid smartly against a hard surface and it knocks it loose, [...]

MARTA, THANK YOU FOR A WONDERFUL LUNCH! THE SANDWICH WAS PERFECT, MUY FABULOSO!! Today I had beautiful wonderful perfect new brushes to use! Now Cabin Group Two is completed, and tomorrow I will move the truck forward and paint Farewell Gap! (Lord willing and the creek, etc.) Wow, lots of exclamation marks going on – must [...]

Today my yarn shop called about some yarn I wanted – having no paper or pencil, I wrote the amount on the wall! Just doing what I can to keep the economy ticking along.Here is the day’s progress – detail in the a.m. and broader stuff in the afternoon. Betsy brought an umbrella, and as [...]