Jana Botkin | Cabin Art

Today was a day of many visitors. The most welcomed one might be LJ, my painting “coach”. We discussed the detail around Sawtooth, so I decided to drive there. (How many of you can say you have driven to Sawtooth??)  With her help, I greatly improved the area from Empire to Mineral Peak, sorting out the [...]

Today was fun – lots of detailing, and a few hidden items, which will stay hidden for awhile! There may be a contest. There may be a prize. More will be revealed, both literally and figuratively! Meanwhile, big THANK YOU to Carmen and Caitlyn who picked up trash by the mural today. Caitlyn is 6 [...]

Today I moved the truck out of the way and finished the mural. Maybe. Maybe not. There is paint on the entire wall now, and as the weather allows, I will fix this, improve that, clean up these, add those. More texture, better edges on rocks, fix fix fix. Here, look at the end:Now the [...]

Good thing it isn’t really hot yet, because it IS really REALLY hot working on THE WALL. Phew. This morning I may have finished the “hill” – I hope it gives the viewer a sense of placement, a feeling of being grounded instead of just viewing mountains from a helicopter. And today I was asked [...]

Since THE WALL, other subjects have taken a back seat. While I await the abatement of this little heat wave, the subject of bridges has re-emerged. On my way to THE WALL one morning, I detoured a bit to enjoy spring in the countryside around Exeter and discovered another bridge. I’ve crossed it many times, [...]

It is relatively hot out today which causes the paint to dry much too fast in the palette, on the wall and in the brush. The only reason I tried to paint is that Steve Fujimoto, renowned Visalia Times-Delta photographer, came to “shoot” me in action. These photos are to accompany an article that will [...]

I am an idiot. I sent you all to Amazon.com for Ron Hughart’s book when what I really meant to say is that you should go to The Book Garden in Exeter! This is a wonderful little independent bookstore that stocks all sorts of books, including a fine collection of books of  local interest. Mea [...]

Tags: A Place Beyond The Dust Bowl, Ron Hughart

Here is the flyer for the Garden Party again, hopefully readable on your monitor. Unfortunately the only way I could figure out how to resize it to fit on the screen is a method that includes the toolbar at the top!  

Wow, can it be?? Today I began detailing that hill on the lower left because the final “snapshot” is finished. Maybe. (A man asked me again how I got those photos up on the wall – his buddy blurted out “With her paintbrush, Dummy” or something equally ungracious.)Does this look like dirt, rocks, growies and [...]

Today was so peopled that I didn’t seem to paint much! However, detail is improving steadily on this scene. Notice it is “crooked” today. . .