$4 Lawn Job, Part 1

There is a story from my childhood about a boy who went to a neighbor looking to earn money. The neighbor, whom we will call Mr. Persnickety, said he could mow the lawn. The boy was to supposed determine if he had done a $1, $2, $3 or $4 job and tell Mr. Persnickety. If the man agreed, he would pay the boy that amount.

I’ve never forgotten the story. In applying it to drawing, my early work would be the $1 job. Have pencil, have some skill, have great eagerness, will draw. It is probably the equivalent of making one quick pass across the lawn with the mower. Here are 2 of my early drawings. I had no idea how to handle trees or shrubs, and if someone asked me to draw a building, I drew it. Just it. Nothing else but it. Start at the beginning, finish at the end, sign, get my dollar and go home.

Optimism in a Garden

The Hidden Gardens Tour was a booming success on Saturday. Zillions of people came, and the weather was perfect. I was supposed to be painting plein air, which means “on site”, but really probably means “OHMYGOSH This Is Impossible”. I did paint but probably more words were spread around than paint was applied. Wow, what a gorgeous place I got to be!

The plan: take photos in advance, and do the first pass over the canvas of about 8 paintings. On site, move about every 45 minutes and work on a new painting. By the end of the day (a five hour time chunk), have 8 paintings almost completed. (Please don’t hurt yourself laughing nor snort coffee out of your nose onto your computer)

The reality: 1 painting finished in advance of the day, 2 sort of finished during the 5 hours. changed location once. Lots of conversations, visiting with old friends and making new ones, lots of just dabbing at the canvas thinking “I’ll just have to fix this later”,

Some people asked if it was my place – I said “In my dreams!”One woman asked me if she could use my bathroom –  I said “Sure, but you’ll have to walk a mile to get to it”.  It was just a very very nice experience, and when it was over, my feet hurt but my heart felt happy.

The 2 lower paintings got sort of done-ish, and the wisteria was completed last week.

The Real California

This week you’ve seen some beautiful green and flowered photos of Three Rivers. These are the sights that inspire this California artist, and I love sharing them with you.

While I am working in the green hills, my other half is at a higher elevation with an entirely different climate and color. Every work day, he puts on green pants, drives an hour up a gnarly road (or more, depending on conditions and an endless construction project) and climbs into a yellow machine to fight the white snow. (See how I think in colors?)

He doesn’t always work alone. And in case you are wondering, the square thingie on the back of the Big Yellow Machine on the right is called the doghouse.

That’s our friend John up on the snow bank. He is the co- owner/publisher/reporter/photographer of the local paper. He went along to photograph the snow removal operation.

And a Third Walk to Remember

Spring is the height of beauty, stunning views, super-saturated color, and altogether inspiring scenes in Three Rivers. When it is taking place, it seems to be the only season that counts. When it is over and I still want to paint it, it feels fake, out of place, inauthentic. That is all the more reason for this California artist to go ga-ga over this glorious time of year! We had a late cold storm last week and the low snow called me out with my little camera.

Looking downstream on the middle fork of the Kaweah River

Looking upstream from the same bridge. The snow is covering the foothills; the clouds are covering the real mountains.

One mile downstream from the bridge is the best patch of Owl’s Clover, castilleja something or other.

This is called Dichelostemma  capitatum; I thought it was in the brodaeia family, but my wildflower books might be wrong. Its common name is Blue Dick. I don’t know why Richard is depressed, but he certainly is handsome!

Different Roads

#14 in the series “Thoughtful Thursdays”

Becoming a professional artist takes more than talent, training and desire. It requires a plan, because one’s art can be the best in the world, but if it isn’t seen, it can’t be purchased.

The traditional method of “making it” in the art world is through galleries. An artist can build a professional reputation by entering and placing in juried and judged competitions, and by studying under professionals who are known in the art world. These artists prepare an artist statement and a biography that lists shows, prizes, galleries, professionals studied under,  and other art training.  These types of documents are very important in the formal art world and are often the key to opening doors.

It is more convenient to make it in this traditional manner if the artist lives near cities where shows, master artists, and galleries are available. Since each gallery has its own personality, it can take awhile to find the right match between artist and gallery. Between internet sales and the stalled economy, this traditional road is no longer the automatic route for artists to pursue.

The less traditional method of making it is to be self-representing. These artists seek direct contact with buyers through weekend festivals, commissions, selling on consignment in local shops and by opening their studios to the public. Instead of making art to fit the personality of a gallery, they are making art based on knowledge of their buying public.

These artists tend to have plain speaking loyal customers who say, “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like!” Their customers might be impressed by shows entered and prizes won, but often are not familiar with the shows. They may find it interesting to know an artist’s training, but usually haven’t ever heard the names over which other artists go gaw-gaw.

Now that the internet provides direct access to millions of people, many artists are following the less traditional route. There are artists who sell all their work through eBay. There are several artists’ groups that specialize in completing a painting per day, and these are selling very steadily. There is a site called Etsy that sells handmade goods, and another called Cafe Press which will reproduce artwork on merchandise for the artist to sell. Most serious artists have a website for direct sales to customers.

In Three Rivers, I know several artists who haven’t found it lucrative to sell in Tulare County; they have gallery representation in cities and are building their reputations by entering shows around the country. There are also artists who prefer to stay local and sell directly to the public. All are friendly, helpful, supportive, respectful and genuinely excited to see one another succeed at earning a living through art regardless of the road chosen.

Tote Bag!

This is the Mother of All Totebags. I could carry paintings in it, lots of knitting, perhaps my entire yarn stash, or say, 5 or 6 watermelons. I’m posing in Fig Garden Village in Fresno, and I’m surprised people weren’t flocking to me to ask where I got such a fabulous oil painting totebag. Surely in Fig Garden some swanky little shoppe would want oil painting totebags!

That pocket is handy, dontcha think? And, because I know you are dying to ask, I made the sweater. I know what you are thinking – “Why doesn’t she DO SOMETHING with her hair instead of making all those sweaters?”  Simple – knitting is more fun than messing with hair. And this is one of my less weird sweaters, although there is a long piece of yarn stuffed up my left sleeve. Not sure why, but there you have it.

Thank you to Michelle who gave me the idea of salvaging my torn painting in this ingenious manner.

Hidden Gardens Teaser

Hi. If you haven’t gotten your tickets for the Hidden Gardens Tour, you still can. It is one week from today. And if you are wavering, I’m hoping these photos will whet your appetite and push the doubts away.

In addition to painting on location, I will have a few paintings with me. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of those paintings will benefit our little Three Rivers School. Have a sneak preview:

Peeps? Yep, Peeps.

This may be one of the more unusual items I have ever painted! It is a commission, and there is a story of how it came about. My dental hygienist (yes, I am friends with my hygienist!) asked me to stop by her house to see a potential new painting project. She had fabulous tulips in bloom out front and I admired (and photographed) them. Later, I found some STUNNING oil paintings of tulips while zipping around the World Wide Web. STUNNING. I sent the link to the DH, and she saw that the artist also painted Peeps. Hunh? I didn’t even notice those on the site! DH asked me if I could paint Peeps for her. Umm, sure. I bought a package of yellow, my very first Peep purchase in my entire life! I’ve never eaten one either – my mom was mean, but I am 51 years old and only have 1 filling, so her meanness paid off. This may even have contributed to my friendship with my DH. As a model patient, she just admired me so much that we became friends? Nah, she is a very cool person, and we just like each other. Anyway, I digress. Here are the Peeps:

And, by the way, Happy Birthday, “Mean” Mom! 😎 (And thanks for the great teeth!)