Colors, a Studio and Gallery

I have mentioned Colors in the past as being a delightful place to visit. It pops up suddenly along Sierra Drive in Three Rivers, and the parking is a little squishy, but it is Oh So Worth the effort to visit!

Colors is the studio and gallery of local artist, Wendy McKellar, one of the most versatile and high energy artists I have the privilege of calling friend. She has begun a blog, and we had such a good time learning together how to use WordPress.com. We sat side by side in my studio with our laptops, and just clicked, talked and laughed for almost 2 hours. I was able to help Wendy because my blog is very similar but on WordPress.org. (This is a confusing, hostile and territorial move that computer people have done to normal people just to keep us, the normal people, out of our comfort zone – it’s a conspiracy and a plot but I digress.)

I have added Wendy’s blog to my blogroll, under the heading of Blogs I Follow so you can regularly peek into her world of colorful creativity. It is so encouraging to have friends alongside in the journey of making art and making a living from art.

Cottage Commission Completed

This is the photo provided by Bob, My Favorite Customer. (That is a lot to type so I will refer to him simply as Bob for the rest of this posting.)

It is in color, and probably taken with a wide angle lens which makes the perspective look a bit distorted. In addition, there is a lot of unnecessary and unsightly material in the photo. Real life is messy and artists get to clean it up without even getting sweaty!

Here is how I drew the cottage. Bob was very pleased with the results, which is always a great relief to me. (Someday I may do an entire posting on the emotions of commission work.) Now, his wife and I have plans for a collage of the high points of the entire Irish trip. He may have the title of Favorite Customer, but she is an utter delight to work with! Would you believe we have known each other since 1973?? I just love living in the place where I was born and reared, unlike the adventurous and determined man who was born in this cottage, emigrated to the USA, and now has a descendant who is a great patron of the arts!

Cottage Commission Commenced

I am creating a piece of art to the specifications of Bob, My Favorite Customer. (Since he calls me his Favorite Artist, it is only fair that I return the compliment!) He and his family discovered a piece of their history while in Ireland, and I have the privilege of drawing it in pencil.

Bob requested a sketch before I began because the cottage is dilapidated and needed some artistic remodeling. That’s to be expected of something built in 1873.

Good thing Bob knows I can draw or this sketch might have frightened him away. Instead, he approved it, and I began the drawing. Notice the use of 2 separate words to describe what is taking place – “sketch” is loose, rough, for the purpose of conveying visual ideas. A “drawing” will be much more careful and refined.

Bob likes to see the process as it is taking place. Some people prefer to just be surprised at the end; others like to be included and involved. I do my best to accommodate my customers’ wishes.

In teaching drawing, I urge my students to develop the habit of shading from top to bottom and left to right (left handers should move right to left) because it lessens the smearing. Me? I’m experienced enough to do it any way I want and not have a smearing problem! Or it may be that I am experienced enough to know how to deal with the smearing problem, should one occur!

More Cute Li’l’ Things

Here are the rest of the 2×2″ paintings. My customer has selected 5 and will return all the unchosen ones to me tomorrow. I will deliver them to Colors, where Wendy will display and sell them on little easels for $16.50 each. The ones that my customer did not choose will not be inferior – don’t be put off by their apparent rejection. Taste is an individual matter, or de gustibus non es disputandum, as my wise (and wise-ass) Dad used to say.

Images of Home

The show continues at the Tulare Historical Museum. The address is 444 W. Tulare Street and the phone # is 559-686-2074. When the curator and I were discussing titles, one of my suggestions was “It Ain’t All Smog and Welfare”. She-Of-Good-Sense laughed out loud and then rejected that idea. Glad she has a sense of humor along with common sense! Here are more visions of Tulare County’s better parts in case you haven’t made it to the show (this is for you, Cousin Maggie!)

Mosquito Lake Trail, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $350

This trail is in Mineral King. In case you are wondering, it is the same trail as Eagle Lake Trail, just a little different view. The trail splits to two different destinations about 2 miles from the trail head.

North Fork of the Kaweah, oil on wrapped canvas, 11×14″, $175

This is in Three Rivers at the Sequoia RV Ranch Campground.

Images of Home

The show continues at the Tulare Historical Museum. The address is 444 W. Tulare Street and the phone # is 559-686-2074. I’d advise calling for their days and hours because their website is looking a bit wacky at the time of this posting. Although it is a museum with an entry fee, you DO NOT have to pay if you are visiting the attached gallery. It is a little confusing, but humbly speaking of course, my work has NEVER LOOKED BETTER than it does hanging on their walls under their lights! The show is up until July 16. Now, have a look at 2 more pieces:

Kaweah Post Office IV, sold

Spring Sycamores, 11×14″, oil on wrapped canvas, $175

The Kaweah Post Office is a much loved little building 3 miles up North Fork Drive in Three Rivers. You can read more about it here. And, in case you were wondering, sycamores are native trees in Tulare County. They like to grow in drainages and to live near water.

Guest Post

Today’s post is taking place at Chris LoCurto’s blog. Because his blog is about business, I wrote about business. This is the first line of the post:

“As an artist, I am particularly aware of the fact that luxury items are not in great demand these days.”

Read the rest of it on Chris’s blog, comment there if you’d like! He will respond – great guy, a privilege to get to work with him even briefly. In fact, when I read his blog, I think that if I had ever had a job at a company like he writes about, I probably wouldn’t have become a self-employed artist!

This picture shows how I feel when I get invited to do a guest post – warm and fuzzy!

Poppies Will Put Them To Sleep

My customer is so happy with her poppy window that she said she’d like to be a guest in her own home! That is just doggone high praise for her decorating abilities combined with my painting – what a team we make! I guess she really believes that “Poppies will put them to sleep!” (If I ever decide to run away from home and these bossy cats, I know where I’m going!)

Orange You Glad!

I am, because I got an order for 12 paintings of oranges. There are a couple of realtors who specialize in ag property. Whenever they sell an orange grove, the buyer receives one of my paintings. Isn’t that just the best idea? Thank you, Diana, for thinking of it and suggesting it to Matt, and thank you, Matt, for agreeing with Diana! Oranges are just the most fitting symbol for central California, and this California artist from Tulare County is the daughter, granddaughter, niece and grand-niece of many orange growers.

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Cute Li’l’ Things

A while back, I thought I was ordering a dozen of these little bitty 2×2″ canvases. Turns out I ordered a dozen packages of 5 each.  Ummm, oops. They are fun and fairly easy to paint, a good way to try a single subject. A friend/customer requested several fruits of this size. So that she’d have choices, I did multiple versions of each fruit.  She requested a few oranges too, so those are in the works along with a few persimmons. They appear below in a poor quality photo – just to prove I am working on them and not just sitting at the computer!