Hidden Gardens 2, 8×8″, $75
Historic adobe house, lavender farm, fabulous garden, and a view of the fake Comb Rocks. The real Comb Rocks is out the the frame to the left. (It’s a Three Rivers thing, with apologies to those of you who are wondering what I’m going on about.) The number of available views to paint from that one location would seriously cut into my gardening time if I lived there! I do a great deal of gawking while I walk past that particular location.
Hidden Gardens 5, 10×8″, $90
Well, why not? We were on the subject of flowers this week and I haven’t shown you all the Hidden Gardens Tour paintings yet. This is one of the 3 remaining in my possession. I’m thinking about putting them for auction on eBay, seeing if I can raise a little cash for Three Rivers Union School. Just thinking about it. The Hidden Gardens Tour was very successful in raising cash for our little one school school district. It is a rare community that has a K-8th grade school, and ours is very important to the entire town. Hmmm, might be talking myself into it. More will be revealed. . .
Excuse me. Didn’t mean to shout at you with that title. Okay, pants-on-fire, I DID mean to shout! I’m happy!! After receiving a boatload of stuff from a podiatrist, along with the reassurance that walking won’t permanently injure my foot, I’m back on the trail. A little huffy-puffy, but I can work back into it.
The best flowers in Mineral King aren’t usually in Mineral King. They are 4 miles above it, where the trail splits to go to Farewell Gap or Franklin Lake and Pass. This year’s flower season is condensed, due to the late start. These photos are a week old, because I was so into that Daily Painting thing that I delayed showing you.
Michael’s favorite
My favorite
Sold
“One ton tomata, I ate a one ton tomata, one ton tomata, I ate a one ton tomaaaa- ta.”
(Hint – it’s a song that you hear while eating chips and salsa)
Okay, that’s it, that’s all for these daily painting posts. Too confining to my smart-alecky, free-spirited, non-routine-loving self.
Sunny Sequoia IXX, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $75
When I belonged to the Colored Pencil Society of America, there was a tradition. At every annual juried show, there was a piece called “Paper Bag #_____”. The numbers went quite high, the pieces were always well done, they were a little boring, and they ALWAYS made it into the juried show! When the slide show took place at the convention, the paper bag was an anticipated piece, and it ALWAYS caused laughter.
What does that have to do with anything? Series: I learned about painting in series, naming series, numbering, keeping track and making tiny adjustments and corrections as I repeated a subject over and over. Besides, if it is a popular subject and customers ask for it, an artist can hardly say “Nope, it has been done already.” Okay, an artist can say that, but she would be stubborn and missing lots of opportunities. Me? not about to miss the opportunity to keep painting better and better Sequoias, poppies, oranges, whatever is appropriate to Tulare County in particular, California in general. And, whatever is popular! (gotta be honest here!)
Red Pear II, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, sold
See? A second red pear. A pair of pears. I painted it twice, then I ate it. I don’t want to be a starving artist.
Red Pear I, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, sold
But wait! There’s more – tune in tomorrow at this same time to see a companion piece to Red Pear I.
Mineral King, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50
Waking up in the morning has never been easy for me. Some people wake up energized and ready to go; I am not one of them. My Oh-So-Wise-Dad used to say that when he woke up in the morning, he’d lie there and try to die. Failing that, he’d get up and do whatever had to be done. He was joking, mostly. Now I wonder if he didn’t just struggle with the whole wake-up-get-up thing as I do – hard to tell, because he was a very early riser. And, he expected his daughters to get up at a reasonable time too. (Our definitions of “reasonable time” never seemed to mesh.)
Occasionally, I will wake up and feel refreshed, excited about the day, ready to see what there is to see. This painting is from a photo taken on one of those rare mornings. And, for the record, it isn’t morning I struggle with; it is waking up that is the problem!
This painting is available for sale on my website. Just sayin’.
6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50
Farewell Gap is an unusually symmetrical mountain pass. The elevation is somewhere in the 10,000′ range, and the trail to get there is 6-1/2 miles long, very well graded, with fabulous flowers. I love that hike. (Never mind. Stupid plantar fasciitis.)
This year I am lollygagging about the cabin, enjoying the views from the valley. This is one of the best. This one sold, but I can paint it again. Happily! Love this view.
