Redbud Report, Day One

Redbud, the arts and crafts festival in Three Rivers, not the flower, was a 2 day event over the past weekend. It was hot. I’m not complaining, just stating a fact.

Because this is a local event, it is a blend of meeting new folks and reconnecting with old friends. Here is a list of encounters that come to mind:

1.  Derek, an oil painter who chooses subjects similar to mine.

2. My former drawing student and friend (they almost always shift to the friend category) stopped by with her husband and 2 little girls. No, medium girls! I drew Chloe as a toddler and could see a bit of a resemblance in her almost 10 year old self! Kept getting her mixed up with her 8 year old sister . . . stupid old artist that I must have seemed to them!

 

My booth now has fabric covers over the screens, the art is spaced out, and each piece has a label. This is how it looked at the beginning of the show.

Private Studio Tour

For nine years my studio was also a gallery, open to the public in downtown Exeter. When I closed that space and built a studio at home, people weren’t sure when or how to see my work. The answer – – –

By appointment!

Just call or email and we can set a time. You can ask any question, see whatever suits your fancy, learn about whatever piques your interest. You can have a private Three Rivers Studio Tour when you are in Tulare County.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Sophia and Max who are home schooled by their Mom, the jewelry maker of Plumage.

[Time out – I went to her site to link it to this blog post and I got sidetracked and bought a pair of earrings! I NEEDED them. They are navy abalone teardrop shaped, and you just can’t believe how exactly they fit my idea of a perfect pair of earrings. I love navy blue. I love teardrop shaped earrings. I love abalone. L O V E  these. If you are lucky, maybe Liza (pronounced “Lee-za”) will make a pair for you. Then we can be twins. But remember, I got mine first, so there.]

Where were we?

In my studio!

We were supposed to be learning about art, but there was a scorpion on the floor. After squishing it, I put it in this bag and gave it to Max. He looked at it under the giant magnifying light, which is normally used for drawing fine detail in pencil. Max thought all the grossness that is a scorpion was cool.

Sophia tried out my pencils after we talked about the different hardnesses and blacknesses and the different erasers.

You can see Max’s blue head here as he looks over Sophia’s shoulder.

I’ve never met a home schooled kid that wasn’t terrific. These two were no exception to that rule.

Thank you Liza for bringing Sophia and Max to my studio!

Man oh man, you are gonna love those earrings! Let me know when yours arrive so we can wear them on the same day!

2012 Redbud Festival

The Redbud Festival will be Saturday and Sunday, May 12-13 at the Lions Roping Arena in Three Rivers. Saturday is 10-5, Sunday is 10-4.

Redbud Festival is named after this flowering tree which grows wild in Three Rivers. It blooms in March, so the name of the Festival doesn’t correspond with nature. However, it does coincide with Mother’s Day, so here is something to do with your Mom this year.

My space looked like this 2 years ago. (I didn’t participate last year because all my work was in the Tulare Historical Museum for a solo show.) It will look different this year.

As I continue to read art marketing sites and blogs and to interact with other artists, I continue to make changes to the way I display my work.

The changes won’t be huge, but the hope is that my work will look better.

If my work looks better, you will stay in my booth longer. If you stay in my booth longer, you will study the work more. If you study the work more, you will get attached to something. If you get attached to something, you will want to buy it. If you want to buy it, I will sell it to you.

Oh great. Now you will be afraid to come see my booth at the Redbud Festival because you will get sold! No, I won’t sell to you unless you want me to. I don’t know how to “hard-sell” stuff, much less my own art. If I did, I’d, ummm. . .  no, I love my life. It would be the same as it is now!

There will be a new painting of the Kaweah Post Office, 2 of fields of California poppies, a Sequoia painting in a new shape, and maybe, just maybe a new painting of the Kaweah River. And there will be oranges, of course. And some small paintings of California poppies that sit on easels on a table top.

 See you at the Redbud Festival?

A California Artist Goes Coastal

I said “coastal”, not “postal”. Living in rural Tulare County in the foothills of the Sierra in Three Rivers is great. But, I’m 50% beach girl, and the ocean calls to me.

A dear friend and neighbor just graduated from a college in Santa Barbara. We stayed in the lovely town of Ventura, enjoyed her campus and graduation in SB, and stopped by the beach again on the way home.

Just wanted you to know that this California artist gets out and about in her state on occasion. These may or may not become paintings. More will be revealed in the fullness of time.

The beach in Ventura has a very sloped surface. If you walk far, one of your legs might shrink. (Perhaps it will rebalance when you walk back.) Would this make a nice painting? Probably has too much sand and not enough water.

The harbor had perfect light in the early evening. Would this make a nice painting? Probably. Not sure I have a market for this subject.

This beach was across the street from Santa Barbara City College. How do those people get any studying accomplished?? If there were little kids playing in the sand, this photo would almost have it all! Lovely lovely town and beach and day.

Spring Walk in Three Rivers, Part Two

Okay, let’s try this one again. I thrive on beauty. It drives me. It inspires me. It feeds and refreshes me. It nourishes something intangible inside. And remember, it is beautiful in Tulare County for a total of about 15 minutes each year. Good thing I had my camera with me during that little window of time in Three Rivers.

These dogwood are cornus florida, known in Three Rivers as “Karl’s trees”.

Ithuriel’s Spear blooms in shade on north facing slopes toward the end of wildflower season.

That might be Ash Peak, from which Ash Mountain, the headquarters of Sequoia National Park derives its name.

Spring Walk in Three Rivers

This California artist would like to share some inspirational photos with you. She took several walks in Three Rivers in the last 2 weeks with her camera in hand. Since a picture is worth 1000 words, here is 6000 words worth for your gazing pleasure. (But remember it is usually hot and brown and dry here in Tulare County, and we are all fat and have diabetes and the unemployment is really high, so you should probably not consider moving here just because we have 15 minutes of beauty each spring.)

Okay, never mind. Only one photo will load. Computers can be enough to make a preacher cuss. Since I don’t allow profanity on my blog and I’m no preacher, gotta go now!

Four Things Artists Don’t Explain

Maybe they don’t explain these things because they don’t know. Maybe they don’t explain because there are too many conflicting opinions. Maybe they don’t want new painters to know the secret information. Maybe they think that no one cares, or everybody already knows.

Whatever the reason, there are many things I’ve wondered about in the past 6 years of oil painting.

1. Why is the word “medium” used to mean so many things?

It can mean that your painting is neither small nor large.

It can mean the stuff you are using to make your painting. “What medium do you use?” “Thanks for asking [see how polite artists can be?], I use oil”.

Finally, it can mean the stuff you use to mix with oil paint to make it flow better. “What medium do you use?” “Good question – I prefer linseed oil”.

2. Why are you supposed to use expensive artist’s linseed oil instead of a big can from the hardware store? Let me guess – it is a plot to keep art supply companies in business.

3. Does anyone truly wait an entire year before varnishing a painting? I’m not making this up – it is what the books and websites and varnish cans advise. A YEAR?! The customer wants the painting now – you think he’s going to mail it back to me from Illinois in a year so I can varnish it??

4. What are you supposed to do when your box cutter slips as you are unwrapping a new unpainted canvas and it cuts a hole in the canvas? I asked Mr. Google and came up with multiple answers from just do an easy patch to NEVER TRY THIS AT HOME!

 

 

We used to write to people to ask them for answers to questions before Mr. Google came along.

Kaweah Post Office VI, 10×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125, © 2012

California Poppies Oil Painting

This is another painting of California poppies, working from a photo supplied by my thoughtful and generous mailman. I painted it as an 8×10, loved it, and decided to repaint it 16×20. Practice makes perfect, someone said. It is not a commission. The 8×10 hasn’t sold yet, so maybe I am just getting ahead of myself. (Sometimes I’m just dying to paint something, and then no one else thinks it was such a good idea.)

This is after 3 layers. When this dries, I’ll add lupine.

Stay tuned – I’ll show you when it is finished!

Here is the 8×10 version:

Great Year For Poppies©2012, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×10, $90

From Pencil Drawing to Oil Painting

During Three Rivers Artists Studio Tour Ten, some folks saw the pencil drawing of Redwood and Dogwood. They liked it, but color sells better than black and white and shades of gray, and oil paintings have a greater appeal than pencil. I LOVE PENCIL. Just sayin’.

Something new happened to me as a California artist: these people asked me if I could do an 18×24″ oil painting of the pencil drawing! What a fun challenge – not sure of which photos I used, I just decided to rely solely on the pencil drawing as my reference picture.

When the tree and background were finished, it had to dry before I began the dogwood in the foreground. I don’t have nearly as much experience painting dogwood as Sequoia trees, so I pulled out some photos for that part.

I think the flowers need to be less cultivated looking. A few stray limbs will help. It might need some growing stuff on the right. The drawing has unidentified shrubs, so I may try to make something up. If it looks fake, I can just wipe it off.  (Didn’t want you to get worried!)

The pencil drawing of Redwood & Dogwood is for sale. The shopping cart doesn’t work on my website, so you can email me for information. Sigh.

A Painting is Born

I gave a 4×6 oil painting on a little board to my friend Carol. She has it in her den. Or is it a library? Maybe it is a family room. . . Anyway, it is on a lamp table in her home, and I don’t think she just put it out because I was coming over either! (Get that rude thought out of your head.)

 

It was this scene, but much smaller. Made me feel good that she likes it, and despite being a year or more old, I still like it. (Oh no, does that mean I have plateaued in my skill??) This is by Tharp’s Log, out of Crescent Meadow, in Sequoia National Park.

Carol requested another painting, a winter scene this time. (She thinks she is commissioning me, but her money is no good to me.) While I was there, she gave me the photo she’d like me to paint.

After spending 3 days cutting the boards, painting, sanding, painting, sanding, painting, and sanding, today I chose one of those little 4×6 boards. (If my retired husband is willing to use the table saw to make 1 board, might as well have several done at once. Next, I hope he is willing to paint and sand and paint and sand.)

This is how a painting is born:

First, I drew it on with a paint brush. The little building on the left is really just an informational kiosk, so it will  not be invited into the painting. Didn’t figure it out until I had it placed. Isn’t that a rough drawing? If you didn’t already know that I can draw, you’d probably have doubts.

This is the first layer. Not a bad start, but I will layer and layer and layer some more. Seems the smaller a painting is, the more care it requires. The larger it is, the sloppier I can paint, and it still looks tight and almost photographic. I don’t know if that is good or not good, but it is how I paint. And Jack White said we should all paint the way WE paint, only better.

Hunh? Well, I got it, and it made me feel more confident in my painting.

This is in Yosemite National Park. I am a California artist, so I paint California things. (Thank you, Captain Obvious!)

(Captain Obvious has to speak these things so Mr. Google will find me.)