This is getting to be a bit long. I’ll continue it next Friday. . . same bat time, same bat channel.
A good customer requested 14 paintings of citrus. He specified a certain number of Tangerines (aka Clementines or Mandarins), Lemons and Navel oranges.
Among the excitement of replacing paintings burned up in a cabin fire and replenishing the stock at the Silver City Store, I’ve been squeezing out these paintings.
Come on! You KNOW that was cute!
I know you are just dying to ask: How did that do-over on the Farewell Gap oil painting turn out?
First, here is Farewell Gap X (that is Roman for ten, the approximate number of times I’d painted this scene of Farewell Gap in oil, approximate because I didn’t number the paintings at first and had no idea I’d keep painting the same thing over and over, and Roman numerals are more elegant than American ones, and “numeral” is more elegant than number, and I’m just one elegant California artist, not to mention eloquent, which might be elegant for “long-winded”)
After Farewell Gap X perished in an unfortunate cabin fire, I painted it again.
Then, I painted it yet again so that the Silver City Store would have something else to sell for me.
Apparently I am incapable of perfect photo-reproduction of anything, even the same scene from my own photos.
And yes, I am repeating myself, but this time I am showing you 3 of the paintings instead of two. Besides, you’ve probably (I’m hoping!) slept since then.
Remember I needed to repaint a bridge painting that burned up in a cabin fire?
The first one was this:
And now (DUM-DUM-DE-DUM, BOOMITY-BOOM!) here it is as a redo:
I’m thinking that fire wasn’t all bad. . .
Don’t you just love finding out what happened? Ever read the last chapter of a book before (or instead of) finishing? That’s okay – you don’t have to confess anything here!
Remember this pale poppy?
Now look!
It was an easy fix. Thank you to everyone who shared their opinion – turns out we all thought it was pale and wussy looking. And thank you for being so polite about it all – all who remarked on it simply said they preferred the brighter colors rather than insulting the poor anemic thing.
Sawtooth Peak probably has many many stories. It is visible from Visalia, and when it is viewed in Mineral King, folks are often surprised by its smallish size. “How could that be visible from down there?”, I’ve been asked a time or two. My answer is always the same, “I dunno!”
On July 22, 1976 I was on a backpacking trip with a group of kids and 3 adults. We had a layover day at Columbine Lake, just below Sawtooth. Several of the group decided to climb the peak, but really wanted to make a mark in history by taking a less travelled route.
It was dumb. I got a helicopter ride, a hospital stay and many booboos from that experience. I also learned a number of things.
The main thing that stays with me is that I’d rather look at Sawtooth, photograph it and paint it than climb it.
The last time I painted it, my intention was to take it to the Silver City Store to sell it there. Instead, a man saw it at my cabin while it was still wet, and he bought it!
Thanks, Sawtooth Peak.
Love,
Jana, the scarred California Artist
p.s. I went back and climbed it in 1981. It wasn’t fun. My friends helped me. Otherwise, my scared (and scarred) bones would still be up there.
Are you asking yourself why I keep showing you the same scene, Farewell Gap, over and over again? I’m asking myself that question. The answer is that I keep painting the same scene over and over. The paintings are never identical, because that would be impossible.
This isn’t the replacement version for the one that burned, but it is.
Oh please, what is with the doublespeak?
Whenever a painting sells at the Silver City Store, I rush to paint another one to sell. The selling season is very short at that location, and I can’t be lollygagging around. I painted this because Farewell Gap X sold.
Nice creative name, California Artist.
Oh hush. It is my way of painting series. If you stop being so snotty to me, maybe I will show you the progression of paintings of this subject.
Why do you think we’d want to see that?
‘Cuz it is interesting to see growth. Then you can gloat at how horrible I used to paint and ask me for a refund or a redo of the paintings you bought from my “primitive” stage.
But what is with the doublespeak?
Farewell Gap X sold, then it burned up in a cabin fire. I am painting Farewell Gap XI to replace Farewell Gap X for the survivors of the fire, and Farewell Gap XII replaced the sold piece in the store.
Alllll-righty then.
Imagine you are on a road trip, just sitting there like a knitting machine, and your driving husband pulls over and says “I thought you might want a picture of this”.
Wouldn’t that be grand and thoughtful? It is.
Trail Guy and I like to visit his sister in Lake Tahoe. (Hi Laurie!) On one such trip we were passing Kirkwood, and he pulled over so I could photograph this scene. Kirkwood Meadow is outside of Lake Tahoe (south east? south west? just plain southish?) It is a ski resort, but in October it looks like this:
There were several horses in the photos I took. I chose this one and scooted him to a better place. That tiny little horse ’bout done near kilt me off. I had to go paint some nice oversized oranges to recover. Must be a California artist way of getting over the trauma. . . gave me flashbacks to Put-My-Parents-in-the-Painting.
The painting was for several reasons: to see if it is a good subject for a larger painting, because I wanted to paint it, and as a gift for a generous friend who sends me a new book to read almost every month.
This post is instructional for you, my fine quiet readers, who may want to comment on the blog but don’t know how. It’s really easy. And, all blog entries by a California artist should show some art, or a photo of California, doncha think?? Here is one for you before I get into the instructions.
If you would like to comment on my blog (and I’d love to hear from you!), it is really really easy. Really! Click on “No Responses Yet” or “Three Responses So Far” or whatever it says in blue at the bottom of this post. You will get a box that you can type in. Say whatever is on your mind about the post or respond to another commenter.
If you have no email and it asks for one, use mine. (Really!) It is cabinart at cabinart dot net. (I wrote it out that way because smart internet people say not to put it in one’s blog using the normal method.)
The first time you comment, I will get an email allowing me to approve or delete it. I can also fix the typos, which I ALWAYS do. (the Typo Psycho – that’s me!)
Don’t put in personal messages to me about when you are going on vacation and leaving your house empty for all the bad guys on the internet to see. If I think you revealed too much in a comment, I will delete the personal stuff because I am looking out for you.
P.S. It isn’t hard to learn new things. I just learned that the earphones from an iPod work with my MacBook and now I can listen to tunes or podcasts without using the speakers!