Merry Christmas, Gentle Blog Readers

Enjoy this special time of year. . . I’m going quiet for a few days so I can do likewise. Blessings to you, friends, family, followers whom I have not yet met.

P.S. This post was scheduled to appear on Christmas Eve. I stayed away from the computer and didn’t notice that it hadn’t posted! Today I wondered where it was, and reposted it. THAT’s why it is just now appearing. Bye-bye, weirdo blog machine. I’m going to draw for a few days and ignore you and all your techie weirdness.

Anyone need a last minute gift?

I’m here to help if you need a last minute gift. You can call me at the studio (out of fear of the unknown  internet trolls I’ll put my phone # in words) five six one seven six zero six. (I figure if you need the area code, then you probably aren’t going to find this post very helpful because I’m too far from you to help at the last minute – however, it is 559)

Note card packages, oil paintings, pencil drawings, drawing lessons, Mineral King tee shirts, all available from me at my studio in Three Rivers. Calendars – sold out.

You know how I feel about shopping. This means I want it to be easy on you too. Let me know if I can help you.

If you live in the area, in Tulare County or here in Three Rivers, we can probably make arrangements to have it to you almost immediately. No guarantees, just hoping for the best. (I remember those childhood Christmas Eve trips to the Ivanhoe Drug Store with my Dad. . . I thought that was normal. Guess it was at our house!)

Here, take a deep breath and then rest your eyes upon this:

My favorite bridge, colored pencil drawing from 2006, sold

It Snowed in Three Rivers

Of course it snowed in Mineral King too. You can see 2 Mineral King valley views on webcams here.

We might get snow about once a year in Three Rivers. It doesn’t stick, but it is beautiful while it is here. This was on Saturday, December 7. I was too busy to show you then. (The Stocking Stuffer Boutique went well – thank you for asking.)

My studios in snow

Trail Guy and I had to go for a walk and see how everything looked.

Looking downstream at the Kaweah River toward Comb Rocks

Looking upstream at the Kaweah River, toward the mountains (We say “the mountains” around here when referring to the Sierra Nevada.)

I like this view of the Kaweah River so much I painted it once. Wanna see? Here. (Yikes! I can’t remember if it sold or not!)

This tree would be a perfect subject for photography if it wasn’t for that chain-link fence in the background. A former neighbor once said to me, “Chain-link fences are the vernacular of Farmersville.” (That is a smallish town here in Tulare County.)

Snow, see?  It wasn’t on the other photo because it melted. (Captain Obvious here)

Hard to believe this scene is the May page of my calendar. I love seasonal variety.

Here comes the sun means there goes the snow. (Captain Obvious again)

Now instead of just looking toward the mountains, we are looking into the sunshine. (Okay, Captain, we get it!)

Manzanita might be the most beautiful wood in the world. It certainly is in the world of Three Rivers.

My studios, melting in the sunshine. No, they aren’t melting, the snow is. I know that!

Sierra Wonders, a Book For You

Sierra Wonders is a beautiful book of art, photos, essays and poetry about the southern Sierra Nevada. It was compiled and published by the Arts Alliance of Three Rivers, and edited by my friend Karen Kimball. It is full of work by people I know, and it is truly beautiful!

Nadi Spencer’s art is on the cover, which was designed by Kasey Fansett, both friends of mine here in Three Rivers.

 

Have a look at the table of contents:

 

HEY!! That’s MY pencil drawing at the top! (I also have 2 oil paintings inside).

The proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Arts Alliance scholarship fund to help aspiring artists get through college. (Hopefully they will find their way through college in a less meandering manner than I did. . . sigh.)

It is $25, unless you are a member of the Arts Alliance, in which case it is $20.

Here is the link to buy the book, Sierra Wonders. Karen mails them out almost immediately upon receiving the orders (and confessed to me that she checks Amazon at least twice a day).

GREAT LOCAL LAST MINUTE GIFT! Just sayin. . . 😎

Sawtooth on a Notecard

Anyone out there still hand write cards? Send thank you cards? Send a card just because you ran into an old friend and wanted to tell her on paper in a lasting way how happy you were to see her?

This is one of the best paintings I’ve done in my shortish painting career.  (That’s just my opinion; feel free to disagree!) Now it is available as a little package of note cards. They are 4-1/4 x 5-1/2, so you don’t have to write very much. 😎 The package comes with 4 cards and 4 blank envelopes for $8 + tax.  You can find them by clicking this word:  Sawtooth.

Sawtooth is a prominent landmark mountain in Mineral King, visible from Visalia. I have an up-close and personal history with the peak. It happened on July 22, 1976 and it involved a helicopter. Who knew that one day I’d be painting the place??

My very wise dad used to say (until we were rolling our eyes) “Life’s full of surprises.”

He was right.

Shopping – Ick.

If I have to shop, I go into the store to find what I need and get out as quickly as possible.

The problem is that sometimes the selected store does not have the item. Then, I have to decide: choose something else or find another store?

The answer is usually GO HOME NOW! Then I look on the internet.

It doesn’t feel like shopping on the internet. Instead, it feels like learning, investigating, treasure hunting, taking care of business in a very efficient manner.

I shopped by catalog when I was in college. My roomie thought it was a little odd – “You just look in that catalog, fill out a form, mail a check and then it arrives at your apartment?” Yeppers, that’s exactly how it worked.

So, if you are like me, allow me to assist you. My website has items for sale that don’t cost very much, and often, I pay the shipping for you. I just take it to the Post Office and let the professionals handle the delivery. You don’t have to leave your house, and since I was going to the P.O. to get my mail anyway, it was easy.

There are Mineral King tee shirts, note cards, little oil paintings, prints of pencil drawings, original pencil drawings, and big oil paintings.

A Tulare County calendar for 2014 might just be the ticket. It isn’t on my official website – only on my blog.

 

There are only remaining. When they are gone, they are gone.

 

 

CALENDARS SOLD OUT!

2014 Tulare County calendar

 


Mineral King in Monotones

This is how Mineral King looked on Thanksgiving Day.

Not much water, not much snow, not much color

Not much snow, not much sun, not much color.

Ditto to the above comments. This is looking down from the junction of the Timber Gap/Monarch Lake trail.

Sawtooth, minus much snow, as seen from the Timber Gap trail.

Crystal Creek, not much water, no snow, not much color.

Heading back from Crystal Creek, not much happening visually.

Hey! Sunshine!

Please, God, send some rain and snow.

Stocking Stuffer Boutique

12/18/13 – CALENDARS SOLD OUT!

12/11/13 – THREE left

Now there are 4 calendars – 12/10/13

ONLY 8 CALENDARS REMAINING ON 12/9/13!

Calendar Update – there are only 25 remaining and when they are gone, they are gone. First come, first served – no payee, no sendee. 

A little history:

There is an ever-changing association of artists and crafts people that is loosely based in Three Rivers. At the start-up, they called themselves the “Kaweah Artisans”. Great group, nice people. I begged and wheedled my way into the group back in the early ’00s. We put on several events a year, and eventually I felt as if I had saturated the market with what I had to contribute. So, I backed off my participation. Over time, only a few events remained in the line-up of the Kaweah Artisans. I’ve stayed semi-active, and this year they have been gracious enough to invite me to join them in. . .

The Stocking Stuffer Boutique

 

I’ll be selling knitted items, 2014 photo calendars, Mineral King tee shirts, notecards.

Others will be selling woven goods, the new book Sierra Wonders, gourds, metal kitchen goddesses, and turned wooden items.

Reading Rabbit Returns

What? Who has time to read?

The better question is “Who has time to watch teevee?”

Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″

There are multiple ways to read these days. I have discovered e-books in spite of not having a digital reader. Amazon has a thing that lets you read on your computer. It isn’t very convenient, but it is less expensive than buying a paper book. Since I might have whatever is the opposite of a hoarding disorder, I like the idea of reading a book without owning it.

The other option I love these days is audio books. Amazon has a division called “Audible”, and I buy one book a month to listen to while working on The Cabins of Wilsonia”. (By the way, at the time of this writing I have 34 drawings remaining to complete out of the 270 in the book!)

1. Preston Goodfellow  by my friend Jim Karjala is an ebook of short stories. The main character is not named Jim, but these are Jim’s stories. They are funny and moving narratives of a rough childhood but not from a victim’s viewpoint. Instead, they show tremendous spunk, character and a great survival instinct. This is an e-book worth the hassle of reading it on my computer. I read it in two sessions – nice work, Jim!!

2. Wild by Cheryl Strayed was wonderful as an audio book. This is the story of a young woman who set out to walk the entire Pacific Crest Trail, completely unprepared. She was coming from a place of deep sadness and rough living, and she tells her story well.

3. Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Matters by Jon Acuff was also wonderful as an audio book. He read it himself, and this guy is funny, smart, wise, and very interesting. The book  tells about the stages of a person’s career, that they cannot be skipped but that they can be accelerated. That sounds dull, but this book is NOT DULL in the slightest – I love the way Jon thinks and writes and speaks!

4. Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung is another ebook that a friend gave to me. I began it, it is good, but, ahem, I am too busy to finish it. That’s just wrong and ungrateful on my part. I’ll get to it, along with the huge stack of books, ahem, several stacks of books, in several locations around my house. 

HEY! TURN OFF THE TEEVEE AND READ A BOOK!