February is Spring in Three Rivers

To my friends who live where there is winter, if Three Rivers seems SOOOO LUCKY to have spring, think about the rest of the year. Hot, smoggy, fat people, poor people, lots of diabetes, high teen pregnancy. . . okay, I exaggerate. That’s Tulare County, but Three Rivers is in Tulare County.

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Not much water in Salt Creek. Colt, a miniature Aussie, liked it!

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Comb Rocks in the distance, lots of green on the ground. Colt likes it here.

No water in the falls.

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Lupine in bloom!

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Lots of oak trees in Three Rivers. Easier to photo than to paint or draw when there are no leaves.

Painting Better Now

Lake View VII

Why hasn’t this painting sold? Trail Guy loves it. I thought it was pretty good. Hmmm, let’s study the thing, put it on the easel and get tough.

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This now has better detail in the mountains and a different and brighter color in the water.

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Keep painting, Central California Artist. You’ll get it.

Hey, Get Back Here!

Mr. Art Patron returned from his vacation to find an indoor mural on his wall at Visalia Granite. He was very pleased, and asked for a few minor adjustments. They were improvements, and I am glad he noticed and asked.

Oh, that troublesome beam. Not knowing how to deal with it, I simply painted the sides a solid color. It shows from the the conference room, and Mr. Art Patron had a good idea.

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It wasn’t easy. The only thing about this mural that was easy was maybe, just maybe the sky (in spite of not having a photo). It was also easy to paint in a controlled environment. Mr. Art Patron tells me it wasn’t a true challenge for me because he says I’m an art-chitect and excel at architecture. I feel confident with pencils, a drafting table, T-square, triangle and a big fat magnifying light, but on the wall, I’m a newbie at this type of subject.

Anyway, here is how the mural now appears from the conference room.

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Now it looks like a HUGE column instead of a metal beam with brown paint on the side. (“Brown”?? How about “Dark Chocolate” or more accurately, “Burnt Umber”?)

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There was also the troublesome piece of metal that secures the beam to the floor.

Visalia Granite

See it there? Easy solution, but I didn’t think of it when all I could see was the finish line.

 

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Just match the floor!

My little camera didn’t do the trick, but Mr. Art Patron’s iPhone had this fantastic panoramic feature, and he was like a human panning machine/tripod thing, and held steady as he panned.

Visalia Granite panorama

When Mr. Art Patron handed me this subject, I almost choked. I gasped a bit, made a few shocked noises, and wondered if he was overestimating my abilities.

Now, I REALLY REALLY LIKE IT!! (Are artists allowed to like their own work??)

Eagle Trail Painting: Before, During and After

Before: trail

During: IMG_0131

 

After?Eagle Trail

 

I might keep painting over and over and over. This looks better to me, but once it is dry and hanging in the studio or showing somewhere in public, I won’t know for sure.

Also, this isn’t a true and fair comparison because I’m using different cameras. Guess you’ll just have to see it in person to decide. Wait, you can’t see the old one in person, because I painted over it. Trust me on this: it IS better now!

Hey Mr. Google, did you know this is in Mineral King? It is actually the trail to Eagle Lake, Mosquito Lake, and White Chief, but I simply titled it “Eagle Trail”.

I Paint Better Now, Again

A painting called “Eagle Trail” wasn’t sitting right with me. I look at it each time I set up a show or rehang paintings in the studio, and something was just not good enough.

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I don’t know what is bothering me.

So, I just began with the upper-most, furthest away parts. As I was taught in one of the classes that I began but dropped part way through (rap music? really?? Couldn’t take it!), the “glazing” method is just repainting, over and over and over.

Here it is after another session on the easel:

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It is a little glossy because it is wet. I’ll keep layering and layering, studying, thinking, trying to paint it more carefully and accurately. When it is dry, it should photograph better. I hope it looks better!

February First Saturday Three Rivers

January is over. February is on us. The first Saturday of February is the 7th, and it is a bit of an event in Three Rivers, as are all First Saturdays in Three Rivers.

My studio will be open from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. It has a hand rail up the steps now! It will be raining, Lord willing! 

There will be The Cabins of Wilsonia books available.

You will be able to see oil paintings in progress, like these, if you peek through the window of the painting studio, which will not be open:

 

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And this:

 

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And if you are lucky, you might even see lupine in bloom already. February is the beginning of spring in Three Rivers!

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(It was sort of a long uphill walk to see these, but maybe there are some in a more convenient location.)

P.S. I don’t take credit cards but I do take cash and checks.

I Paint Better Now

Sometimes progress sneaks up on us incrementally.

I’ve been oil painting since March 8, 2006 (Yes, I remember the date. It was memorable and remarkable and important.)

I pulled out an older painting (haven’t been painting long enough to call anything “old”) that a friend requested. She saw a scratch on the surface, so I said I’d patch it up. When it was time to paint, I realized that an entire area wasn’t good enough for me anymore!

Here is Morro Rock as painted in 2008:

 
Morro Rock

The rock wasn’t good enough for me anymore. I repainted it in 2015.

 

 Morro Rock II

 

Morro Rock II, oil on board, 11×14″, Not For Sale

Yes, the color is different. Last time I photographed it with a camera I no longer own. This time I photographed it with a newer camera, one I bought for Trail Guy so he’ll leave my camera here for me. He preferred the older camera, because it is hateful to try to learn new buttons and switches and digital baloney.

Anyway, I paint better now and wanted you to see the difference so we can be happy together about this thing called “growth”.

A Few Days Off Work

Finish the mural early, take one day off work, okay, why not two because I have company, oh go ahead, take three. I am the boss of me, and my boss gave me 3 days off last week. Why?

Because I completed the mural one day early. 3 days off? How about a bonus?

Never mind.

What does a Central California artist do with 3 days off?

This one does yard work, has company, entertains a lamb, works on a mural, does more yard work, has a handrail added to her studio, and watches her company and husband begin to build a fence.

Want to see some pictures? I didn’t photograph all the activities mentioned because sometimes it is hard to carry around gardening tools, paint brushes, a lamb and a camera at the same time.

 

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What are these guys doing??

 

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Sweet Pea wants to know.

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Hey, Babycakes. Want to go to Mineral King?

 

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Just kidding. It’s a mural. (Later we scrubbed the bird poo off of the sky, in case you were bugged by it.)

 

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When Cowboy Bert and Trail Guy began working on a fence (I didn’t take photos), we decided that Little Lambie-poo would be happier if she were let out to hang out with the people. It was clear that she chose Cowboy Bert to be her mama. Two manly dudes, lumber, tools, and a lamb.

Meanwhile, I worked a bit on my studio mural. Pretending to be productive eased my conscience about taking off 3 consecutive days, in spite of receiving permission from my boss.

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