1. The 2024 Mineral King calendar is still available. At the time of this post, there are 8 left, available through my website or if you email or call me. The Three Rivers Historical Museum no longer has any.
2. I spent 1-1/2 hours on the phone with Apple today to learn why blog subscribers using MacMail or AppleMail cannot see the photos in my blog posts that come to their email. (A few can, but WHY??) No answers came other than that I now need to spend an interminable length of time on the phone with the host of my website. Later. Today’s session used all my reserves for bad hold music and helpers who cannot help.
3. The new painting of fruit is in its home and is just right for the location.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THE TIME YESTERDAY TO TELL ME WHAT THEY SEE AND DON’T SEE IN THE EMAIL BLOG NOTIFICATIONS!!
Please excuse me for shouting. I am so touched by your responses and willingness to help.
In my attempt to see a pattern about who can and who cannot see photos in the email notifications, I learned this:
Mac laptop – some can see the photos, some cannot
Mac desktop – some can, some can’t
iPhone – some can, some can’t
iPad – some can, some can’t
Android phone – all can see the photos
Non-Mac desktop – all can see the photos
There must be some settings that we don’t understand on our iPhones, MacBooks, Mac desktops, and iPads. Now I might have to dig around on settings for Mac mail on every device they manufacture.
This hurts my apple-shaped heart. At least I know it isn’t a problem with my blog (using WordPress.org) or the subscription form.
One more thing: I sent out the blog post and left for the day. All your wonderful comments arrived, but I wasn’t at my computer to approve them. So, if you commented and wondered if it “went through”, it did, and once I approved it, it appeared.
You deserve a beautiful picture as a thank you for making it to the end of this post. (I hope you get to see it!)
Sequoias in Winter, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas
(I didn’t put the price because I don’t want you to think I am thanking you by trying to sell you something.)
My blog has a technical problem that I have been ignoring because it just seems impossible to solve. Today, I am giving it a try.
I am specifically addressing those of you who get notifications of blog posts in their email. Many of you think you are reading my blog when you are actually reading an email with the blog post in it, because you subscribed. (THANK YOU!) Almost everyone who reads my blog in their email cannot see the photos.
I have not been able to figure out why subscribers aren’t getting the photos in the emails. I no longer have a web designer; there is someone who helps me if I am in a pinch, such as getting hacked, but she has forty-eleven other jobs, and my website is not on the top of her list.
So, I have begun the unpleasant and distasteful task of trying to figure this out. Since most of my subscribers are even less techie than I am, this may not be possible. I might snatch myself bald or scream a little bit and then quit, but here is my first attempt.
Pippin is the most compliant of our 3 cats; Tucker is skittish and comical; Jackson is unfriendly and demanding.
If you are willing, please email or comment to let me know two things:
Can you see the picture in this email notification?
What device are you using? I need to know what brand (Apple or HP or . . .?) and what kind of thing it is (laptop, desktop, tablet, iPad, cell phone, etc.)
P.S. If you want to see the photos, you need to click on the title of the blog post as it appears when you open the email. It will take you to my actual blog on the internet where you can read the post and see the pictures. (The blog is a page on my website, www.cabinart.net) You can do this if you want to see Pippin in this post, but first, please answer my two questions above.
“Margaret’s Poinsettia, package of 4 cards and envelopes, 4.6×7.2”, $20. Inside message: Wishing you Christmas joy and blessings in the new year!
Through the years I have designed, printed and sold hundreds, nay, THOUSANDS of little cards. “Notecards”, as I refer to them, are perfect to say “thank you”, “hi”, “just one more thing”, “I appreciate you”, or even “I’m sorry”. If you write real big, you can get by with just one sentence.
“Sun Kissed”, pencil and colored pencil drawing, package of 4 notecards and envelopes, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2″, blank inside, $10
Designs come and go; sometimes I redraw something and then get rid of the older version. Other times, it seems as if a design has run its course and needs to be retired. Sometimes I have too much inventory, so I let a design run out for awhile. And sometimes a design that really grabs me just doesn’t speak to the buying public.
“Oak Grove Bridge #28″, oil painting, package of 4 notecards and envelopes, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2”, blank inside, $10
I used to sell my cards in many stores around the county. Most of those stores are now closed. Even if the stores were still around, my costs are so high that if I sell them at a wholesale price to a retail store, there is zero profit for me. This means that I am working for free. That’s just dumb business.
Sawtooth and wildflowers, pencil and colored pencil drawing, package of 4 cards and envelopes, blank inside, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2″, $10
Nowadays I sell the cards here on my website, occasionally when I do a bazaar or if I am having an art showing or exhibit (what’s the diff? I dunno), and on consignment at a very few places. “Consignment” means that they pay me after the cards sell, which means a lot of checking in, rewriting lists to keep current on supplies, making bills, sending the bills, paying attention to what has sold and what needs to be restocked.
Farewell Gap in Mineral King, pencil drawing, package of 4 cards and envelopes, blank inside, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2″, $10
It’s all part of the business of art, which involves many decisions. Most of those decisions would be better if I had a crystal ball. Lacking that, I look at the history of sales, look at the current economy, look at the venue and think about the customers. If consignment, I look at the store’s record of payment, if the cards are getting shopworn and need to be repackaged, or if the store hasn’t been displaying the cards in a manner that the customers can see them.
“Sawtooth”, oil painting, package of 4 notecards and envelopes, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2″, blank inside, $10
The business of art is a complex and delicate blend of science, art, and guesswork.
UPDATE: All packages except the Pear Lake Ski Hut have sold.
There are so many opinions about whether or not artists should put their art on sale. I’ve done this in the past with old drawings that are doing me no good in my flat files. I’ve never done it with notecards until now.
Why now? Because when I did inventory of my many designs, there were some that aren’t big sellers and only have a few packages left.
I have minimalist tendencies, and it is an easy thrill for me to get rid of things I am not using. By “get rid of” I mean sell, give to someone who can use it, donate to the local thrift shop (called “The Thingerie” in Three Rivers) or to the Good Will in Visalia (in case the item was a gift from someone in Three Rivers), or if it is truly worn out, toss it. (Yeah, yeah, recycle, sometimes that works too).
The normal price is $10 for a package of 4 cards. The sale price is $6. The sale lasts through the end of the year, for no reason other than the website asks for an end date to a sale.
Will I take these sale packages of cards to the Holiday Gift Fair? Might, might not.
I grew up in the country, with the choice of asking Mom to drive me or riding my bike if I wanted to go somewhere. (One did not bother Dad, because he was working; we were Mom’s work.) She rarely denied me when I asked her to take me to the library 2-4 miles away (we moved closer when I was in 6th grade), which was (and is) very small.
It was a challenge to find new books to read in that tiny building, but I never gave up trying. We either didn’t know about or didn’t have the option of ordering books from other county libraries as we do now. And I remember the first time I went to the library in the big town instead of the little burg—it was mind-boggling in its enormity. So many books, so little time!
Over a year ago, I was asked to paint an outdoor mural on the library of my youth. Within a week, I drove there with sketch paper and a tape measure. I met the librarian, who turns out to be a close friend of my sister-in-law. (Welcome to Tulare County, and never talk bad about anyone!)
Immediately, I began scouring my memory for ideas, and without knowing the budget, I came up with 3 versions—each one emphasizing different aspects of that nondescript rural unincorporated town, and different sizes for pricing options.
Alas, the Asker didn’t return my phone calls. I saw him in person, he apologized, and then still didn’t follow up. So, I let go of that dream.
Several months later, the Arts Consortium put out a Call-To-Artists, for not one, but TWO murals on the library of my youth. WHAT?? That was supposed to be MY mural.
Allll-righty-then, at least I had a headstart. I designed a second one, did the best presentation sketch possible, and even wrote an (unasked for) explanation and a (also unasked for) heartfelt statement about why I am the most qualified for this particular project. I met the deadline, and then waited to hear when I could begin. (Can you say “overconfident”?)
The deadline to notify the winner came and went. Silence. I asked the Arts Consortium who got the job, and the reply was that the selection committee was unable to meet. More months passed, and I asked again. This time the answer was that the selection committee was unable to decide.
I gave up, let go, moved on, while wondering what in the world is wrong with organizations and why I allow them to waste my time. I lost the big Catholic church murals—might as well add this to the pile of missed opportunities, and make a note to just deal with individuals in the future, rather than large outfits.
Then, 14 months after I was asked to paint a mural on the library of my youth, the Arts Consortium emailed that I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN FOR THE JOB!!
Stay tuned to see the sketches, hear the explanations, and learn when it will begin.
Explosive sneezing and uncontrollable coughing aren’t good for public interaction, so I won’t be at the Holiday Bazaar after all.
Good news:
My friend Elizabeth the Jewelry Maker will sell my calendars at the bazaar. She has been a bazaar and boutique buddy of mine for many years and makes wonderful (and very affordable) jewelry. She will accept checks or cash for the calendars. (Be sure to look over her jewelry while you are there!)
Look at those Chinese pistache trees in the parking lot!
Merchandise that I will have available:
Small original oil paintings, Rural Tulare County coloring books (for grownups and older children), Mineral King Wildflower books (only 8 left!), The Cabins of Wilsonia books (never you mind how many are left), single cards, card packages, and 2024 Mineral King Calendars!
This year’s calendar is photographs of Mineral King from the odd and beautiful summer of 2023.
“Odd” because the damaged road limited access to only a handful of intrepid cabin folks, but not the public. (Stay safe, all y’all, but you cabin folks are on your own.)
“Beautiful” because the winter had been phenomenal, with water running in every possible drainage and going strong most of the summer, the tallest grasses in memory, abundant wildflowers, and greenery through September.
I chose to not post about Mineral King in the summer because it just seemed wrong to rub people’s noses into the fact that it was gorgeous but inaccessible.
When it was time to choose the calendar theme, I decided to share the beauty that many people missed. Good idea? Bad idea? Everything is a mixed bag.
As the back of the calendar explains, seeing Mineral King at its most beautiful reminds us all that even when we can’t get there, this beloved place endures.
The calendar is $20 (including tax), plus $3 shipping for one, $4 for two, and $7 for three (shipped in 2 separate packages). If that sounds pricey, be thankful that I am not charging for those overpriced cardboard mailers, and that I am not charging the entire mailing price. Just wanted you to know this, in case you were thinking of making do in 2024 with one of those freebie calendars that advertise a business or show you places that you will probably never see.
There are several ways to get a Mineral King 2024 calendar:
From me in person (no mailing costs that way) either just around, or at the Holiday Bazaar at the Three Rivers Memorial Building on November 18
