Better When Scanned

 

Completed Oil Paintings, Scanned as Promised

These are the recently painted oil paintings of Mineral King and Three Rivers scenes, along with some poinsettias.

Honeymoon Cabin I, 6×18″, $165

Mineral King Alpenglow, 6×6″, $65

Mineral King Nature Trail, 6×6″, $65

Still River at Sunset, 8×10″, $135, SOLD 

Summer Hill, 8×8″, $108

Alta & Moro After a Storm, 6×18″, $165

Poinsettia 1 and Poinsettia 2, 5×7″, BOTH SOLD

Calendars

2023, Mineral King HIKES, still available here: Calendars

Gotta keep that back hidden from The Most Faithful Blog Commenter so you will need to click on the link to see it. 

Cool Enough To Paint the Kaweah Post Office

(I don’t mean that I painted the building.) I am referring to the weather in my painting workshop, equipped with a fairly adequate swamp cooler, unless it is over 95 and/or humid.

Every year people say, “It has been such a hot summer!” as if that is news. Every summer in Tulare County is a hot one. My theory is that if it starts mild, you pay in September and October. This is the real world, muchachos, and you are in it.

Kaweah Arts had two oil painting versions of the Kaweah Post Office for sale. This is a quaint little old building three miles up the North Fork of the Kaweah River, which, until recently, was the smallest operating post office in the United States. Alas, it sold, and the new owner closed it. It is still cute and quaint, so I didn’t paint out the images on those canvases.

However, I decided that I could do a better job.

BEFORE:

One would think that I could just make this up without a photo after painting it about 20 times (if you count the do-overs, it is probably more). One might be right, but one isn’t going to know, because I won’t be attempting it AND I might not need to paint it any more. 

DURING:

BEFORE:

 

DURING:

These are hard to photograph while on the easels. When they are dry, I’ll scan them for you (and for my records, of course.)

This is a first for the aloof Jackson. He has never inspected my work before.

 

Little Do-Over

This little 4×6″ oil painting has been around for a few years. I thought it was quite charming, but apparently I was alone in my opinion.

A friend is leaving Three Rivers, so I gave the painting a do-over to give to her.

If it looks familiar, it is because it is the fourth time I have painted this scene.

I don’t remember the order in which I painted them. And here is my normal disclaimer: they ALWAYS look better in person.

I will miss my friend. She will miss her river in real, but at least will have this little painting.

Completed, Signed, Dry, Scanned, and Delivered

This is how things look around here in the late afternoon. This photo is my attempt to candy-coat things, or perhaps to put lipstick on the pig.

The five oil paintings that I worked on while in Mineral King are ready to see (and buy, if you are so inclined) at Kaweah Arts. (Except Nancy has closed her store for awhile because she has to be ready to evacuate, as we all do here in smoky Three Rivers.)

The subjects are all chosen to appeal to visitors and residents of Three Rivers. (Unless there is no more reason to live in or visit Three Rivers.)

FYI, the sizes are 6×12″ ($125), 8×10″ ($125), and 8×8″ ($100). As always, they look better in person, and California sales tax is extra.

Did you just hear the voices of Charlie Brown adults when you read that last sentence? Or did you hear Eeyore? (Where in the world did A.A. Milne come up with that now iconic name?)

Fixes in Progress

My plein air painting of the Kaweah Post Office really bothered me.

First, there was something wonky with the roof; second, the signs looked wrong, sloppy, crooked, unacceptable; third, the light was not doing anything worth looking at. So, I messed with all those things. The color will be better when it is finished and I scan it.

Later I will address the lack of detail in the giant oak tree.

This one of the river. . . hmmm not sure why it bothers me, so not sure what to fix. I can’t find the original photo, or perhaps I changed it so much that I can’t recognize the original photo. Because I don’t paint the river often enough to truly understand it, I have to study the photos very carefully to make sure I am not depicting impossible things.

It feels more believable to me now. I will probably continue to add detail, because drawing with my paintbrush is my specialty. 

Neither one of these feels finished, but I will continue to work on them. I still don’t know what to do with the snowball bush/Moro Rock/Alta Peak painting. It might just become something completely different. 

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

Three Rivers Oil Paintings

There are a few paintings in my portfolio and studio that don’t please me. Two were painted when I was learning plein air (painting on location instead of in the studio). The other was painted my normal way, working from photos in the studio. Still, something just doesn’t suit me in any of these Three Rivers oil paintings.

I don’t know why this painting of the South Fork of the Kaweah bugs me.

I painted this while standing across the road from the Kaweah Post Office, then touched it up several times, but the bottom line is that I am more comfortable with detail than blurry things.

This one was painted with my easel standing in the living room while I looked out the window at my snowball bush in bloom, with Moro Rock and Alta Peak in the distance. Once again, it is just too blurry. I have fought to see clearly for most of my 61 years and cannot accept a fuzzy version of life and then pretend as if I like it.

It isn’t good to show and try to sell work that I am not pleased with. So, back on the easels, where I just sat and studied them for awhile.

These paintings will take some thought, time and work. 

 

 

 

Teensy Forgiving Oil Painting

I find most painting subjects to be just a little bit too hard for me. Is this because I am mostly self-taught? Maybe. Is it because I have only been painting for 12 years? Maybe. Is it because I don’t know when a painting is “good”, or “finished” or “overworked” or “incomplete”? Yeppers. That’s it. 

After struggling through figuring out how to blend Snozz Rock Homer’s Nose with the Oak Grove Bridge, how to work from 2 photos with different light, how to just make stuff up, all on a GIANT 18×24″ canvas (well, it IS giant compared to my normal 6×6, 8×8, 6×18 and 11×14 sizes!), I decided to work on the “teensy” forgiving 8×8″ oil painting of the South Fork of the Kaweah (“kuh-WEE-uh”) River.

Scary Scribble Stage

Better sky, better upper foliage (painting back to front)

Slowly working my way down the canvas, or forward in the scene

Cool! I’m starting to like this!

Scout wondered if there was any reason to be alarmed

Nah, just normal human things

Tucker wondered if there would be any treats soon.

Finished painting, signed, edges painted, and drying!

And thus we conclude the teensy forgiving oil painting of a common well-loved Three Rivers Kaweah River view. (Hey Uncle Google, how did I do on all those key words??)

Starting Over Again

That is the name of a country song by Dolly Parton. Only the title applies to this post.

If my record keeping is correct (and it rarely is, but closies count here), then I am beginning oil painting #75 in 2018. 

I didn’t mean to begin another oil painting, because hot weather is here and the swamp cooler is barely adequate for the really hot days. But I was flipping through some photos, looking for something now forgotten, and I saw a photo of the South Fork of the Kaweah River (here in Three Rivers, pronounced “kuh-WEE-uh”). It has been awhile since I painted water; last year I obsessively drew water in pencil, but this year only painted it when it appeared beneath a bridge or in a Mineral King painting.

The photo is upside down. So is the canvas. Can you tell? Nope, you can’t. The way I know is by the hanging wire, which you cannot see.

Basic shapes and sort of the right colors, just smeared on, is the way I begin paintings sometimes.

Right side up, does this resemble a river scene?

Why did I begin this when I have the large commissioned oil painting of Homer’s Nose with the Oak Grove Bridge?

  1. Because I am 58 and I can do what I want. . . OR
  2. Because the 18×24″ painting was too intimidating. . . OR
  3. Because sometimes I just drift and flail and fly by the seat of my pants. . .OR
  4. I dunno; your guess is as good as mine.

Someone around here needs to parent herself a little better. Or boss herself. Or not.

Today’s oil painting for sale:

North Fork of the Kaweah IX, 10×10″, $150 plus Calif. sales tax.

More New Oil Paintings

All those paintings of Mineral King over the past several months erased the subject of Three Rivers from my mind. When I got reminded that I hadn’t yet reserved my booth for the Redbud Festival, I also remembered that people might want to see some Three Rivers subjects during that little show. 

This popular shape and size is perfect for Moro Rock and Alta Peak and good practice for a possible mural of the same scene (still only in the conversation stage). This painting clearly needs many more layers.

Not sure how it will be to paint all this grass. I will put a bunch of wildflowers in it instead of the few that appear in the photo. The green time of year here is almost wonderful enough to balance out the seemingly endless dry brown hot months.

Redbud Report

Redbud is shorthand for The Redbud Festival, an annual arts and crafts fair in Three Rivers. It happened this past weekend. Because I live nearby, I was able to set up my booth on Friday afternoon with the help of Trail Guy and the trusty Botmobile. (That is his 1986 Toyota pickup with 300,000+ miles. If you need a fabulous mechanic, I HIGHLY recommend Foreign Autoworks in Visalia – Toyota, Honda, and their derivatives only. 559-734-8285.)

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I purposely brought fewer oil paintings than usual. Just wondering and experimenting with how the booth looks to see if less is more or if less is a bore.

IMG_2816I knew that coloring books would be the big deal, so I hung the somewhat cheesy sign where it could be seen from each entry. And I brought the finished commissioned painting of the Three Rivers house, along with the in-progress version of the Oak Grove Bridge.

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I liked the uncluttered look of the screens. Along with oil paintings and coloring books, I had Mineral King tee shirts (now sold out enough to be removed from my website), notecard packages, and Wilsonia cabin books.

It was all mostly a backdrop, a little gallery for the purpose of selling coloring books.

FIFTY-EIGHT COLORING BOOKS SOLD!

Heart of the Hills is available here and at Kaweah River Trading Co., Three Rivers Mercantile, and the Three Rivers History Museum, all in Three Rivers.