Quick and Cold

This collage in pencil is of several Visalia landmarks.

The other day I had to go to Visalia (AKA Big Town) for the morning. In the afternoon, there were pressing responsibilities on the computer (scan some things, email them to folks who had requested such things, try a few more adaptations to the cover of the book I am working on (as editor and designer, not as author), and finally, I went out to paint.

Why? It was kind of cold out there, maybe 50°. That should be no excuse. I went out to paint, because incomplete paintings don’t sell. I had been studying my photos of Three Rivers the previous evening, thinking about sales, thinking about what I haven’t painted in awhile, and thinking about the local businesses who sell my paintings. There are a few new things I want to try.

No, it wasn’t as cold as this but I thought you might enjoy this pencil drawing of the Pear Lake Ski Hut.

Try? Yeah, as in “can I do a good job?” and “will this sell?”

Most of my current customers are visitors, travelers passing through Three Rivers. They want something indicative of their visit, preferably on the lower end of the price spectrum, small enough to fit into luggage and small enough to not skew their home decor.

Enough bloviating.

First I looked at the unfinished pieces.

While briefly considering what was necessary for completion, I felt a cold breeze on the back of my neck and realized I didn’t want to sit there while concentrating on details.

Instead, I chose to do something quick. Some things quick. Some quick things.

Never mind.

Choosing the photos, choosing the sizes, digging the canvases out of the supply shelves, assigning inventory numbers, attaching hanging hardware, and slapping on a first thin layer.

OUTTA HERE! Back to the house by the woodstove. THANK YOU, TRAIL GUY for keeping the home fires burning.

Tempted Away From Painting

On a fabulously springlike day in February, Trail Guy tempted me away from painting: easy to do when there are wildflowers and it isn’t hot and I don’t have a tight deadline.

First, I noticed all the chemtrails. Yeah, yeah, I know, “contrails”, but I still think there are way more than we have passenger jets above. The general direction is usually south to north, or west to east. I believe something secretive and possibly nefarious is taking place. Yes, I am susceptible to conspiracy theories; often the distance between one of those theories and reality is about 6 months.

We drove down toward Kaweah Lake, parked at the upper end of the Slick Rock area and then meandered upstream along the river, with a wee bit of accidental trespassing behind the Lazy J Motel.

A great redbud in the parking lot!

We headed toward the river, went across someone’s former foundation and down these steps to the river trail.

In putting this post together, I remembered WAIT (Why Am I Talking?) and decided that the photos can do the talking today.

I also decided to start looking for a new camera.

March Forth on March Fourth

This pencil drawing was done from several photos taken in the campground Sequoia RV Ranch up North Fork Drive in Three Rivers. Like the other drawings used in the 2026 calendar, the original is on a piece of 11×14” archival paper. It is for sale. $375 (plus tax if you live in California) or make me an offer, because sometimes I get tired of being businesslike and think the drawings are better on someone’s wall than in my flat files.

Same sizes and prices for the January drawing, and February drawing.

I painted this scene a few times too, but they sold a long time ago.

I am willing to paint it again, because I accept commissions. (Tryna be businesslike here)

Just Some Stuff

These three topics are rattling around in my skull.

ONE

It rained and hailed rather ferociously while I was painting that indoor oak tree at my church; two days later I took this photo. Check out the first daffodils in bloom, in spite of the recent heavy cold storm.

TWO

The elephant was buried in snow. “Elephant?” That’s the shape that appears on Alta Peak after a snowstorm.

THREE

Stem & Stone* asked if I had any poppy and lupine paintings hanging around for sale. Nope. We discussed sizes and prices, with Stem & Stone suggesting something similar to the popular size 6×18” sequoia paintings. I countered with the fact that sequoia trees are more popular than poppies, thinking that $195 might seem steep for someone here visiting for the purpose of seeing sequoia trees. Stem & Stone suggested a smaller size but the same proportions. I found 2 small canvases in my supplies that fit the bill, both 3×9”. This gave me pause, but I agreed to try.

The cause for my pause is that very small paintings require holding it in my hand while painting and require tighter control, taking a disproportionate amount of time to paint. If I price by size, which is how the buying public makes sense of pricing, after Stem & Stone takes its agreed upon and fair bite out of the price, I am essentially working for less than minimum wage.

I speculated that is the reason many artists choose to paint loose and fast. I could try that method, but then the people who know my work would wonder if I’d been dropped on my head, had tried to paint left-handed, or lost my reading glasses.

Sigh. Sometimes it is really hard to be a professional artist.

HOWEVER, I did a rough sketch for Stem & Stone to see if it fit the vision.

*Stem & Stone is owned by a dear friend whose retail judgement I trust completely.

Finally Painting Sequoias Again

After a couple of weeks of messing around, I finally planted my feet in front of the easels to complete these three Sequoia paintings.

First, I dabbled on this one day, and then said, “Never mind, I’d rather [walk] [pull weeds] [go to the library] [anything else]”.

I girded my loins, and returned to the easels on another day. Can you tell which one is finished among these three?

Now two are finished, on the face anyway.

The light is beginning to wane, but all three are now finished on their faces.

The edges remained. It is a good way to use up the rest of the paint, and I hold them in my hand and rotate them around, trying to not end up wearing any paint. Finally, I laid them flat to dry.

The next oil painting task is to decide what to paint for the Silver City Store. Summer is like Christmas—we KNOW when it is coming, there is no excuse for procrastination, and there is plenty of time to prepare without getting jammed up against the calendar.

Maybe in one of those avoidance activities, I can engage in some deep thought to figure out why I was so reluctant to work on these paintings, which sell steadily at two local art stores/gift shops.*

Then since I was on a roll with Sequoia Trees, I got this panel set up in the sunshine to recoat the sky because that knothole made a weird appearance.

*Kaweah Arts and Stem & Stone

February Around Here

This is the page for February in my 2026 calendar.

I drew this in pencil (duh) from several photos taken a short distance up North Fork Drive in Three Rivers. The original is on a piece of 11×14” archival paper. It is for sale. $375 (plus tax if you live in California) or make me an offer.

Same size and price for the January drawing. Not tryna be sellsy or pushy (because that is obnoxious and I don’t really know how to do that). Just letting you know. Besides, this is supposed to be a business blog, not just me trip-trip-trapping around and then yip-yip-yapping about it.

Quick Glimpse into Sunny Three Rivers

First, in case you were wondering, there are actually 5 rivers here, all part of the Kaweah drainage. Marble Fork, East Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, South Fork, all part of the Kaweah river. “Kuh-WEE-uh”, in case you were wondering further.

Second, we don’t have a river view; we opted for mountain views, since they are less expensive.

Third, why am I not working and showing you progress? Because it is really pretty out right now, and I thought you might enjoy it.

Moro Rock and Alta Peak, with its signature elephant.

I’ll stop bragging about our sunshine now. Here’s Jackson, the least friendly and most fat of our three felines.

Jackson and Pippin, put away for the night, watching me leave the studio. Tucker is safely inside too, just not staring at me.

Tomorrow I’ll return to work.

Beginning drawing workshop at a “new” place

Stem & Stone, a neat little shop in Three Rivers, sponsored a beginning drawing workshop. Their store is too small to accommodate a big table with people around it, so we used the Bequette House at the Three Rivers Historical Museum.

I love old buildings, with all sorts of architectural details lacking in modern structures. Although I’ve seen it for many years, Sunday afternoon was my first peek into this quaint little house.

The large table easily sat the six participants and could have handled two more.
The rocker in the far left corner is calling my name.

Out of respect to the attendees, and because I was too busy teaching to don a photographer’s hat, I only took photos of the building.

A good time was had by all. Now I’m wondering if I can just go into the Bequette House and sit in that old rocker by windows with excellent light and just read or knit and enjoy the atmosphere, away from the annoying intermittent tech troubles.

Nine Things Learned in November

November means the end of colored leaves. The promise of spring in a few months will keep me from descending into the Slough of Despondence, as will the fun of learning new things, completing commissions, working on a mural, and resuming drawing lessons in January.

1. There is lots of disrespect on the road when driving an old vehicle. While I was on the freeway getting to the mechanic, people tailgated and roared past, without regard to the fact that I was keeping up with traffic. And yet, when I got to town, everyone I interacted with expressed great interest in and respect for the Botmobile. A bonus thing learned is that our Botmobile is the same model featured in the movie Back to the Future.

2. It matters who you get at the post office counter. It cost $4.50 to send 2 packages of notecards to Northern California, and then it cost $2.44 to send the same thing to Southern California. This is the result how the postal worker interprets the contents, and how he/she labels it – media mail? large envelope? small package? So, while I am always happy to see all the employees in my PO, I do tend to favor some over others.

3. Mystery writer Robert B. Parker died in 2010. His books had an appealing offbeat sense of humor, but I’ve long since stopped reading murder mysteries. I was puzzled to see three different authors’ books in the library titled “Robert B. Parker’s [title specific word]. Apparently Parker’s estate has granted permission to multiple authors to continue his various series. They even copy the same typestyle that Parker used on his books.

This photo is in a branch of my bank. I photographed the photo because it is Farewell Gap in Mineral King!

4. This Evergreen Home is a thoughtful blog that I’ve mentioned here before. A recent post, Save Your Money—26 things to stop buying in 2026, caused me to almost break my arm patting myself on the back. This is the way I have lived for decades. Gold star, please!

Making wreaths from pruning in my own yard, and enjoying my cats are definitely frugal activities.

5. I mowed the lawn. Well, I started with some careful instruction, but Trail Guy took over. I only allow one mowing on our little lawn per year in an ongoing attempt to get it fuller, via self-seeding and roots (no idea how it actually works) and transplanting clumps from the back of the house which was lawn a quarter of a century ago and still produces a few clumps a year. So, the annual mowing is a bit of a project.

Tucker loves the tall grass.

6. I learned (AGAIN!) that participation in small bazaars and arts/craft shows is probably more trouble than it is worth. However, with low attendance, there was abundant time to visit with each person who came into my space.

7. This personalized license plate caught my attention.

8. Through another blog (Hi Elisabeth!) I found a wonderful recipe for Lasagne Soup. As someone who views recipes as just suggestions and guidelines, this one seems to turn out great no matter how many things I just substituted or tossed in or did without.

9. Two great new words: pecksniffian and snollygoster. Look them up!

Okay, one last hurrah for fall color!

HURRAH!