Every summer in Mineral King, Trail Guy goes on a quest for Leopard Lilies. They have a fabulous fragrance, and often we smell them before we see them.
Mineral King wildflowers are usually at their peak during the first couple of weeks in July. This year they are particularly profuse.
I have many unframed pencil drawings. It costs a lot of money to frame a picture. I have a lot of frames, and a big box of mats. Matching drawings with mats and frames is a process.
“Process” is a nice businessy word that actually means ‘BIG FAT HASSLE”.
This is how I frame on short notice.
Told you it was a busy week! So busy that I forgot to post.
I received a “Call to Artists”. This is ArtSpeak for “Hey, wanna put your art in a show?”
The point of the show is to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.
The duration of the show is August 1 – September 30.
The location is the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter.
The deadline for entry is JULY 14!! Tomorrow!
The entry process was a little vague and somewhat complex, and with the short notice, I was scrambling. I have plenty of art of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, probably enough to fill the entire Courthouse Gallery all by my lonesome, but it has to be framed, the size determined, a price set, titles assigned, and photos or scans taken. This is part of the business of art.
Suddenly instead of working on the Exeter coloring book, I was pulling drawings from drawers, taking frames from storage and off the walls, digging through a box of mats, retouching drawings and occasionally reshaping them so they will fit in available mats and frames.
Tomorrow I will describe my framing process. Prepare to either laugh or start snatching yourself bald in frustration.
Today I want you to see the list of things I hope to take care of this week. It will relieve you of any illusions of an artist just happily creating under amazing peaceful inspiration. (That’ll teach me to run off to Israel for 2 weeks when there is work to be done!)
No painting or pencil drawing this week. Just lots of hustling around. Anyone want to order a coloring book? Some notecards? I’ll be going to the post office.
. . . Trail Guy was in Mineral King. He took photos, I put them on my laptop, and now you get to see them.
It is fun for me to guess where the photos were taken. It is also fun to see what he chooses to photograph, after years and years of visiting the same places.
Our guide in Israel told us of being on Highway One in California and seeing a sign that said “historic site”. They pulled off to see it, and laughed their heads off when they learned it was a 200 year old lighthouse. He said, “That’s like 15 minutes in our country!”
This is what passes for historic in my world. It is a drawing for the upcoming adult coloring book of Exeter. This is not 2000 years old, or even 200 years old. But, it’s what we’ve got around here.
It needs the border and my signature, and I think I might have scanned it a little crooked. Lots more to draw – I was off work for 2 weeks, and there are coloring books to be created, quickly, before the fad’s 15 minutes of relevance wear off.
15 minutes, 200 years, 2000 years. . . what’s old?
My brother-in-law was the pastor of Neighborhood Church in Visalia and was planning to visit Israel this summer. After he died last September, the church offered his slot to his wife, my sister. When I told Trail Guy that she was going, along with our niece, Trail Guy said, “Don’t you want to go too?”
OF COURSE I WANTED TO GO!!
So I did.
We were a group of 34 with a fantastic tour guide. We saw 50 sites in 10 days. It was very hot. I took around 750 photos and have been editing them, labeling them before I forget which pile of golden tan ruins is which.
I’m not sure how this will figure into this blog. Does anyone care? Perhaps I’ll just show a little bit each day. Or, I could post one day a week about the trip. Or, I can just shut up and continue to show you the inner workings of an art business in Central California with a peek into Mineral King every Friday.
People on the tour asked if I would be drawing or painting from my Israel photos. Probably not, unless someone commissions me for a particular piece. People have asked if I will make a coloring book of Israel’s sites. No. Everything we saw is about the same color of a golden tan. I have an Exeter coloring book to finish and a Sequoia/Kings Canyon one to begin.
Today I’ll show you a few photos. These are images that interested me, and if they have something interesting to accompany the pictures, I’ll add some words.
Maybe I’ll even learn to read the stats on the blog, and if the number of readers plummets, I’ll know to stop with the Israel pics.
Thank you, Trail Guy, for suggesting and supporting me in my desire to see wonderful places with my sister and my niece.
. . . can you see what a privilege it is to live in this country?
Israel is about the size of New Jersey. They are an amazing country, surviving and thriving in a hostile place. I saw a tee shirt there that read “Don’t worry, America. Israel has your back.”
Sometimes when I am in Mineral King, I make a point to experience as many senses as possible.
I feel the warmth of the sun and the coolness of the shade.I hear the birds and the wind and the water. After the rain I smell mugwort and currant bushes. I see wonderful scenes, which are the easiest to share with you on this blog. I try not to put stuff in my mouth, but sometimes in late fall I do taste the currants. (They are sort of more trouble than they are worth.)
Late last night, I got back from 12 days in Israel. (Yes, I posted ahead to my blog for the time I was away. Please forgive me for not responding to comments or emails during that time. I will be sending out coloring books to those of you who ordered soon. Thank you for your patience.)
So, because today is Friday and Fridays are for Mineral King, see if this movie will play for you so you can hear a little bit of Mineral King in addition to seeing it.
Mineral King (Click on the words Mineral King, and a movie might open for you in a separate window. Key word here: “might”. I’ve never tried this before. Never gone to Israel before either.)