Above Timber Gap

Over the Fourth of July weekend, our cabin neighborhood was full of friends who happen to have cabins near each other. That’s the best way I can describe our little enclave of rustic shacks in Mineral King. Some of the neighbors spent a day on the trail to Hockett Meadow for a 23 mile hike. Some of us did something a bit more manageable.

It was a beautifully clear day when we set out around 9 a.m. No matter how many photos I take of this scene from the bridge, each time I am sure it is the best it has ever looked.

Sometimes I take this photo downstream too. This time I took it because soon the 2 trees by that cabin will be gone.

We went to Timber Gap and then up to the left (it felt really really up-ish), back down into the gap, and crashed around until we stumbled on the old wagon road built in the mining era.

This is the view over Timber Gap to the Middle Fork of the Kaweah drainage. If I study the view and squint hard, I can pick out Alta Peak, the mountain that is visible from our house.

This is the view of Mineral King from the slope above Timber Gap on the west. (It is where I took my reference photos for the giant Mineral King mural in Exeter.)

We headed back into Timber Gap and decided we were all game to find the old wagon road.

Trail Guy said it is hard to find from Timber Gap, and I agreed, except that I always manage to crash around and stumble across it in spite of the vagueness of that method. Once again, it worked.

There were five of us, but we took no selfies or group shots. After this photo, I put my camera away because: 1. I have taken many photos of this before and 2. it was prudent to watch my steps carefully.

On the Fourth of July, we had a little spontaneous flag-raising.

It almost took a village, but mostly it took Trail Guy and a Yacht Master.

God bless the USA and God bless our neighbor-friends!

 

 

New Oil Commission

“Commission” is fancy talk for custom art.

A friend requested an 8×10″ oil painting from a photo she took in Yosemite.

I haven’t been to Yosemite very often and don’t really know it but somehow I knew to ask if this was Yosemite Falls, and doesn’t it have 2 parts? The oak tree in the foreground was obstructing the shapes of the cliffs, and I also needed to know if the barely visible cabin in the lower right mattered.

After a bit of back-and-forth, I went to the World Wide Web, found many photos that showed the dual nature of these famous falls, and proceeded to make up my own version. 

Since when have I become such a rogue painter??

Here are the steps (without showing you the photo from the WWW because I do not have permission.) I began the painting in the studio (the reasons are boring), where oil painting does not belong, but I was very very careful.  I worked from my friend’s photo on the laptop. You can see that I chose to keep and enhance the little structure, because I am into cabins (hence “Cabin Art”).

The next painting session was in the painting workshop, where it is not a tragedy to drop and spill things. The natural light is better there than in the artificial light of the studio, so it was a much better place to finish the painting.

The last photo was taken with the phone instead of the camera. Neither one is adequate, but will have to suffice until the painting is dry and can be scanned.

 

A Horse Named Taco. . .

. . . not a horse with no name. (Might have felt good to be out of the rain, but Taco was in the fog.)

A drawing student showed me a photo that she would like to draw. I cropped it, converted it to black and white, and enhanced a few details for her to have the best version available. After all that work, I realized that I would LOVE to draw it, and not only did she give me permission, she provided a piece of paper.

I have plenty of my own paper, but she had 3 different types, wondering which one to use; I was curious about one of them. I mainly use Strathmore 400 series Bristol smooth finish, and this one was Strathmore 500 series Bristol plate finish, which is a little too slick for my needs. However, it has been decades since I used it, the higher quality (500 series is the best) seemed to have a little more texture than I remembered, and I was curious.

On a not-too-terribly-hot day, I did what a friend described as “sauna drawing” in the studio while my air conditioner was getting replaced. (Tony didn’t need any supervision, but I hung around in case he needed anything.) The drawing went quickly because the photo was so clear, but I did change a bland water tank in the photo to old boards. The paper was indeed too smooth for me – stroke marks showed up more, and it smeared too easily for my normal style; however, the smearing was very effective when it came time to put “fog” over the building in the background.

A Horse Named Taco, graphite pencil on acid free paper, 11×14″, unframed,  price unknown (make an offer?)

More Completed Mineral King Paintings

These Mineral King oil paintings are now ready to be displayed and sold.

Mineral King Aspens, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65 INCLUDING TAX! (If you live out of state, that extra $5 can go toward mailing).
Mineral King Trail, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65 INCLUDING TAX! (What I already said).

Paintings always look better in person (and I almost always tell you that). I was studying the paintings on the studio wall, and decided that this one, painted en plein air (fancy talk for on location), just wasn’t good enough.I brightened and lightened it; now it is for sale at the Mural Gallery in Exeter.

Always learning, striving to. . .

. . . make art you understand, about places and things you love, for prices that won’t scare you.

 

 

Four Places to Buy My Art

Apparently, in spite of not having pop-up ads, here is my own ad on my blog. Self-promotion and marketing are the most difficult parts of being a self-employed artist. However, if you are a reader of my blog, I am assuming you like my art. Therefore, telling you where to find it is simply providing you with a service, yes? (I refuse to end my sentences with “right?” as so many people do these days, a nervous vocal tick that sticks up my nose).

  1. Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers has been selling very steadily for me. This is an art consignment shop located along the main road through town, on the river side of the highway, AKA Sierra Drive. Great variety of local original art, open Thursday – Tuesday. No website, but on Instagram and probably Fakebook. They have my paintings (mostly Sequoia and Three Rivers subjects) and notecards.
  2. Farmer Bob’s World is a new adventure in agri-tourism in Ivanhoe, which is a citrus growing area north of Visalia. They offer tours and have a venue for events. It is new, and I am honored to be part of this, since citrus growing is my heritage. They have paintings (mostly citrus) and notecards. Their website is Farmer Bob’s World.
  3. The Mural Gallery, a store for Exeter, A Festival of Arts on E Street in Exeter just reopened. They have a good variety of mural related merchandise and the muralists are invited to show and sell their work. They carry my Exeter coloring books and paintings (citrus, Sequoia, foothill scenery). No website, but here is a youtube video discussing the murals. Exeter, A Festival of Arts. (The first 2 murals shown in the video are mine!)
  4. Silver City Resort, 4 miles below Mineral King (or 21 miles up the MK Road) has been selling my paintings for over 10 years. Now they also carry Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names. Their website is Silver City Mountain Resort. (P.S. This is an old photo – the store is fancier these days.)
  5. A bonus place to buy my art is from me directly, either off the website (yikes, hope the piece didn’t already sell somewhere else before I learned about it!) or from me in person.

And remember, I make custom art.

Using pencils, oil paint and murals, I make art you can understand about places and things you love for prices that won’t scare you.

We now resume our normal broadcast schedule.

Trail Guy’s Hike

This may be Trail Guy’s favorite hike in Mineral King. It is White Chief, and then over the ridge down into the Farewell Gap drainage. I wasn’t there, but his photos always land on my computer, so you get a bonus Mineral King post.

Mountain Pride, or Pride of the Mountains
Lupine overlooking a little pond in the White Chief area (NOT White Chief Lake)
Sawtooth is the lighter one with Mineral Peak, AKA Sawtooth’s Shadow, beneath.
Trail Guy took this picture because it is a spring on a slope that our dear friend Louise loves.
Yawn. Just another beautiful day.
This heart rock was a Leaverite – “leave ‘er right where you found ‘er.” Nice photo, TG!
This is the same trail we walked on our “easy” 8 mile hike.
This is the weird view along the trail when looking up to Farewell Gap.
Hey, Jess, Trail Guy took this photo for you!
Mariposa Lilies are abundant this year. Sometimes we find real short ones along the trail.
Not many Tiger lilies (AKA Leopard lilies) this year, but our noses usually find them, even if they are within a patch of swamp onion. These onions haven’t blossomed yet.

So Green in Mineral King

Trail Guy and I took a hike with The Farmer and Hiking Buddy. It was the easiest 8 miles that one can hike in Mineral King, meaning the trail has a good grade and a flat trail bed (not many roots and rocks to trip over). But it felt like a very long distance. (Is this what it means to be in the S’s??)

Where? Good question, thanks for asking. (That’s what most interviewees say these days – have you noticed that?) The junction of Franklin Lake and Farewell Gap trails. We usually choose it for the ease and the wildflowers, which aren’t very profuse this year. There is a good variety, but they are scattered.

Whorled penstemon are a vivid bluish-purple in real life. My camera doesn’t know how to record the correct color, although the green is right.
The sulphur flower was brilliant. Guess you had to be there.
Franklin Falls was perfect, as always. Normal people rock hop across. I wade.
The trail looks a little cliff-hanger-ish in a few places.
But it is worth it, and not terribly scary because the trail bed is flat.
This is the scariest part, and it isn’t really very scary.
The junction of the Farewell Gap and Franklin Lake trails is higher than Timber Gap. Usually the flowers are great there, but this isn’t a banner year for flowers.
There are flowers there, just not as thick in the past several summers. Wait, last summer wasn’t very good either. Next year, perhaps?
The peak on the left is Vandever, the right side of Farewell Gap. The one to the right of that is an unnamed bump.
Ahhh, back to the valley floor. I love this view, especially when it is so very green.
We had some special guests, but I will allow them to remain anonymous because this is the World Wide Web.
Blurry photo of the only iris I have ever seen in MK. Some years I miss it, but not this year! And it isn’t on the trail to Franklin or Farewell – just wanted to show you as a little bonus for reading to the end.

11 Things Learned in June

My list for June was quite short and I was about to make an excuse; then I gave it all another think, and here is the longest one in awhile.

  1. For the very first time in my entire 61 years, I attended an open casket funeral, where the deceased was visible. It wasn’t one of those deals where the attendees file past if they are so inclined – he was fully visible from every place in the chapel. “Disconcerted” might be the best word for how I felt.
  2. I described A House in the Sky to my hiking buddy, a memoir about a woman’s experience of a 460 day kidnapping situation. Her husband asked me why I would want to read such a disturbing tale, which made me think. My conclusion is that it was interesting, and it caused me to be very very very thankful for my life. (Maybe 4 verys, or even 5).
  3. Live oaks are dying all around my neighborhood. Drought? Maybe, maybe not. The native trees are “designed” to live in our climate, which historically has droughts (or dry years) every 5-6 years, as learned by studying the rings on Giant Sequoia trees. 
  4. As I dithered on whether or not to get my 25 year old car painted, it occurred to me that I could spend the equivalent amount of money on looking better myself, something that would probably only last for 3 months, as opposed to the car looking good for the rest of its life. (No decision has been reached.)
  5. Leaky canoes at Hume Lake seem to be a normal thing. Oh well. It was nice on the lake regardless.
  6. This site is fun and helpful: Everyday Cheapskate 
  7. Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale by Adam Minter is an education about what happens to all the stuff in the world when we are finished with it. It can be put in a landfill, incinerated, taken apart for recycling, dismantled for parts, or used by other people. Poor countries import massive amounts and use it in all these ways; of particular interest to me was the innovative ways our junk gets used to build useful items. (Remember, “Junk is the stuff we get rid of; stuff is the junk we keep”.) Some countries have laws against importing secondhand items; other countries have laws against exporting them. Those laws cause a problem for the economies that depend on secondhand products. The planned obsolescence is also causing problems. Having replaced our water heater, washing machine, refrigerator, and the A/C in my studio within the past year, I can relate to this. But then how do I get my broken things to Ghana or Nigeria so they can use the parts??
  8. Some friends shared some new peppers from their garden, called “Padrone”. Green, wrinkled, and not hot. I wonder if they would grow in Three Rivers. . . maybe I can save a few seeds.*
  9. A farmer friend told me the way to understand climate and weather is to look up something called “degree days”. I haven’t studied it, but according to my friend, there are going to be a certain number of hot and cold days every year. He gave these examples: if there is a cool spring, it will be a hot summer; if it is mild summer, it will last a long time. I would like to understand it in terms of weather, but it is used mostly to predict energy usage to heat and cool. Here is the explanation from the National Weather Service.
  10. Big box stores are inefficient, overstaffed with incompetent employees, disorganized, dependent on computers for inventory which waste the customers’ time and prove to be unreliable. I’m talking about Home Depot. Good Grief Charlie Brown. Nope, not going on social media to badmouth them; just hoping I can always plan ahead enough to have Three Rivers Mercantile order what is needed to avoid future aggravation of HD.
  11. You might be able to have a say in the redistricting of California that happens every 10 years. Why bother? A good example is that Three Rivers is lumped with Bakersfield, Ridgecrest and Lancaster, where no one goes, instead of being with Woodlake, Exeter, and Visalia, where most people work, shop (HEY! We have a great hardware store in Three Rivers!), go to school, go to church (HEY! We have churches in Three Rivers too!) access county and state offices. The site is DrawMyCACommunity.org I say “might” because I don’t have a lot of confidence in governmental requests for public participation. I couldn’t find the already drawn community called “Three Rivers-Visalia COI” to “endorse” it, as the newspaper article suggested. Everything is complicated.

Let’s rest our minds with something less complicated.

*Never mind. Just found a hot one. Burned my mouth.

 

 

Big Old Country House, Done!

Done? That word brings biscuits to mind, or perhaps a tri-tip. “Completed” is probably a better word for a custom pencil drawing.

Because of the influence of my drawing students, I decided to put clouds in the sky rather than oranges or walnuts. (Oranges in the sky? Walnuts in the sky? Riders in the sky?)

Because I love our flag and love to add color, Jane and I decided to add a flag to the drawing that wasn’t there in person.

Because I want the colors to be right on the flag, I experimented on a piece of scrap paper on the drawing table.

Because it is a huge drawing, I decided to sign with my huge name. (When I paint, all I can manage with that uncontrollable paintbrush is “J. Botkin”.) I don’t know why I got into the habit of not capitalizing, but now it is an established habit.

And because it is so vulnerable, just a piece of paper, until Jane and I decide a retrieval/transfer date and method, it has to remain flat on the table, covered by tissue paper. (The drawing has [t]issues?)

The most difficult part of the entire drawing was getting a good photo. It was too bright outside, too dark in the studio, and so no matter what I tried, it had to be photoshopped to be worthy of showing to Jane. It is just too big for the scanner, so all that fiddling around had to be done.

Enough teasing. Here is the Big Old Country House custom pencil drawing, 16×20″:

Using pencils, oil paint, and murals, I make art that people can understand of places and things they love, for prices that won’t scare them.

Better Sequoia

From 2012:

2012
Thought it was finished and changed my mind.
Best Sequoia painting, titled “Sandy’s Sequoia”.

Since everything looks measurably better in person, I am wondering if the differences are just due to camera variations. I don’t know where the original painting from 2012 is, nor can I find the photo that I used, so this is a mystery to be lived with. Not everything has an answer (Uncle Google may be omnipresent but he is not omniscient.)

This is custom art, Gentle Blog Reader. Custom art works like this:

Using pencils, oil paints, and murals, I make art that people can understand of places and things they love, for prices that won’t scare them.

P.S. My business manager made me put that in the blog. She is mean like that.