The Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building is a regular location for art and craft bazaars. I’ve been participating here for many years in many different places in the building.
Every year I have slightly different merchandise, different paintings, different ideas for display, and it presents a new puzzle each time. It is all part of the business of art in Three Rivers.
Trail Guy went to Mineral King last week. This is how it looks at this time of year.
That hardly qualifies as “Friday Fun”. What does? How about Pippin in the leaves!
If these recently completed paintings are dry enough, I will bring them to the Holiday Bazaar on Saturday, November 23, at the Three Rivers Memorial Building, 10-4. Paintings ALWAYS look better in person – come see for yourself!
When your Central California artist is undecided, she practices something called “productive procrastination”. Yardening for a friend, making yogurt, running errands, visiting with a far-away friend through the wonders of technology, reporting 10 robocalls to the Do Not Call Registry Complaint page, and then I saw Tucker outside the kitchen door. He is so shy and has been avoiding me for several months, so when he came to visit, I had to go sit outside with him for awhile.
All this fiddling around gave me a chance to ponder an idea, so I finally headed to the painting studio to try it.
Digging in the dirt was my reward for getting that painting finished. (Trail Guy helped because there is a lot of decomposed granite that is actually so composed that it is hard to get a shovel through.)
Feeling confident because of success with the previous painting, I tackled this one. It was too flat, and there was nothing to look at in the scene. Being there in the spring is wonderful, but I don’t have the skill to make it look so good in a 2-dimensional format.
A friend said that if I was an impressionistic painter, this would be considered finished. If she saw it in person, she’d probably change her mind, because the old picture is coming through a bit. Besides, it was the end of the day and I was painting with a lamp instead of daylight.
“Indecision” sounds a lot like “indigestion” which sounds a bit like “indigent” which means “poor enough to need help from others”.
These paintings might be poor enough to need help from others. I can’t decide if they are finished, if there is a way to improve them, or if they just need to be painted over with something else.
November is my busiest month. For the first time in several years, I have no selling events in Visalia. However, there are plenty of other opportunities to see me and my art: a list might be the easiest way to see all the upcoming events.
1. Holiday Bazaar, Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building, Saturday, November 23, 9-4, free (of course). Always a nice event with good stuff made by interesting people who are eager to tell and sell.
2. Perfect Gift Boutique, 41837 Sierra Drive (that’s Hwy. 198 in Three Rivers) in a borrowed empty storefront, sharing space with the other Kaweah Artisans. Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30, 10-4. (the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving). The address on this poster is where we were last year; this year’s will be in the next building just downstream, next to the Kaweah Commonwealth office.
3. In other events, I am teaching drawing lessons at Arts Visalia each Tuesday evening from 6:30-8:30. Five students, good times!
4. But wait! There’s more! The Festival of Trees and Globes is the annual fall fundraiser at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center in Three Rivers, this year on Thursday, November 21. My part? Judging the decorated Christmas trees, along with 2 others. It is a little stressful, knowing that people poured their hearts into these trees, and trying to be objective when I know most of the participants and every worthy organization; Three Rivers is a small, self-contained community, and anonymity is rare. The event itself is quite fun, lots of food and drink, a silent auction, and the live auction of the trees. (It’s not fancy like the similar event in Visalia – we are easy-going and informal here in 3R.) You can buy tickets in advance or at the door or from me.
P.S. First Saturday, December, is also coming up, and for the first time in a long time, my studio will be open!
I decided this one is finished, except for all the busy extras like painting the edges, adding a wire to the back, titling, photographing, drying, entering into inventory, on and on and on.
I started another one, this time 24×24″.
The most difficult part about this one will be making this scene look as beautiful to the viewer as it always looks to me. I don’t remember where I took the photo, but I think of it as the best of Tulare County.
. . . and a diversion–redoing the plants outside the studio.
Look out the window behind Pippin–all the rosemary is gone. It has been there since I first poked clippings in the ground when the little shed was being remodeled into a studio in 2001. I wanted it to drape over the wall, and besides, it was free. But plantings get old.
I clipped it way back, soaked the ground, and then Trail Guy dug out the stumps and roots and prepped the soil for the new plants.
The planting was inspired by time with my neighbor working in her yard and learning about plants together, the continued good weather this fall, and the upcoming First Saturday Three Rivers, December 7, when I will have my studio open to the public for the first time in well over a year.
This is close to being finished. A little more detailing, painting the edges, signing it, stick-a-fork-in—it’s done (except for drying, wiring the back, photographing it, varnishing, entering into inventory, putting on the website).
Getting there–big sigh of relief. Now I get to return to the Mineral King Honeymoon Cabin, the other giant oil painting on the easels that is challenging both my confidence and my skills.
P.S. One of Us, by Tawni O’Dell, a book on CD was good all the way to the end. Excellent readers, and it helped me want to keep painting.
How does one keep coming up with appealing titles for the same topic?
One doesn’t.
When I begin to put the details in, I’ll stop moaning about the pace. It helps to listen to a book on CD, and I’ve got a good one going right now. One of Us by Tawni O’Dell is still good on CD #2. Time will tell (that’s what my Dad used to say instead of “more will be revealed”).