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.
All those paintings of Sawtooth completed over the past several months, and someone wants a different size?
Yep. No problem. I am an artist, and artists make art. Here are the beginning steps of the commissioned oil painting of Sawtooth:
Wow, it is time-consuming and interruptive to photograph the steps in this much detail. But, this customer has become a friend and likes seeing the progress. I’ve heard from others that seeing the process is interesting, so here we go. . .
There is a trick to doing art shows and open studios. The trick is waiting patiently, on stand-by, all systems ready to go.
How does one be productive while waiting but not be so involved that a visitor/customer/guest feels like an interruption?
It is a mindset. I remind myself that on THIS day, I am not here to produce; I am here for the visitors. Therefore, anything that gets done is a bonus.
As much as I’d like to just make art and be left alone to do so, this is not realistic. The business of art requires interaction with the public, most of whom are interesting and pleasant people. The business of art also requires keeping track of inventory, updating one’s website, and planning ahead.
Sometimes, it requires sitting, being available, and waiting.
P.S. Knitting and weeding are bonus activities, reserved for recess time.
Today there are many topics to address, so we will have a long list.
See why I had to make a list?? And, in case you were wondering, I am not superstitious about today’s day and date combination.
Thank you for returning to see the next set of seven Kaweah Post Office oil paintings. Shall we commence our tour of the growth of my painting skills through the capitalistic exploitation of an innocent elderly landmark? (That would have cracked my Dad up – is anyone else out there laughing along?)
And thus we conclude our tour of my endless depictions of the Kaweah Post Office, popular landmark in Three Rivers, but not where I get my mail, in case you were wondering.
Every time an oil painting of the Kaweah Post Office sells, I paint it again.
That’s a lot of oil paintings of the Kaweah Post Office. But wait! There’s more! Come back tomorrow and see the second set of seven.
The Kaweah Post Office is about 3 miles up North Fork Drive in Three Rivers, California. For awhile it was known as the smallest operating post office in the USA. Now it is operated in a weird little way; the woman who owns the building goes to the Three Rivers Post Office to collect the mail and then brings it to Kaweah to pop it into the boxes.
People who live near the post office are quick to tell you that they live in Kaweah, not Three Rivers, thank you very much. It has its own zip code (93237), so I guess that makes it its own town.
The building is very picturesque and old-timey, established in 1890, but I think the current building was constructed in 1910. It is also sort of falling apart. I don’t know what will happen to it. But, I don’t know what will happen to anything or anybody, and neither does anyone else.
It has a ton of visual appeal, which is why I continue to draw and paint it. Have a look at some of the drawings. I’m not showing you the very first one because it is downright embarrassing.
Tomorrow I will show you the first seven oil paintings of the Kaweah Post Office. Not “THE FIRST”; MY first. I’m sure there must be dozens of other artists through the years that have chosen this little jewel.
While working on the umpteenth pencil drawing of the Kaweah Post Office, I was struck by how stupid it is to guess at what is around and behind the little building. Why am I struggling with an incomplete photograph when all I have to do is drive about 4 or 5 miles and see the thing in person??
This is the photo I was using, and there is green chaos all around the edges. Besides, I took this photo in October of 2010, so I suspect things have changed.
Indeed, they have. I know the biggest oak lost a limb; I helped raise money to replace the roof by selling oil paintings of the Kaweah Post Office, donating half of whatever they auctioned for. But where is the little fence with the gate?
Would you look at that? It is gone! But wait! I think I see it. . .
That’s no help. Guess I’ll just stick to my old photo. The background works, just sort of scribbling in blurry curly growing symbols.
Are you curious about the porch and the inside? Have a look:
After goofing off enjoying a spring morning outing, I went back to the drawing board. (Do you know anyone else who can literally say that?)
My studio began as a shed. We filled it with avocado green sinks and other junk when we remodeled our house 19 years ago. When we remodeled the interior of the studio in December 2001, I was thrilled to stop commuting to Exeter 5-6 days a week.
Gradually I added plants; this flowering pear tree looks great in February and November. Sometimes I wonder if it leans so much because Perkins pushed it each time he scratched there.
I kept adding plants and little things like the mosaic stepping stones and table, and Cowboy Bert made me the tractor seat and a railing for the steps (With a last name of Weldon, he must be a welder). Next, I painted the workshop.
Then I got tired of the mural and began another one, but never liked it well enough to bother finishing.
What’s an artist to do? Paint another mural, of course.
With the fancy new wildflower mural, the siding really looked shabby.
This time, we centered the sign over the door rather than under the gable point.
Incremental changes really do add up. Now I am the proud and grateful owner and occupant of a darling little shingled cottage.
The interior isn’t always neat, because it is where I work, with lots of coming and going, and a variety of activity in the 11×14′ space.
Tomorrow is the first Saturday of April and my studio will be one of the stops. The theme is wildflowers. Stop by Anne Lang’s Emporium for a map and directions, and come by the studio for a little wildflower freebie! (Due to a death in my family, my studio will be staffed by some of the dearest people to me in the whole wide world.)
Last summer I had a hankering to draw some new Mineral King pictures in pencil. I did four of them without a plan for reproduction or framing. Artists make art, and I am a Central California artist making art of the flyover center of California, my main source of inspiration (along with liking to drive and to eat.)
This spring I decided to test the marketability of these drawings as cards. These are packages of 4 different cards, 5×7″, blank inside with envelopes, $15 per package. There are only 9 5 packages available. Through this blog post and Saturday’s open studio, I will decide if these are popular enough to print in greater quantity.
This sort of thing is just part of the business of art. Make the art I want, and then figure out if there is a market for it. . .
This is the insert that goes inside the package of cards. The drawings are too small to really appreciate on the insert, so I’ve placed them underneath. Scroll on, Gentle Blog Reader.
What?? No Honeymoon Cabin?
Nope – sometimes an artist’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. (But she is willing to listen to customer requests, within reason.)
P.S. I thought at first that $15 was a little high-ish for 4 cards. Then I went inside a real store and looked at real cards that are sold one at a time. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I was astonished at the prices, so believe these are a bargain.