While I Was Painting

While I was painting, there were 2 men working on my real studio. I paint in another building, a giant workshop where it doesn’t matter if I drop wet things, and where there is a little heater with a shelf in front of it for drying, along with pegboard for hanging wet paintings and two young cats hiding underneath and behind things.

My studio has been a wonderful little gift. It began its life as a shed where the previous occupant planed wood for his grandfather clocks, which he built in the workshop. He shoved the wood in the front door and out the back door. When our friend Mike remodeled the shed for me in 2001 (I moved in January 1, 2002), he removed the back door and put a window there. The window was on the wall looking out at the workshop, and that isn’t a coveted view by any stretch of the imagination. Besides, I needed a solid wall to hang my art.

But I digress. Why were 2 men, both named Michael, working on my studio?

They were cutifying it!


The dark brown building next door is where I paint (and drop wet things and harbor stray kittens).

 

Back to Mineral King Painting Factory

I am back to Mineral King, figuratively speaking, not literally. There is finally some snow up there, and I’m happy to be here in the painting studio, painting summer scenes of Mineral King.

First, look who showed up! Piper and his brother arrived on a Friday, and Piper decided to get acquainted with us on Sunday. He spent most of Monday in hiding with his brother, and when I was finished painting, he came out.

Piper is the name he arrived with. We’ll probably keep it. (the name and the boy cat).

My initial goal was to begin 9 paintings, but then 2 more sold, so I increased it to 11. It feels daunting, so the plan is simply to begin each painting. Then when I paint next, I can choose whichever one rings my bell to focus on. Just need to get some momentum started. . .

Leaving Monarch, 8×10″
Timber Gap, 8×10″

What is this?
Oh! It is White Chief., 11×14″

Skies only on three 6×6″
Another sky on a 6×18″, a popular size
Mountain ridge underneath the sky. The squared-off peak is White Chief.
This 6×18″ of the Honeymoon Cabin feels very experimental. I’m making up the missing parts so that it fills the canvas. (The pink line is a strange computer action, courtesy of the Mac photo program. . .?)
End of the painting session, part one.
End of the painting session, part two.
Inspector Piper wants to know what happened here today.

P.S. I typed this blog post with Piper on my lap. This is good, but where is his brother??

Random Roundup

  1. We got rain and snow and clear bright days.
    Three Rivers, as it looks in my neighborhood.

  2. I painted 3 poppies, thinking they would be quick and easy. Fall down laughing. I have had to reshape and reshape and relayer and wait and relayer yet again and on and on and on. . . this is just one of the three poppies that will not cooperate.
  3. I started painting a bear. During our Bear Autumn of 2015, I got a few photos. This is probably the dude who tore battens off the side of my studio while seeking acorns.
  4. After much calculation, I figured out how many more Mineral King paintings are needed, which subjects and which sizes. This is based on numbers sold in previous summers, popularity of subjects, and women’s intuition. Time will tell if I have chosen correctly. (I can always paint roosters over the tops of the ones that don’t sell.)I chose the sizes, paired the canvases with the photos, assigned inventory numbers, titled the pieces, attached the hanging hardware to the backs, and primed the canvases. 
  5. The web designer said there is progress being made. Sounds as if I have hours and hours of computer work ahead as I load up all my art (NOT paying someone else to do this!)
  6. March First Saturday in Three Rivers at Anne Lang’s was better than both January and February combined. Some fine folks were waiting for me to arrive (Hi D & B & R & A!!), a friend bought my lunch (T/U, GE!!), and a friend stopped by for a long overdue visit (Hi CHO!). Of course, sales made the day particularly happy, and I did more coloring in the Heart of Ag coloring book, along with lots of explaining to people how to layer with a minimalist box of Black Wing Colors.

And thus we conclude a random roundup of the business of art, as defined by me. I wonder how other artists go about their business? On artists blogs, they all sound so professionally successful, discussing plein air outings (oh shut up, that is so hard and I don’t know how and I am a studio artist and if I am outside it will be to hike, walk, prune or pull weeds), or packaging up things to deliver to galleries (galleries, schmalleries – this is Tulare County), or showing off big deal sales to a local hospital or courthouse or university (Hunh? those places spend money on art, big money on originals?? Not in Tulare County), or fancy commissions (I paint wooden geese and or draw barns), or shows in nice places (I do them in Art Centers without plumbing, the local Remorial Building, or in people’s stores or backyards).

HaHa. I live in Tulare County and they don’t. 

Oops. Sold two more Mineral King paintings recently so I may need to recalculate! Customers keep depleting my inventory. . . what’s an artist to do except keep painting??

Odd Job With a Goose

This is Tony’s wooden goose with a coat of primer on it.

He didn’t give me any instructions other than to paint the goose. I found several helpful photos of Canada geese to work from, with visible head, neck, wing tops, wing bottoms, tail and the back.(What did people do before The Google came along to answer all our questions? They didn’t say yes to as many odd jobs.)

First step: mixing paint. I used my mural paints because this will be outside and because it needed to dry quickly.

White, burnt umber and phthalo blue, along with some grays, browns, a purple and an orange.
The first color, black, was achieved with the purple (alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue), phthalo and orange (cadmium yellow and cadmium red). I made a small dot of the color with white and it made a pure gray, so I knew it was black and not purple or brown or green.
Here is a brown that will work. It is an old mixture that I called “dark redwood”, but altered a bit here with orange and some of the black.
Ahem. I seemed to have painted this guy’s head upside down.
Better!
Found another photo of a goose’s back.
The underside of the wings are important, because this is a flapping goose that will be seen from all angles. I was able to flip the photos horizontally in order to see the goose both directions.
Will this work? Do I need more detail? The color is grayer on my goose than on The Google’s goose. Can I trust the photo? Will Tony be disappointed?
It was easiest to paint when it was lying flat and I could see each side at the same time.

Am I finished? I’ll email this photo to Tony and see what he says.

Whoa, Tony, you’d better come get this goose because he is trying to fly outta here!

Birdland, Third Day

Who knew that birds would show up in such numbers in my art business??

My friend’s husband, Tony, asked if I could paint a wooden goose for him. A what, Tony? A goose! He didn’t specify type, so I had to consult The Google for ideas. I told him it will be a Canada Goose (yes, it is Canada Goose, not “Canadian Goose”) and that I hope it will look so realistic that someone might try to shoot it. This could fall into the category of Odd Jobs, and when I show you how it is coming along, that’s how I’ll classify it.

Meanwhile, the birds go on. . .

4 new chickens, a bear and a reflection scene
The great blue heron and the rooster are drying together in peace, no one flapping or crowing.
The quail and hen are drying together too, but they are all crooked so you’ll have to wait until they are dry enough to be scanned in order to have a proper view and full appreciation of their beauty.
This rooster and another hen as they appeared after layer #2.

Meanwhile, I am sorely lacking in quail photos. Those little guys are shy and busy. They show up outside the windows when the light is low, so it takes about a dozen photos to find one that might be paintable.

Birdland, Second Day

I haven’t returned to Mineral King yet, either metaphorically or literally. (And unlike many people today, I use the word “literally” to mean literally, actually, for real.)

Instead, I stayed in Birdland, working on chickens and a great blue heron. 

Building a flock, from left to right.
Beautiful bird, this oil painting is named “Rusty Fowl” because I don’t know if it is a hen or a rooster. That’s a little embarrassing, but why should I know this? I used to think all birds with combs were roosters, but learned they are not. And now I don’t even know whose bird this is so that I can ask!
Rusty Fowl and a poppy are drying together on the little shelf in front of the heater. There are 3 poppy paintings there, but I haven’t told you about those yet.
Scooting along the flock, from left to right; this keeps me from dragging my hand through wet paint. I may be right handed, but lest you think that prevents me from realizing my true artistic potential, I am LEFT-EYED! So there, you right-brainiacs.
This great blue heron will need another layer because I wasn’t skilled enough to keep the brightest color clean while working wet into wet.

Busy Flock, oil paint on wrapped canvas, 6×18″, $150

Meanwhile, there is a quail wondering when it will receive its additional feathers layers, and 4 6×6″ canvases waiting for their wings. Or are they waiting in the wings. . .?

2 Items, One Personal, One Business

I love lists. Today’s contains one personal item and one business item.

  1. Today we have 2 kittens coming from Tulare. An employee of Sequoia National Park will be delivering them on her way to work. One is all black; one is a tuxedo. They are already named, but perhaps we will choose other monikers. (Isn’t that a great word for “name”?) We cannot stand the state of catlessness for another day. If the Tulare person can catch the other 2 litter mates, we’ll take them also. If the place where Perkins and Samson came from produces more kittens, we’ll take them too.
  2. My other blog, The Cabins of Wilsonia, was in a coma for several years. I let it lie there, wounded and neglected. Who wants to make the sorts of phone calls it takes to figure out such things? Not this Central California artist, nosirreeBob. Then, I got some weird emails about the site, the type of emails that are “phishing” for information, so I finally made the call. Now the website has awakened, awoken, woken up and I wrote a new post. I’ll start posting there again, but this time just once a week, the way the Internet Smart People suggest. I might even try to promote it on Instagram and Pinterest. . . nah. Prolly not. To celebrate the return of The Cabins of Wilsonia, let’s have a Wilsonia cabin drawing!
This is a commissioned drawing that I did after the book was published.

What am I talking about? The Cabins of Wilsonia is a book I published in 2014. It took 4 years and ton of learning. They are still available on Amazon, here on my site, and tomorrow at Anne Lang’s Emporium from 10 a.m – 4 pm. I’ll be there for First Saturday Three Rivers. My friend Sam the Gourdist will be the featured artist, at the Three Rivers Arts Center! Go, Sammy-Sue!!

8 Things I Learned in February

Daffodils bloom in February here in Central California.

I began writing this post on February 5, and was quite happily surprised that I learned the first 3 things on this list so soon in the month. I think we all learn things constantly; writing them down helps us realize it is happening.

  1. Young Miner’s Lettuce tastes good. I’d heard this most of my life, but didn’t get the “young” part, and would pick it when it was in flower. Then, it tastes bitter. “Young” means newly sprouted, pre-flower stage.
  2. There is a new podcast on the World Wide Web called Women’s Work. Tsh (yeah, I know. . . it is pronounced “Tish”. . . whatsamatter with her parents?) Oxenreider interviews women who work in interesting businesses. I discovered the vowelless Tsh when she was interviewed on What Should I Read Next, and I liked her book choices. 
  3. Did you know there is an International Correspondence Writing Month? Yeppers. It is February, and in the spirit of creative, cute and trendy, it is called “InCoWriMo”; I learned of this from Pencils.com. They, the pencil people, said to write them a letter and they would send something in return. (Prolly just a coupon for a slight discount on a product if you spend an enormous amount first. . . yep, I am cynical.) InCWriMo actually has a website, and it is simple and beautiful, the way I hope my own will become.
  4. There is a thingamajig that goes on the end of a special camera lens that allows one to insert a slide and then photograph it to convert it to a digital file. In the olden days, art was photographed onto slide film, and it was tricky business to get the light right and the image square. Now, when we want to see pictures of our old work, we hold up a little slide to the light and squint, unless we have a friend with a thingamajig on her camera. But, this teaches us that our slide photography was dismal and horrible and didn’t show off our work. Is this why we didn’t get our work accepted into juried shows? (Notice I am hiding behind the royal “we”?)
  5. For some reason, Guatemala keeps appearing in my life. A few months ago, I proofread a book called Rooftop Reflections for a friend about his home-building trips in Guatemala; a few weeks ago, 2 friends went to Guatemala on a mission trip; recently, my niece announced her engagement to a fine man from Guatemala. Yesterday I met a man who is married to a woman from Guatemala.What does all this mean? (This one is more of an observation; learning will come later, if at all.)
  6. The word “anthropogenic”: it means environmentally despoiled by humans. Can’t say that I’ll use it much in conversation, but it is always good to increase one’s vocabulary.
  7. Cows rarely have twins. Did you know that? I didn’t. Ewes are more likely to have twins.
  8. Ever seen the classic portrait oil painting called Pinkie (painted in 1793 by Thomas Lawrence, hanging in  the Huntington Museum)? Did you know Pinkie had TB and died a year later at age 12? New info to me.

More Blogging Thoughts

Chloe, colored pencil, private collection, chosen for this post because she is the opposite of a middle-aged blogger

I googled “middle-aged bloggers” and found several. One site posted an invitation for middle-aged bloggers to comment and put their site links in the comments, so I clicked through and read some of them. They are sort of boring. Lots of talk about why they started blogging, talk about their grandchildren, their new lives with their husbands gone, new grandchildren, new phases of life with new retirement, and clothing and hair color. Lots and lots of talk about staying young, dressing well, finding your style, whether or not to color your hair, staying positive. . . boring.

Scared me. Am I that boring? Why do they have so many subscribers and comments when they are boring? Why do I not when I am so witty, original, clever and entertaining? (Oh, and humble about my bloggery skills too. . .)

Life’s not fair. (My dad used to ask the rhetorical question, “Who said life has to be fair?” I once said this to a friend, and she replied, “I don’t know; was it Benjamin Franklin?”)

Several acquaintances and a few friends have expressed a desire to blog, and then nothing happens. They think I am “a-MAY-zing” for blogging so often, so consistently, so long. Well, they already have jobs; this is part of mine.

Because I am producing things that no one needs in a county where art is a definite luxury, because I am not on Facebook or Twitter or any of those instant and constant connected things, because I work in isolation and do not have a public studio, because there are only a small handful of galleries around here (and all are non-profit and run by volunteers who are not motivated by sales), because I choose to focus on Tulare County, I MUST do something public. Blogging is that something, and it suits me. 

Many bloggers are now producing podcasts. I won’t say “never”, but I will say “probably never”. This is a trend, and I am too busy painting, drawing, teaching, figuring out various methods of marketing, doing shows and open studios and demonstrations and workshops, and of course, blogging.

I’ve got to keep being me, because all the other roles are already taken. I have too much to say, too much to show, too much to explain, too many thoughts about being a full time, self-employed artist in a poor, uneducated, rural county.

After all that, you deserve a treat. How about a nice cup of tea?

Tea Time, colored pencil, private collection (or did I lose this? Is it in my file somewhere?)

 

Barn Raising

Just kidding. I’m not raising a barn, just drawing it. Well, maybe I am raising it out of the vast whiteness of the paper.

I received these 2 photos along with many instructions. The top photo is how the barn looks now; the lower one is how it looked when the customer was a child and what he is wanting me to draw.

He also wanted me to match the size of the barn in this print, drawn (or is that ink with a watercolor wash or something else I don’t recognize?) by one of my art heroes.

Part of the business of art is communicating thoroughly and clearly with customers and potential customers. I realized that this job would require a sketch and approval of the sketch before I began, because there were lots of places for misunderstanding. I sketched it roughly 2″ x 3″, to match the proportions of the size the customer requested (measured in picas, so just trust me that it is proportionally correct). 

Got it in one attempt! Sketch approved, drawing begun. The photo isn’t great, nor is the printer. I am working primarily from the sketch and the notes.

A few hours later, this is where I was:

I told the customer it would be 2-3 weeks, but commissions always jump to the front of the queue. (2 poppy paintings need a final layer, there are 4 paintings in Birdland, and I still need a few more paintings of the most popular Mineral King scene because 3 more sold last week. Not complaining, just explaining.)