Half-Solved Mystery

Last year I did a little oil painting of a backcountry scene whose location was a mystery. I didn’t know who lent me the photo, and I didn’t know where the scene was.

Since last September, I have been working with Louise Jackson on her upcoming book, Trail of Promises. I edited about 200 photos, and later she and the subjects of the book pointed out that I was partial to a particular peak.

Last week I was looking through photos of completed paintings, and recognized one that stopped me up so short that I almost flew over the handlebars. It was that same peak that I kept choosing to use in Trail of Promises!

Have a look at the painting:

1504 Backcountry Lake

Now have a look at a photo of Banner Peak by Mike McGinnis :

banner peak

Well, saw off my legs and call me Shorty!

I called my painting “Backcountry Lake”, but it should have been titled “Banner Peak”.

That’s half the mystery solved. The other half is Where Did I Get That Photo??

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Sequoia Art Show Details

Would you like to spend an hour or so in air conditioning, looking at art of Sequoia National Park, drinking wine and noshing on “or derves”? (You don’t really expect me to spell that word, do you?)

Bridge at Lodgepole2On Sunday, August 7, 2-4 p.m., Courthouse Gallery in Exeter, 125 South B Street, you can do exactly that.

At least four artists will be participating: Nadi Spencer, Shirley Keller, Anne Brantingham, and me. There might be others, but life is full of unknowns.

Sequoia, particularly Mineral King, has been my main subject for many years, and I am ready to share those pieces in a fine gallery. At last count, I had TWENTY-ONE pieces to show, both oil paintings and pencil drawings!

I’ll bring coloring books – Heart of the Hills, and Heart of Mineral King. Exeter and Sequoia coloring books won’t be ready yet. . . that will give the colorists among the crowd something to anticipate after the post-show letdown, if they are prone to such emotional swings, and assuming there will be “a crowd”.

I hope you will be there too. I’d hate to get all gussied up and and then have to hang out by myself. (I have a somewhat hassle-some new haircut.)

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Disney and Mineral King

All photos in this post are courtesy of Dr. Christopher Tremblay of Western Michigan University. He is a 1994 graduate of the Lee Honors College and has been fascinated by Disney since his parents took him to Disneyworld at age 5. Now he gets to share that love with other honors students at his alma mater.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Walt Disney wanted to build a ski resort in Mineral King. It was under the jurisdiction of the National Forest Service, and they were inviting people to put in bids for the project.

The ski resort didn’t happen. That’s a whole other blog post (or 2 or 12).

At Western Michigan University, there is a special summer class that participates in something called “Walt’s Pilgrimage”. One of their stops was Mineral King last year, and they liked it so much that they returned this year.

News Advisory-Mineral King

From left to right (front row only): Walt Disney, Cathy's Mom, Cathy's grandfather Ray Buckman
From left to right (front row only): Walt Disney, Cathy’s Mom, Cathy’s grandfather Ray Buckman
Cathy in the Honeymoon Cabin, the museum of the Mineral King Preservation Society.
Cathy in the Honeymoon Cabin, the museum of the Mineral King Preservation Society.

 

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Participants of the Disney class, all honors students in the Lee Honors College of Western Michigan University. Dr. Christopher Tremblay is kneeling in the front left.
Participants of the Disney class, all honors students in the Lee Honors College of Western Michigan University. Dr. Christopher Tremblay is kneeling in the front left.
Cathy and Michael
Trail Guy and Tall Cathy were a very compatible teaching duo.

More New Mineral King Paintings

But wait! There’s More!

Why does that always elicit a smile or a chuckle?

Because it is obnoxiously obnoxious.

Here are the other paintings I finished last week. It was very hot in Three Rivers, so they dried quickly outdoors, and I was able to scan them without getting paint on the scanner.

It is horrible to get paint on a scanner. It’s even more horrible to scratch the glass trying to remove the paint. Best to not ask me how I know this.

Five new little oil paintings of Mineral King, all for sale at the Silver City Resort (unless they already sold!)

1622 FG XX 1623 MK 1624 FG XXI 1625 FG XXII 1626 FG XXIII

This week I had some special visitors to my studio. These are folks I’ve known since the 1980s, plus some extended family members. One of my old friends said, “I think your painting is improving.”

I hope so! I’ve been oil painting for 10 years, and if there has been no improvement, I need to quit.

Nope, not quitting.

New Mineral King Paintings

Last week I was a ninja-crazy painting factory, cranking out oil paintings of Mineral King. This is high season in the high country, and it is busy. Gotta get ’em done, visible, and selling.

Sounds a bit like a mercenary, an artist of fortune.

Nah. No fortunes are being made here. Just painting Mineral King.

 

1627 Sawtooth XVI
Sawtooth XVI, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100
1628 Sawtooth XVII
Sawtooth XVII, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×8″, $100

Stick A Fork In It Because It Is DONE!

What’s done, you ask?

The design phase and computer prep of the Exeter coloring book.

The name probably will not come as a surprise.

Heart of Exeter

It isn’t yet on my website or actually even ordered from the printer. But it is ready, I am ready, and I hope you are too!

The cover of the next "Heart of" series of local coloring books for grown-ups.
The cover of the next “Heart of” series of local coloring books for grown-ups.

Drying Mineral King

“Drying Mineral King” means drying the paintings of Mineral King.

Want to see what that looks like?

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The paintings start on the peg board in the painting workshop. Then I begin scooting them around outside. The 2 of Sawtooth are currently on the tractor-seat stool outside the studio, getting direct sun and a breeze. The goal is to have them dry enough to place face down on the flatbed scanner without smearing oil paint on the glass.

Here in Central California, we have sunshine and heat and breezes in abundance. I wonder what artists do in other places. . .

I Took No Photos But Trail Guy Did

Today’s posting about Mineral King will be in list form. This is a trick that frequent bloggers use when their subject matter is a little disorganized or random or willy-nilly.

  1. The annual Picnic in the Park by the Mineral King Preservation Society took place last Saturday. I didn’t take any photos. The highlight was when Trail Guy was called upon to tell about his 3 winters in Mineral King. He spoke like a polished professional, telling his story briefly with no umms and uhhs, relating the events in sequential order without backtracking, and including both emotion and humor. This might make a good book. I’ll keep practicing with other people.
  2. We met some young adults from France who are interning in computer science at UNLV. We took them to Franklin Falls, and then they decided that they really wanted to go to Franklin Lake. It was 2:30 in the afternoon, and they were driving back to Las Vegas that night! Youth. I didn’t take any photos, but they did, and if they email any to me, I’ll show you.
  3. The biting flies were ferocious. I didn’t take any photos. I am scratching like a stray dog.
  4. The flowers were excellent. I didn’t take any photos.
  5. Trail Guy has been taking photos. He has saved this blog post from having no photos. If you’ve made it this far, here is your reward in flowers.
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Blazing Star
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Jeffrey Shooting Star
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Pride of the Mountains (yellow are unknown to me)
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Penstemmon (don’t know the variety)
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Rockfringe
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Lupine
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More Pride of the Mountains
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Wish I knew. . .!
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Sky Pilot
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One of the many yellow flowers that I don’t know.

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More Painting Mineral King

Much of the spring and summer so far has been spent working on coloring books (or in Israel) instead of painting. Suddenly, painting Mineral King in oils has become my main focus.

It takes some teeth-gritting intensity and, word-of-the-year, oh-so-tired-of-it, intentionality to stay focused. There is a book to reproof, a coloring book to finish, and never mind about doing laundry by hand because the washer quit (not complaining – it is 28 years old), waiting for the phone repairman (studio phone is broken – has anyone been trying to call??), a coloring book to begin, and a website to keep current during all these sales. Oh, and an art show to prepare for!

But I am not stressed (she says with a twitch). I am painting, and paintings don’t look good if done under undue stress.

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Yes, 2 of these are almost the same. I had a planning mishap. Not worried.

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The one on the upper left is almost finished. The others are only just begun. They are 8×8″ and 8×10″ and will take longer than the 6×6″.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

camel

Just a little reminder to myself that I was in Israel. I’d show you a photo of me on a camel, but I looked fat.

THAT stresses me out!!

Painting Mineral King

Yesterday I took a chill-pill to recover from the emotional see-saw of selling, not selling, selling, not selling, sold, not sold, it must only be my friends and relatives who feel sorry for me, OH MY GOODNESS A STRANGER BOUGHT MY ART.

Don’t you just feel exhausted reading that last paragraphical sentence? (Anyone know a good editor??)

4 mineral king paintings

These paintings have been languishing, waiting and curing while I work on coloring books. This week I am returning to my oil paints, because customers await Mineral King paintings at the Silver City Store.

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