For the past several summers, I have sold oil paintings of Mineral King scenes at the Silver City Store.
This summer I took up 3 6×6″ and 3 8×10″. Each time I go to Mineral King, I stop by the store (we think of it as “The Store”) to see how the paintings are selling. I missed a weekend, and then stopped by again.
THEY WERE ALL SOLD!
The reason I stopped by was that I met some great folks who wanted to talk about Israel. Then the woman asked my last name (weird, I know, but someone introduced us by first name and mentioned I had been to Israel) and was all excited to meet me.
Hunh?
Turns out she buys a painting by me each year when she comes to her Mineral King cabin.
It is quite a thrill to meet a stranger who buys my art, because often I wonder if it is just my friends and relatives who feel sorry for me that buy my work.
The business of art is a perilously emotional see-saw.
Please excuse me while I go find a chill-pill and then start painting again.
I think everyone is normal until I get to know them.
I did a mental inventory of all the chairs in my house. (Is this weird? Never mind. Don’t answer that question.) As I moved from room to room, I realized that EVERY SINGLE CHAIR IN MY HOUSE is a salvage, a second-hand, a “sure, I’ll take that”.
A few weeks ago, Trail Guy and I were at a dump. (None of your beeswax, but thanks for your concern.) I saw a chair, and knew it was meant for me.
This is not the dump, in case you were wondering. Again, thank you for your concern.
It was a mess, but a classic shape, sturdy frame, and just what our green room needs. The green room is a little empty, and I’ve been thinking about what might be good in there. This chair is just what I had envisioned.
Empty-ish green room.
I chose fabric that I thought would suit the chair (a vague blurry bit of it is in the foreground of the photo above) and took a few photos of the chair.
When my favorite upholsterers received the photos, this was the response: “This is a 1950 vintage chair. very popular because of the great lines and comfort. We can repair the back leg or replace. With a new cushion you will have a beautiful chair.”
How beautiful? I almost choked when he named the price.
The senior upholsterer said that when it is finished, it would be worth $1200! I told him I couldn’t afford a chair of that quality or value. Remember, I find my chairs in the dump! (or yard sales,other people’s garages or thrift shops)
I thought about taking the chair back home again, but realized I’d have to unload it. Then I’d think about it for awhile, adjust to the price, make arrangements to load it and take it back to Visalia.
It is a mess, but can’t you see the possibilities here?
Weird? Or resourceful?
It is so satisfying to find something of potential value, to salvage and repair, to find completely unique things, to own items with a story, to enjoy things that are lasting, timeless, and classic.
The upholsterer said it would last 25 years. I thought, “IT HAD BETTER!!”
Uh, does anyone want to buy a coloring book? One hundred coloring books? Or how about an oil painting? A really large oil painting, perhaps?
I’m in a show soon at the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter. Bring your checkbook.
Every summer in Mineral King, Trail Guy goes on a quest for Leopard Lilies. They have a fabulous fragrance, and often we smell them before we see them.
Mineral King wildflowers are usually at their peak during the first couple of weeks in July. This year they are particularly profuse.
Groundsel is common. It is a little boring, except when there are great masses of it together. It always looks slightly worn out.Penstemmon comes in many colors and styles. This might be called “golden beard”. I wasn’t asked, but if I had been, I would call this one “lipstick”.No flowers here, but I can’t pass over this bridge without photographing the classic scene.“Wild geranium” makes no sense as a name, unless you know that what we call “geranium” at home is actually pelargonium, and true geraniums look more like this. Someone is jerking us around in this naming busines.Wild asters usually don’t appear until late August. They are more lavender than they appear in this photo.The larkspur were thick and bright, but my little PHD (press here, Dummy) camera wouldn’t focus on them. Where else will you see purple and yellow together and not think it is a little obnoxious?We (ahem – Trail Guy) always find artifacts in Mineral King, a place very rich in cultural history. This is part of an old stove. Apparently, people in the olden days thought nothing of walking away from their stuff. Don’t know about you, but I’ve never removed a stove part, much less left it lying around. Maybe these folks would have been Lawn Parkers if they were in a more modern era.Rein orchis is a weird weird name. “Orchis” not “orchid”. “Rein” not “rain”. You just can’t make this stuff up, unless you are an Official Flower Namer. They get to do whatever they want. I used to think grown-ups got to do whatever they wanted, but maybe not, unless they are Flower Namers.Somewhere in there is a Leopard Lily. We spotted it!“We”? Nope, Trail Guy spotted it!Then he stuck his nose in it.This is a boring photo. In real life it was sparkly white flowers and a few bright purplish-pink wild onions.More sparkly white “knot weed”, which looks like a Nothing Burger in this photo. Guess you had to be there.This unnamed and unknown (to me) flower is thick along the Mineral King Road, maybe around 5000′. This was one of the first times I found it near a turnout, when no one else was around so I could really appreciate it. Besides, it wasn’t 100 degrees out, so I didn’t mind stopping.Look how thick this is here! Anyone know the name of this? How about “roadside blue”? I want to be a Flower Namer!
I have many unframed pencil drawings. It costs a lot of money to frame a picture. I have a lot of frames, and a big box of mats. Matching drawings with mats and frames is a process.
“Process” is a nice businessy word that actually means ‘BIG FAT HASSLE”.
This is how I frame on short notice.
Here is a frame that might work.
Here is another one.
Just grab them all.
Where are the mats? Get the whole box!
Hold a picture up to a frame with another picture in it to see if it is vaguely the same size. Don’t worry too much about the best color, because time and supplies are limited. Besides, they are all grays because they are pencil.
Yep, that might work. Unframe the drawing.
Oops, this one is a little short on the top and bottom. Better extend the drawing.
Okay, that’ll work. Get it in the mat.
Looks fine, get it in the frame.
Dang, is that a hair under the glass? Better unframe it.
Put it back.
Dang, it’s crooked. Better unframe it again.
Straighten it and put it back.
I FORGOT TO SCAN IT! Better unframe it.
Scanned, put it back.
WHAT’S UNDER THE GLASS THIS TIME? Better unframe it.
Put it back. Yeppers, that’ll do.
NEXT!!!?
Ahem. The bottom of this is a little crooked. “Unfinished” is a better word. It’s not wrong, it just isn’t done yet. So there.
Told you it was a busy week! So busy that I forgot to post.
I received a “Call to Artists”. This is ArtSpeak for “Hey, wanna put your art in a show?”
The point of the show is to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the National Park Service.
The duration of the show is August 1 – September 30.
The location is the Courthouse Gallery in Exeter.
The deadline for entry is JULY 14!! Tomorrow!
The entry process was a little vague and somewhat complex, and with the short notice, I was scrambling. I have plenty of art of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, probably enough to fill the entire Courthouse Gallery all by my lonesome, but it has to be framed, the size determined, a price set, titles assigned, and photos or scans taken. This is part of the business of art.
Suddenly instead of working on the Exeter coloring book, I was pulling drawings from drawers, taking frames from storage and off the walls, digging through a box of mats, retouching drawings and occasionally reshaping them so they will fit in available mats and frames.
Tomorrow I will describe my framing process. Prepare to either laugh or start snatching yourself bald in frustration.
Today I want you to see the list of things I hope to take care of this week. It will relieve you of any illusions of an artist just happily creating under amazing peaceful inspiration. (That’ll teach me to run off to Israel for 2 weeks when there is work to be done!)
Illusions of peaceful inspiration from Israel
Finish preparing the manuscript of Trail of Promises (final edits)and email to the printer. (Remember that I am now also an editor and dabbling in book shepherding due to my “vast experience” with The Cabins of Wilsonia.)
Wait for the paper proof of the cover and hustle it to the author for approval.
Package up an order of notecards and hustle them to the post office.
Prepare a deposit and hustle it to the bank.
Scramble around to find mats and frames for pencil drawings that pertain to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for a last minute exhibit.
Spend time writing a few sentences to accompany every piece.
Email the images and the prices, sizes and “paragraphs of inspiration” (WHAT?? I thought it would make a nice card or print to sell in the parks!! Is that “inspiration”??)
Finish the Exeter coloring book designs – title page, front cover, inside front cover, inside back cover, and back cover, color the covers, scan everything, email it to the printer (hence the reason for the hustle to the bank – gotta pay for these things in advance)
No painting or pencil drawing this week. Just lots of hustling around. Anyone want to order a coloring book? Some notecards? I’ll be going to the post office.
. . . Trail Guy was in Mineral King. He took photos, I put them on my laptop, and now you get to see them.
It is fun for me to guess where the photos were taken. It is also fun to see what he chooses to photograph, after years and years of visiting the same places.
Oops. Sorry for the interruption? Not really. Just wanted to make you smile.
Our guide in Israel told us of being on Highway One in California and seeing a sign that said “historic site”. They pulled off to see it, and laughed their heads off when they learned it was a 200 year old lighthouse. He said, “That’s like 15 minutes in our country!”
The remains of the synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus taught – over 2000 years old.
This is what passes for historic in my world. It is a drawing for the upcoming adult coloring book of Exeter. This is not 2000 years old, or even 200 years old. But, it’s what we’ve got around here.
It needs the border and my signature, and I think I might have scanned it a little crooked. Lots more to draw – I was off work for 2 weeks, and there are coloring books to be created, quickly, before the fad’s 15 minutes of relevance wear off.
15 minutes, 200 years, 2000 years. . . what’s old?
My brother-in-law was the pastor of Neighborhood Church in Visalia and was planning to visit Israel this summer. After he died last September, the church offered his slot to his wife, my sister. When I told Trail Guy that she was going, along with our niece, Trail Guy said, “Don’t you want to go too?”
OF COURSE I WANTED TO GO!!
So I did.
We were a group of 34 with a fantastic tour guide. We saw 50 sites in 10 days. It was very hot. I took around 750 photos and have been editing them, labeling them before I forget which pile of golden tan ruins is which.
I’m not sure how this will figure into this blog. Does anyone care? Perhaps I’ll just show a little bit each day. Or, I could post one day a week about the trip. Or, I can just shut up and continue to show you the inner workings of an art business in Central California with a peek into Mineral King every Friday.
People on the tour asked if I would be drawing or painting from my Israel photos. Probably not, unless someone commissions me for a particular piece. People have asked if I will make a coloring book of Israel’s sites. No. Everything we saw is about the same color of a golden tan. I have an Exeter coloring book to finish and a Sequoia/Kings Canyon one to begin.
Today I’ll show you a few photos. These are images that interested me, and if they have something interesting to accompany the pictures, I’ll add some words.
Maybe I’ll even learn to read the stats on the blog, and if the number of readers plummets, I’ll know to stop with the Israel pics.
This is a recreation of a burial place. It is on a kibbutz, created by people from Finland as a learning center, to atone for their part in the Holocaust. Kibbutzes are not what they used to be.Cool door at the kibbutz. The guide told us that if you are under 30 and haven’t worked at a kibbutz, you have no heart. If you are over 30 and are still at a kibbutz, you have no brain.
This is on the hillside where the Israelites were shaking in their boots because Goliath was shouting threats at them. We were simply sweating in our sandals and cowering in the shade. No one was shouting at us. Down in the valley is the dry stream bed where David gathered his 5 smooth stones.Our group stopped by the road and scrambled down the bank to the creek bed. The guide warned us to take no more than 5 stones, about 1″ in diameter, and they needed to be smooth. He said if we took more, they’d have to order more from China.
Thank you, Trail Guy, for suggesting and supporting me in my desire to see wonderful places with my sister and my niece.
. . . can you see what a privilege it is to live in this country?
Israel is about the size of New Jersey. They are an amazing country, surviving and thriving in a hostile place. I saw a tee shirt there that read “Don’t worry, America. Israel has your back.”
