When we visited Cowboy Bert and Mrs. Cowboy Bert, the animals were all vying for my attention. Remember this little Baby Cakes? Look at her now: Here: look at her where you can get a better sense of scale: Still a bottle baby, along with the white one who is a bit younger and smaller. […]
Road Tripping
In early March, Trail Guy and I took a road trip. Trips are not the same as vacations, in my personal dictionary*. A trip is when you keep moving. A vacation is when you choose a place, get there, and enjoy the area. Maybe you actually unpack your suitcase, and park your vehicle for the […]
Hidden Homes and Gardens
For several years, The Three Rivers Union School Foundation has organized a tour of gardens in our town to benefit the school. The school always needs money. It is a one-school district, and the principal also teaches all day. These situations always cause me to wonder where the magical lottery money that was supposed […]
What’s A Central California Artist to Do? part 2
Beach Birds, pencil, size forgotten, sold If you are a Central California artist, you may occasionally have times when: taking inventory is boring; ordering packaging supplies for notecards that aren’t moving very quickly feels like a waste of money, planning for paintings when one’s current body of work is collecting dust feels futile, writing blog posts is difficult […]
What’s a Central California Artist to Do?
Sometimes I feel like quitting. Have you ever noticed that what one must do just holds no interest? For example, if my job was yardwork, I’d be dying to paint. My job is painting, so I’m dying to do some yardening. What causes this?? A lingering rebellion from adolescence? A streak of stubbornness? The thing called […]
Mineral King Mural Finished
Doesn’t “Mineral King Mural Finished” sound like a newspaper headline? My “client” (what a stuffy word) Mrs. Cowboy called a reporter friend from her local newspaper to ask her if she’d like to write up our project, but the reporter was covering a mule packing class that day. Because of the heat and time constraints, I went […]
The First Coat on the Mineral King Mural
This mural is about 6-1/2 feet high and 5-1/2 feet wide. It is a joy to paint a mural that requires no scaffolding or ladders. It speeds things up a bit to be able to simply step back and see how things look. Please appreciate the shade, supplied by the handy and innovative Trail […]
After the Conversations, the Mural Begins
A year passed since Mrs. Cowboy Bert and I decided what to paint on the side of her house. Life (and sad to report, also death) happened, so I just waited until she was ready to proceed. I wasn’t bored, but thanks for your concern. I showed up around 11 a.m. on a Thursday and was in my […]
Murals Begin With Conversations
This mural was painted as a thank you for my friend Cowboy Bert, who built a handrail for the steps up to my studio. Last year we began discussing it, and I posted it on the blog in March. However, when my website broke, lots of photos disappeared, so you don’t get a link here […]
Wilsonia Book Signing Saturday!
Do you remember that I made a book on the cabins of Wilsonia? It is called The Cabins of Wilsonia, because I am Mrs. Captain Obvious. Cabin Fireplace, pencil on paper, matted and framed to 11×14″, $200 Available here (will open in new window) Notice the expression “made” a book . It is a picture book, with […]