Anyone out there still hand write cards? Send thank you cards? Send a card just because you ran into an old friend and wanted to tell her on paper in a lasting way how happy you were to see her?
This is one of the best paintings I’ve done in my shortish painting career. (That’s just my opinion; feel free to disagree!) Now it is available as a little package of note cards. They are 4-1/4 x 5-1/2, so you don’t have to write very much. 😎 The package comes with 4 cards and 4 blank envelopes for $8 + tax. You can find them by clicking this word: Sawtooth.
Sawtooth is a prominent landmark mountain in Mineral King, visible from Visalia. I have an up-close and personal history with the peak. It happened on July 22, 1976 and it involved a helicopter. Who knew that one day I’d be painting the place??
My very wise dad used to say (until we were rolling our eyes) “Life’s full of surprises.”
If I have to shop, I go into the store to find what I need and get out as quickly as possible.
The problem is that sometimes the selected store does not have the item. Then, I have to decide: choose something else or find another store?
The answer is usually GO HOME NOW! Then I look on the internet.
It doesn’t feel like shopping on the internet. Instead, it feels like learning, investigating, treasure hunting, taking care of business in a very efficient manner.
I shopped by catalog when I was in college. My roomie thought it was a little odd – “You just look in that catalog, fill out a form, mail a check and then it arrives at your apartment?” Yeppers, that’s exactly how it worked.
So, if you are like me, allow me to assist you. My website has items for sale that don’t cost very much, and often, I pay the shipping for you. I just take it to the Post Office and let the professionals handle the delivery. You don’t have to leave your house, and since I was going to the P.O. to get my mail anyway, it was easy.
There are Mineral King tee shirts, note cards, little oil paintings, prints of pencil drawings, original pencil drawings, and big oil paintings.
A Tulare County calendar for 2014 might just be the ticket. It isn’t on my official website – only on my blog.
There are only 3 remaining. When they are gone, they are gone.
Calendar Update – there are only 25 remaining and when they are gone, they are gone. First come, first served – no payee, no sendee.
A little history:
There is an ever-changing association of artists and crafts people that is loosely based in Three Rivers. At the start-up, they called themselves the “Kaweah Artisans”. Great group, nice people. I begged and wheedled my way into the group back in the early ’00s. We put on several events a year, and eventually I felt as if I had saturated the market with what I had to contribute. So, I backed off my participation. Over time, only a few events remained in the line-up of the Kaweah Artisans. I’ve stayed semi-active, and this year they have been gracious enough to invite me to join them in. . .
The Stocking Stuffer Boutique
I’ll be selling knitted items, 2014 photo calendars, Mineral King tee shirts, notecards.
Others will be selling woven goods, the new book Sierra Wonders, gourds, metal kitchen goddesses, and turned wooden items.
The better question is “Who has time to watch teevee?”
Salt & Light, or Reading Rabbit, oil on board, 11×14″
There are multiple ways to read these days. I have discovered e-books in spite of not having a digital reader. Amazon has a thing that lets you read on your computer. It isn’t very convenient, but it is less expensive than buying a paper book. Since I might have whatever is the opposite of a hoarding disorder, I like the idea of reading a book without owning it.
The other option I love these days is audio books. Amazon has a division called “Audible”, and I buy one book a month to listen to while working on The Cabins of Wilsonia”. (By the way, at the time of this writing I have 34 drawings remaining to complete out of the 270 in the book!)
1. Preston Goodfellow by my friend Jim Karjala is an ebook of short stories. The main character is not named Jim, but these are Jim’s stories. They are funny and moving narratives of a rough childhood but not from a victim’s viewpoint. Instead, they show tremendous spunk, character and a great survival instinct. This is an e-book worth the hassle of reading it on my computer. I read it in two sessions – nice work, Jim!!
2. Wild by Cheryl Strayed was wonderful as an audio book. This is the story of a young woman who set out to walk the entire Pacific Crest Trail, completely unprepared. She was coming from a place of deep sadness and rough living, and she tells her story well.
3. Start: Punch Fear in the Face, Escape Average and Do Work That Mattersby Jon Acuff was also wonderful as an audio book. He read it himself, and this guy is funny, smart, wise, and very interesting. The book tells about the stages of a person’s career, that they cannot be skipped but that they can be accelerated. That sounds dull, but this book is NOT DULL in the slightest – I love the way Jon thinks and writes and speaks!
4. Crazy Busyby Kevin DeYoung is another ebook that a friend gave to me. I began it, it is good, but, ahem, I am too busy to finish it. That’s just wrong and ungrateful on my part. I’ll get to it, along with the huge stack of books, ahem, several stacks of books, in several locations around my house.
Has anyone ever said to you, “You are your own worst critic”?
It might be meant as an insult, although it could be interpreted as a compliment, meaning “no one else is as hard on you because there is no reason to be hard on you”.
I think being one’s own worst critic is a helpful skill in art, especially when one works alone. Who else is there to do any criticizing with the intent of helping or critiquing with the intent of improving?
A long time ago, last century, I drew this picture:
It is called “My Front Porch”. It sold recently, and before I packaged it up to ship, I put on some magnifying glasses (aka “cheaters” or “readers”) to look it over.
UNACCEPTABLE!
I spent about 1-1/2 hours improving it, because I draw better now. Yes, it looks like a different color because the method of scanning has changed. But, if you click on each picture and make them bigger on your screen, I think you will see the difference. If you can’t see the difference, that’s okay. I’m my own worst critic, not you! 😎
Growth is good (unless trying to lose weight or are a cancer cell.)
P.S. I just clicked on each picture separately, enlarged them on the screen, and realized that the new one looks all pixelated and icky. Okay, you’ll just have to trust me that the second one is better. The customer may not know of the improvements, but I certainly feel better.
I know, it is Friday and I’m still talking about Tahoe. It was beautiful and this post is for your enjoyment, not because I have a compulsion to finish topics, although that may be a factor here. This post will be long so that I can finish (not that I have a finishing compulsion or anything).
Before my friend The Other JB moved away, we used to walk and hike together. She told me about a lake near Tahoe called Fallen Leaf. I thought it was a small lake with a dusty campground. I was wrong. It is about the same size as Emerald Bay, 3 miles by 1 mile, and has a fancy-pants community of awesomely beautiful lake houses and a few cabins. Who knew? the Other JB, that’s who!
In spite of it being late October, there was sunshine and fall color remaining.
Then, we visited Taylor Creek where the salmon were spawning. This means swimming upstream out of Lake Tahoe to lay eggs and die. There were zillions of dying and dead fish. It smelled like it, too.
The ducks didn’t seem too bothered by the fish and their smells.
Beaver activity – there is a dam on the creek behind this fallen tree (not to be confused with Fallen Leaf Lake).
See the dam?
See the fall colors? Weird extended summer this year – Please God, send us rain and snow!
