All-righty-then, no one has said, “Shut up about your stupid cruise already.” So, here is Chapter Two.
Check out these two Mineral King tee shirt models. But how did Trail Guy meet David Letterman??
Tuesdays, Cruisedays
More Mineral King Cabin Pencil Drawings For Sale
Fridays Are For Mineral King
You’ve been polite while I sell you pencil drawings of Mineral King cabins.
Today, let’s rest our eyes and minds with this photo of Mineral King:
Trail Guy will be leading a hike up to the Empire Mine area on July 27, 9 a.m. Depending on the state of my plantar fasciitis, I may be stumbling along at the back of the group. I don’t know yet where the hike will begin – Sawtooth parking lot? ranger station? bridge? More will be revealed in the fullness of time.
Would you like a tee shirt to go with that hike?
You can get yours here.
Oops. Still selling! No, I’m offering you the opportunity to own quality, custom Mineral King items.
Mineral King Cabin Pencil Drawings For Sale Now
In the last century, I began drawing people’s cabins in pencil while I lived in a cabin. These were mostly in and around Mineral King. My business name, Cabinart, was born at that time.
About ten years later, my friend Jennifer suggested that I make a book of drawings. Because this was all before print-on-demand, Amazon, assisted self-publishing, and all those other nifty tools, I called my cabin neighbor and friend Jane Coughran for help. She was a picture editor for Time-Life Books, and was thrilled to join me, as long as I allowed her to include historical photos. That decision took me about half of a second, and together in 1998, we published The Cabins of Mineral King.
All of the books and most of the original drawings sold. (You might get lucky on Amazon or eBay.)
Now that I am working on The Cabins of Wilsonia, I am looking for more space in my studio for all the new drawings. Thus, I located 18 unsold drawings from the Mineral King book (more, actually, but the others are too big for my scanner, so I’m not showing them.)
These drawings are available for anyone who would like to buy them. Six appear in today’s post with a BuyNow button; the other 12 will be in consecutive posts.
The prices are well below my current (and even my former) commission prices because I want to sell them and because they are on odd sized pieces of paper that might be a pain to frame. I’ve put the name as it appears in the book, the page # from the book, and the exact size of the piece of paper it is drawn on, in case you get lucky and have the perfect mat and frame waiting for one of these original pencil drawings.
A California Artist Goes Cruising
Remember I said it was probably time for a break? I made a paper cutting mistake while working on The Cabins of Wilsonia. I painted an entire painting of the Kaweah Post Office upside down.
I wasn’t kidding. You thought I was just bravely soldiering on, pushing through the obstacles, keeping my nose to the grindstone, and blogging away.
Nope. I was on a cruise ship.
Me on a cruise ship? Yep. With Trail Guy, my sisters and their husbands and my incredibly generous little mama.
Weird. I don’t even own a microwave or dishwasher, and we live without electricity at the cabin, cooking on a wood stove. Suddenly, there we were, immersed in a life of luxury, excess, ease, servants, entertainment, and with more people than live in Three Rivers. Mountain people on the ocean. Cabin people in an entirely different sort of cabin.
I have a ton of thoughts about it all and haven’t decided if they belong on this blog. Guess I’ll go on about it for awhile, and if my readership plummets (if I can remember how to check the numbers), then I’ll shut up.
Here’s the deal: everyone needs to see and do new things to keep from becoming boring, stuck, stale, and same-ole-same-ole. So, I will share a bit of our trip with you on Tuesdays.
That’s it – Tuesdays will be Cruisedays, for awhile, at least until I run out of photos, ideas or readers, that is.
Anyone want to say something about this subject?
Wildlife and Wildflowers in Mineral King
Today I will try to be quiet so you can enjoy some photos in peace.
Okay, I cannot contain myself. This guy was RIDING A BIKE down the Mosquito/Eagle Lakes trail. Strictly forbidden. Bad photo, but I wanted to let you all know to not do this. (ride your bike on a trail, not take bad photos) Now, shhhhhh (me, not you)
A Nice Walk in Mineral King
Just to review: a hike is when you take a pack and food; a walk is just a walk.
In addition to the Nature Trail/Wildflower Walk, there is a nice walk to the upper valley to a place we call Soda Springs. It might be 4 miles round trip.
Start here. Cross the bridge (unless you parked on the correct side already, which is the side that goes past the old pack station.)
Walk sort of uphill. Cross Crystal Creek. When you come to a sign that says trail pointing left, go right.
Encounter Trail Guy, wearing a Mineral King tee shirt. Ask him where you can get a tee shirt of your own. If he follows the advice that he gives me, he’ll pull a business card out of his pocket and hand it to you. If you are really lucky and catch him on a particularly hospitable day, he might invite you back to the cabin and sell you one on the spot.
Wow! Is this Soda Springs? Can I play in it?
Sure. Why don’t you leave a rusty handprint on a boulder?
Be sure to wipe your shoes, boys and girls. That’s BEFORE you go hiking or walking.
The Kaweah Post Office Goes to New Jersey
Remember I was struggling with finding the oomph to paint this? Once I got to the finishing details, I wanted to paint and paint and paint some more. I finally stopped so the nice lady with my favorite name in New Jersey could get her painting.
Elizabeth looked through my photos and chose this view for her commissioned oil painting. It shows the fence and gate behind the Kaweah Post Office up the North Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers. (sorry for being so wordy – Mr. Google likes that.)
Making People Cry
My dear friend Natalie moved to Texas about 18 years ago. I still miss her. We email, write letters, talk on the phone very occasionally, and every so often we find a way to visit each other.
Natalie is such a great person that her boss and co-worker decided to buy a couple of paintings from me for her birthday. They chose Mineral King as the subject, because that is where Nat and I met back in 1986.
I think it was because she was so surprised, so touched and maybe a little bit tired that these paintings made her cry. I don’t think it was because she was so disappointed!
I love you, Nat!! I’m almost wishing I’d driven to SLO for a stranger’s wedding last month so we could have had a 2 hour visit. Might have been a little rude to the bride. . .
DON’T MISS THIS!
Wow. That sounded bossy. Please excuse me – my intention is excitement, rather than shouting orders.
Wendy Miller is one of the best drawing students I’ve ever had the privilege of helping. I urge you strongly to see this show. And, many of her pieces are for sale. What an opportunity to own high quality pencil art at very reasonable prices. (Hint of urgency: I bought one already!)
Yes, I know it is Friday and Fridays are for Mineral King. However, I’m the boss of this blog, and this is Really Important News.
Move Over Mom, graphite on paper, 11×14, Wendy Miller
You are invited to
SUMMER CLASSICS
An exhibit of original pencil drawings by
Wendy Miller
July 2nd – September 22, 2013
Reception Sunday, July 7, 2-4 p.m.
Courthouse Gallery of the Arts
125 South B Street
Exeter, California