. . . I’m going quiet on my blog for a few days. Don’t worry, just taking some time off from blogging. I’ll be back next week, maybe on Tuesday. Enjoy the silence, but don’t forget to check back in next week!
Shhhhhh. . .
Straight Talk About Art Fairs, Part Three
Yesterday’s post left off with a promise to tell about the good parts of the Visalia Taste the Arts show. Just call me List Lady. . .
- Very very well organized
- Great booth space
- No charge for the booth
- Shade!!
- Unloading and loading right at the booth site.
- Free lunch and bottled water
- Booth sitting so the artists could have a break
- My very dear friend spent the day there with me
- I saw some former drawing students, some old friends, and received a HUGE surprise (stay tuned)
- I sold some cards (I know, I’m really really trying to look on the bright side here)
- Everything fit perfectly and easily in and on my Honda Accord coupe. (I ain’t driving no Mommy-mobile and don’t you forget it!)
- They gave permission to pack up and leave before 6, so I was loaded and outta there by 5:30, all with hand signals because my 2 helpers and I couldn’t hear a single thing due to the loudest band of the day.
The HUGE surprise? My cousins from Sandy Eggo County have been teasing me about just driving up to surprise me at a show sometime. THEY CAME!!!
I’m still in shock and disbelief. We had a wonderful visit shouting at one another in the heat, and I will never forget the thrill and fun of suddenly realizing the couple standing outside and staring at me was my own family. (They had an unfair advantage because they both wore dark sunglasses while I was wearing a name tag.) When it was announced that a drumming group was up next, they decided it was time to go. They shall remain anonymous for purposes of privacy in this World Wide Web, but suffice it to say that this was definitely the highlight of a VERY VERY HOT and VERY VERY LOUD show.
Straight talk? Not doing this one again. We can figure out a family reunion some easier way.
Straight Talk About Art Fairs, Part Two
Yesterday we left off with a photo of my booth, which was both well-spaced and had a crooked Sawtooth oil painting with a worry about a large stage with very very large speakers.
Better – Sawtooth doesn’t show. But next time could you move that dumb-looking basket before taking the picture?
Enough paintings, not too many, well spaced with a crooked Sawtooth oil painting, open booth design so lookers don’t feel trapped, great location, wonderful organization, incredible staff of volunteers.
But that stage. Holy guacamole. It was the venue for one dance group after another, back to back, non-stop VERY VERY LOUD music, and loads of people standing in front of my booth so that lookers must really make an effort to come into the booth.
But they weren’t worried about getting tricked into buying anything (not that I have any earthly idea of how to do that), because we were completely unable to converse.
In addition to the VERY VERY LOUD music, it was VERY VERY HOT.
I soldiered on bravely, and at around 3 p.m. I remembered that I always keep a pair of earplugs in my purse. They helped, but I had to take out one so the occasional looker could shout into that ear while I tried to read lips.
Tomorrow I will tell you about the good parts of the show. There were good parts.
Straight Talk About Art Fairs
When I got to the venue for the Visalia Taste the Arts, I was very very impressed by the way it was set up. As I pulled into the fenced off area, I was handed a show packet that included a lunch ticket and directed to my booth. There were many huge canopies covering multiple spaces and I drove right up to the front of my space to unload.
My booth was on this end, the right side of that canopy. There was a “wall” separating me from the folks on the left end.
Everything is unloaded and my car is parked within view. This is shocking to me, because the show staff said, “Park right there” and I said, “But that’s really close – what about all the visitors?” He said, “They’ll be fine”. Umm, okay, thanks!
There was so much space for so many artists! All covered, and none of us had to pay AND they provided lunch and bottled water and help unloading and offered to booth-sit so the artists could take a break.
I was next to a very large stage with very very large speakers. It made me worry a little bit. I thought “uh-oh”, and proceded to set up my booth.
This is how it looked. Sawtooth is crooked. These things don’t show when one is hustling around, trying to get the right light, not have people pass in front of the lens, all the while worrying about that very large stage with very very large speakers. Notice how well-spaced the paintings are.
This is getting too long. Stay tuned for the next installment of Straight Talk About Art Fairs tomorrow.
End of Summer Photos of Mineral King
Will I continue Fridays for Mineral King once the cabin season is over? More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .
Meanwhile, enjoy these end of summer photos.
Puh-leeze. No standing? Really? I wonder how many people have taken photos of their friends standing in front of this sign because it is just silly. Guess it was the only no parking sign available in the Park’s warehouse.
Nope, not my cabin. I just liked the light.
This is not my cabin either. It looks so simple, classic and inviting, yes?
Sometimes I see more when I just sit than when I hike.
Taste The Arts
Taste the Arts takes place on Saturday, September 29 in Visalia, California. It is a little division of a week long event called “Taste of Visalia“. Maybe. I’m quite confused on the whole shebang.
What I am not confused about is that I will be one of many artists showing and selling my work at a former lumberyard in downtown Visalia from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The former lumberyard is encircled by Oak, Garden, School and Bridge Streets. I think the entrance is on Oak. I think it is free.
I am also not confused about the fact that I did several new paintings for the event. Here is one:
This is Sawtooth, in Mineral King. The painting is 16×20, the price is $375. Maybe people in Visalia aren’t as interested in Mineral King as people on this blog, in Mineral King and in Three Rivers. We shall see! (Who uses the word “shall” seriously??)
The Most Beautiful Fruit Bowl I’ve Ever Seen
Maybe the fruit is the most beautiful rather than the bowl. Maybe it was the setting. The light was superior, and I could hardly concentrate on the task at hand, which was helping to decide how many propane lamps might be necessary in a neighboring cabin. Trail Guy walked around with a tape measure, and I was mesmerized by this bowl.
I could paint this, or it might just be so doggone perfect that a painting would be a cheap imitation. I kept adjusting the position of the various pieces of fruit, the position of the bowl, and position of myself. Isn’t this just stunning? Thank you, Judee, for letting me experiment with your fruit bowl!
Redwood With Dogwood
I thought about calling this post “Red Dog” but assumed that might be ever so slightly misleading.
This painting is finished, all 30×40″ of its glorious self.
Giant sequoias, Redwoods, Big Trees – whatever it is called, this painting is huge.
I think I’ll go lie down for a bit.
I Paint Better Now
See what I mean?
This was the largest painting I had ever done back when I did it. Can’t remember, but I think it was in 2007, after I’d been oil painting for about one year. I thought it was mighty fine indeed. This year I took a long hard critical look at it and came to the conclusion that I paint better now.
Maybe it is just my opnion, or maybe it is true. Regardless, it is my goal to invoke the same feeling one gets while sitting on the bridge in Mineral King and looking at Farewell Gap. I think this painting is closer to that. Here, I’ll make them smaller so they can be side-by-side.
“Better” is a somewhat subjective term. Perhaps it is more modest and honest to say that I like my work better now. It has more detail. I like detail.
Frankly, I am too chicken to ask for your opinions today!
Cluck-cluck.
How Do You Know Fall’s Coming When It’s Still Hot?
In Mineral King, there are consistent signs that fall is coming. It may still be 105 down the hill during the day, but in Mineral King we know summer is about to be history.
The light is different, and the grass is as high as an elephant’s eye.
The water flows in a sluggish manner.
The deer are plentiful and the fawns’ spots are fading.
Not many wildflowers remain except asters.
Things have a yellowish tinge to them.
The Park Service begins patrolling on horseback, interviewing hunters who have crossed over into Forest Service land.
What helps you believe fall is coming in spite of the heat?