Morning sun in the summer dries oil paintings quickly.
Orange you glad you live in California? Or perhaps you aren’t so glad – the state is way over its head financially, we have both sales tax and state income tax, our gas is almost the most expensive in the country, and it is stinkin’ hot.
But we can grow oranges, and we can paint them. That’s what California artists do who get calls from realtors who sell lots of citrus orchards. Blessings on you, Oh Realtors of Good Taste.
In case you were wondering, my favorite color isn’t orange. Besides, it looks terrible on me. Not my color. Maybe that is why it is fun to paint.
Last week I had an explosion of California poppies in the painting studio. They landed on top of my stereo. (Yes, that is duct tape on the stereo – You can ask Retired Road Guy, but I doubt he’ll remember.)
2×2″ oil paintings of California poppies, $16.50 each including a small wooden easel, and one poinsettia, because no matter what, Christmas comes each year on December 25. (Thank you, Paula, for the idea!)
Who knew that canvases came in 2×2″? They are so cute, and can be painted quickly. Of course I need my mega-strong magnifying glasses to see what I am painting, just in case anyone under 45 years of age looks at them.
Usually I begin a blog post with a relevant photo. There must be a reason it seems relevant, so I ponder why you might want to see it.
Attention to detail not only makes better blog posts, it makes for good pencil drawings. This is one of the cabins of Wilsonia from my upcoming book “The Cabins of Wilsonia”.
The thoughts begin flowing, and boy of boy, I LOVE to type because the words can keep up with my thoughts. I type fast, I make mistakes, but they are easily corrected. (Got fired from a typing job once – still smarts.)
After the thoughts are recorded, I reread them for flow and understanding. If anything makes me hesitate or wonder what I meant, or if it could mean two things, then it gets changed.
Next, I remove unnecessary words, such as beginning a sentence with “So”, which is a current speaking trend that I hope to avoid. (Has anyone else noticed this?) I also remove sentences after asking myself, “Does anyone care?” (if the answer is NO!)
Sometimes I think about SEO. That means Search Engine Optimization, which means using certain words in certain ways so that Mr. Google can find me (for certain).
Then I check for typographical and grammatical errors. Typos make me twitch. They jump out of other people’s blogs, out of menus, library books, the newspaper, signs, and anything with the written word. Websites with typos do not look trustworthy . . . nosirree, if that company can’t even make their website correct, then they won’t care about my order.
Finally, I do all the technical stuff like putting in key words and tags (geeky stuff), filling in the SEO all-in-one-pack (more geeky stuff) checking categories, and finally, I schedule the post.
Now that you know my routine, you can join me in wondering “Does anyone care about this blog post?”
White Chief might be the most popular short(ish) hike in Mineral King. It might also be the steepest one. It is always worth the effort, especially when back home again.
This is the first awe-inspring view on the way to White Chief. It is Farewell Gap at around 10 a.m.
A bridge is a welcome sight when one isn’t that great at rock-hopping.Nice patch of Fireweed by Spring Creek. Icky name for a gorgeous blossom!FINALLY at the end of the steep climb to White Chief, about to break into the canyon. I think someone moved the place higher since I last went there. The flat topped peak is White Chief Peak.
Walk a little further up canyon, turn around, see this view.
The creek in the middle part of White Chief is so cold that the marrow in my foot bones might have frozen a little bit. (It HAD to help plantar fasciitis, right?)
Trail Guy finds great spots to perch for lunch, but the cheese was with me down in the creek. Bummer, Dude, I’m not moving because my feet are frozen.Tut-tut, it looks like rain. Let’s choose a different route home. (No, not a helicopter) Maybe over that ridge ahead, see that bare spot in the trees? Bigelow Sneezeweed, the ubiquitous Indian Paintbrush and Larkspur look like the primary colors I use for oil painting.
This is getting to be a bit long. I’ll continue it next Friday. . . same bat time, same bat channel.
A good customer requested 14 paintings of citrus. He specified a certain number of Tangerines (aka Clementines or Mandarins), Lemons and Navel oranges.
Among the excitement of replacing paintings burned up in a cabin fire and replenishing the stock at the Silver City Store, I’ve been squeezing out these paintings.
Come on! You KNOW that was cute!
Tangerine, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collectionTangerine, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collectionLemon, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collectionLemon, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collection
I know you are just dying to ask: How did that do-over on the Farewell Gap oil painting turn out?
First, here is Farewell Gap X (that is Roman for ten, the approximate number of times I’d painted this scene of Farewell Gap in oil, approximate because I didn’t number the paintings at first and had no idea I’d keep painting the same thing over and over, and Roman numerals are more elegant than American ones, and “numeral” is more elegant than number, and I’m just one elegant California artist, not to mention eloquent, which might be elegant for “long-winded”)
Farewell Gap X, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas
After Farewell Gap X perished in an unfortunate cabin fire, I painted it again.
Farewell Gap XI, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, private collection
Then, I painted it yet again so that the Silver City Store would have something else to sell for me.
Farewell Gap XII, oil on wrapped canvas, 8×10″, $90, available at the Silver City Store, SOLD
Apparently I am incapable of perfect photo-reproduction of anything, even the same scene from my own photos.
And yes, I am repeating myself, but this time I am showing you 3 of the paintings instead of two. Besides, you’ve probably (I’m hoping!) slept since then.
Don’t you just love finding out what happened? Ever read the last chapter of a book before (or instead of) finishing? That’s okay – you don’t have to confess anything here!
Remember this pale poppy?
California poppy, 4×4″ , oil on board, unframed
Now look!
California poppy, repainted in brighter colors, oil on board, 4×4″
It was an easy fix. Thank you to everyone who shared their opinion – turns out we all thought it was pale and wussy looking. And thank you for being so polite about it all – all who remarked on it simply said they preferred the brighter colors rather than insulting the poor anemic thing.
I’ve only seen the scarlet monkey flower in my favorite wildflower book but never in person until this year along the Mineral King Road.Some days Sawtooth looks particularly captivating, but I’d rather photograph it than climb it.
HEY LOOK! The new Mineral King Bridge has a railing! It is definitely different than the old, but it is easier and more comfortable to sit on than the old one.
The Park Service (AKA NPS, Sequoia, and SNP) has used its Mineral King corral quite a bit this year. That is Timber Gap in the not so distant distance. It is much further if you are huffing and puffing your way up the trail than if you are standing beneath it with a camera.
There was a pair plus Mama, but only this fawn paused long enough for me to get my camera. There’s nothing quite like a blue tarp, a piece of my dusty car and a little bit of marmot fencing to set off a wild animal shot.
That’s my friend Jee-um. (He’s from Texas, so he says “Jim” in 2 syllables.) We met at the Silver City Store in 1986, and it was a thrill to see him on the road. Aren’t you glad you didn’t meet 4 wide vans like this on that little winding narrow road?
This was the view from the Mineral King Bridge one evening, taken while sitting on the most sittable new railing. It is Farewell Gap, but you can’t see the actual gap behind the red fir.
Sawtooth Peak probably has many many stories. It is visible from Visalia, and when it is viewed in Mineral King, folks are often surprised by its smallish size. “How could that be visible from down there?”, I’ve been asked a time or two. My answer is always the same, “I dunno!”
On July 22, 1976 I was on a backpacking trip with a group of kids and 3 adults. We had a layover day at Columbine Lake, just below Sawtooth. Several of the group decided to climb the peak, but really wanted to make a mark in history by taking a less travelled route.
It was dumb. I got a helicopter ride, a hospital stay and many booboos from that experience. I also learned a number of things.
The main thing that stays with me is that I’d rather look at Sawtooth, photograph it and paint it than climb it.
The last time I painted it, my intention was to take it to the Silver City Store to sell it there. Instead, a man saw it at my cabin while it was still wet, and he bought it!
Thanks, Sawtooth Peak.
Love,
Jana, the scarred California Artist
p.s. I went back and climbed it in 1981. It wasn’t fun. My friends helped me. Otherwise, my scared (and scarred) bones would still be up there.
On July 22, 1976 I was on a backpacking trip with a group of kids and 3 adults. We had a layover day at Columbine Lake, just below Sawtooth. Several of the group decided to climb the peak, but really wanted to make a mark in history by taking a less travelled route.