Did you know that some studio artists paint from photos?
I paint from photos. They provide ideas, inspiration, visual guidance and instruction.
I paint from photos that I take. Sometimes I adjust them on my computer. Sometimes I have other people shade my lens, hold branches out of the way or manipulate the scene in other manners. Sometimes I arrange things and rearrange them and move them around to other locations.
My friend Jimmy brought me the most beautiful pomegranates he could find. It was at a busy time as I was preparing for 2 different shows. I knew they would shrivel before I could paint them. No problem. I have a camera and am not afraid to use it.
Perhaps this is just the practical side of being a California artist in rural Tulare County.
The Perfect Gift Boutique happened over the weekend. It has become a tradition for the Kaweah Artisans to hold this exclusive event on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving at the Three Rivers Arts Center.
Exclusive? Well, the Arts Center is small, so we have to exclude any exhibitor who doesn’t say “Yes” soon enough to procure a space.
Exclusive? We are all folks who make what no one else makes. That could be more accurately defined as “unique”, but that is such an overused term.
Exclusive? We are from Tulare County, primarily foothill towns, primarily Three Rivers. If an artist from another town with a product that no one else was showing and selling asked, we would consider her. We are all California artists.
Exclusive? We aren’t a bunch of man-haters. We have included men in the past. Just turns out that we are all women.
Artisans? We all make our own products. That includes weaving, soy candles, soaps and lotions and perfumes, jewelry, photography, gourd art including ornaments, wood turned bowls and vases and platters, oil paintings on canvas, ornaments, journals and cards (that would be my work).
Care to join us next year, either as an exhibitor or as a shopper?
These leaves have been blown or rained or snowed off the trees for several weeks by now but I’m still coasting on the beauty from that weekend in mid October.
This is the Mineral King Road with its leaning juniper. The yellow is cottonwood leaves.
These are aspens with Sawtooth Peak.
This is the Monarch drainage with all its fall colors.
More Sawtooth with aspens.
And the East Fork of the Kaweah River along the Nature Trail in Mineral King in October.
The Perfect Gift Boutique is an annual event put on by The Kaweah Artisans.
Can you see the Arts Center? It is over there!!
It is low-key. There are 7 of us showing and selling our work in an old converted house across the river from the main part of Three Rivers on North Fork Drive. I put all my Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music on, and we just hang out and wait for people to come. We talk to the guests, help them choose gifts or just catch up with them and enjoy one another’s company.
Friday, November 23 and Saturday, November 24. Three Rivers Arts Center, North Fork Drive (just across the bridge, first building on the left), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
My drawing students really impress me. They sign up for lessons, come for an hour a week, and produce wonderful pencil drawings. Most of them begin knowing nothing. They persist, they do the work, and they learn to draw.
I show them the way, but they do the work and grow in their knowledge and skills. Some of them go to other workshops on the side, like watercolor painting or oil painting, or knitting. They come from a variety of backgrounds, and most have much more formal education and are far more travelled than I am.
Got me to thinking – do I make an effort to grow? Am I working on self-improvement, personal growth, being a life-long-learner?
I don’t take any classes and in fact, I’ve quit many of the classes I’ve tried.
That admission makes me look like a sluggish quitter.
But wait! There’s more!
Currently I am forcing myself through something called the hundred pushup challenge. Really! Weenie-armed, never-done-a-pull-up or a boy push-up, girlie wussy me. Even if I don’t succeed in the 6 week time frame, I will certainly be able to do more than I could before I started!
My great friend in the Seattle area gave me a 6 month subscription to a site called Lumosity. This is a brain training site that claims to be able to improve your abilities in the mental areas of memory, attention, speed, flexibility and problem solving. Over the past several weeks, I have grown mentally in all areas. Or not – perhaps I’m just better at playing the games. Whatever the truth is here, I’m having a great time!
While I paint or draw, I listen to podcasts by Michael Hyatt, Chris LoCurto, and Artists Helping Artists. Okay, sometimes I just listen to music, talk radio, sermons, or talk on the phone, or savor the silence, but often I take the chance to cram more knowledge and wisdom into my brain.
7 years ago I learned to knit.
Knitting has changed my life!
6 years ago I began learning to oil paint, and a few weeks ago I took a portrait painting workshop.
I’ve learned how to train for long power walks and done a 5K, a 9-miler, 2 1/2 marathons, and a 21-miler. I’ve also learned about Plantar Fasciitis, dang it, and all the various treatments for it, dang it, including acupuncture, which is finally bringing some relief.
I have learned to blog, update my own website, to comment on blogs, to use LinkedIn, Adobe InDesign, Paypal, Pinterest, and Daily Paintworks, all in the past several years. (no smart phone, Twitter or Facebook – gotta draw the line somewhere!)
I LOVE to learn new things, especially things to do. (These are just the ones I remember, because according to Lumosity, my memory is the weakest part of my mind.)
The annual Three Rivers Senior League Holiday Bazaar happened on a rainy day. This might be the third year in a row, which isn’t really bizarre. I am not complaining – the rain is always welcomed in this part of the world. Central California feeds the world, and it requires irrigation to grow all that food, which requires snow in the mountains.
This is what I saw when I pulled up in the morning. I never did make it outside to see what was under those tents. Hardy folks, those artists!
Since I set up the night before, I was greeted by this sight. Well spaced, missing a banner that says “cabinart” because the pole was sort of falling apart. Lots of space for people to enter and not get trapped by a hungry pushy saleswoman/artist. That wouldn’t be me. I am not hungry, pushy, or a saleswoman. Sigh. Perhaps I should learn how to be. Never mind. I’d rather paint. (I was a little hungry – forgot to eat breakfast that morning!)
Because I was set up, it gave me time to admire the view out the windows.
I was so pleased to have Creekside Yarns as my booth neighbor. They were pleased also, because I offered them the backside of my screens, hooks for hanging, and help hanging their merchandise. If I wasn’t such a disciplined artist, I would spend most of my daylight hours at Creekside Yarns. That is my favorite form of procrastination. They are my favorite shop. Knitting is my favorite thing to do outside of work. Happy sigh.
This is my friend and former drawing student, Nikki Crain. She is a weaver of awesome ability, an artisan extraordinaire, a first-class fiberist. (I just made that word up because I was on an alliterative role, sort of) Look at those trees!! She has the best booth space.
There was steady traffic, but the booths were seldom crowded. This gave lots of opportunities to really converse with the folks who stopped by. The Three Rivers Holiday Bazaar is one of the easiest shows that I do – close to home, set up the night before, one day only, not very expensive, well attended by people sincerely interested in Christmas shopping who are friendly and intelligent. This seems like it should be a common thing, but the more shows I do, the more I appreciate this little event, here in Central California in the rainy autumn foothills. Happy sigh.
p.s. All the calendars sold. I ordered 8 more, and they are now all spoken for. (Yes, Jon and Ralph, you are on that list!)
I wonder if I can keep going into December with this? Don’t tempt me – I might have to change my blog description from a California Artist to an Autumnal Photographer.
Mineral King Multi-colored Slope
(Do you know where this is?)
Farewell Gap with Yellow Foreground (my titles are wearing out!)
Red Firs and Yellow Aspens (no, they don’t look very red, but that is the name of these fir trees)
Along the Mineral King Road (No, I will not call it “Take Me Home, Country Roads”!)
Fall on the Nature Trail (but don’t hurt yourself!)
Sawtooth and the Monarch Drainage
To be continued next Friday, because Fridays are for Mineral King on this California artist’s blog!
This used to be called the “Senior League Bazaar”. . . I was walking past the Three Rivers Memorial Building and on the marquee it said 17 HOLIDAY BAZAAR. This means it is happening on Saturday, November 17. The hours are 9-4. You are invited! There is no entry fee. This is a pleasant gathering of crafters, artists, artisans, handy creative folks with neat-o stuff to sell.
I will be there with paintings, cards, 2013 calendars ($15 while they last – just 8 left!) and blank journals with my paintings on the cover ($14 inc. tax). Such a deal! And what a way to combine art with usefulness. . . I amaze myself with own brilliance at times. 😎
You can shop inside and outside. It is a great chance to visit with various artists, learn a bit about their processes, and some years a booth has fudge for sale with little tastes.
Even if you don’t feel like shopping, you might just enjoy being in Three Rivers, especially with the Chinese Pistache trees in full glorious fall color.Chinese Pistache Tree at Three Rivers Memorial Building – will the leaves still be there on November 17? I guess you’ll just have to come see for yourself.
A very old friend of mine is hosting an exchange student from Russia.
Oops. My friend is younger than I am. We’ve been friends since I was in 3rd grade and she was in 1st grade. . . that’s what I mean by very old friend, not that she is ancient!
Mariya would like to be an artist. I met her during that very bad show, and she is sweet and sincere. She has to interview someone in the profession she hopes to someday join, and so she chose me. I decided to share the interview with you, Oh Fine Blog Readers!
Sometimes my studio is orderly and I am hoping it is in good shape when Mariya comes to visit so she doesn’t think making art is the result of a chaotic mind.
Why did you decide to be an artist?
I chose to be an artist because every thing else I tried just felt like a job. Drawing was the most challenging and fun way to spend time, and getting paid for it was a dream come true.
Did you always dream of doing this work when you were young?
When I was a child, the only profession that interested me was art. I thought it was unrealistic, so I kept trying on other ideas in my head but none felt like a good fit.
What do you like most about your work?
The variety involved with working as an artist is one of the best things. Always looking for subjects, learning photography, interacting with customers, drawing, painting, learning to paint murals, improving my skills, teaching people to draw, finding places to sell, writing a blog, meeting people at shows – there is always something different to be working on!
What do you like best, and what do you dislike about your job?
Whatever I am doing at the time is my favorite thing – if I am painting a mural, I’m just sure that I could spend my life doing only that. When I am drawing, I know it is why I was created. When I am teaching people how to draw, I wish I had 100 students! If I give a presentation to a group, it feels as if I was born to do public speaking. While I am writing, I am certain that I could write forever and never run out of words. When I am planning a new piece of work, it is great fun to take multiple photos from different angles at different times of the day, looking for the best light. I love working with my photographs, cropping, planning, designing and dreaming about how it will look in oil, pencil or as a mural.
On the other side, bookkeeping, record keeping, paying bills, collecting from people who don’t want to pay, and paying taxes are all tasks I’d rather avoid. I also find it more difficult each year to participate in shows – the physical labor of packing and unpacking and the uncertainty of sales while having to stay energetic and positive is just flat hard.
Can you give me any advice?
Find what you love, learn it to the best of your ability, never stop practicing or learning. The hardest part of being an artist is marketing, so it might be wise to be a business or marketing major in college and an art minor. And, it seems that art schools focus too much on being different and creative and not enough on skills, marketing, and learning how to make art for real people instead of for gallery owners.
Mariya has not yet visited my studio where I paint orange after orange after orange.
