Third and Final Day

Isn’t that amazing??? I am amazed, stunned, and sort of relieved because it is so hot on that wall in the mornings.

This morning when I arrived at the wall, this was facing me:

Looked like a long day of crawling around on the ground. Bye-bye, little Lift friend. No more getting high for me on this job!

Mural painting involves relationships. Thank you, Betsy, for the step-ladder. Thank you, Larry & Dora for the loan of the ladder. Thank you Sylvia for that fantastic Dr Pepper, my first in 2 years, tasted like heaven. This little heart rock is for you:

It’s not perfect, but they never are in nature. Always fun to discover – hope you have fun finding it on this wall!

And thank you to Paula for the visit while I waited for the shade to cover the wall. (Found your home page – it will be a very thorough website when it is completed and just as lovely as your store!)

And thank you to Rocky Hill Ice Cream for being there while I waited for shade.

And this is for Rachelle:

I know, I know, just show us the finished painting!

The end.

Second Day

First, some observations about mural painting. This is a long one – might want to grab a snack first.

  1. Technology is very helpful. Today I studied some photos on my laptop, enlarged them vastly to really see what the lines in the juniper were actually doing. Cappella Coffee House is next door to the mural and has wi-fi, which enabled me to email some photos to another artist who needed to borrow them. And, my cell phone sort of works so I can take calls while painting (not as dangerous as taking calls while driving.) Plus, of course, my digital camera records all sorts of things to share with you all. Wow, all this from a self-proclaimed techno-avoider. . . !
  2. There will be discomfort while painting a mural. It could be heat, cold, bugs or wind.
  3. There will be deadlines – lift rental, hot weather on the way,  or an upcoming event. The pressure can either motivate an artist or freak her out.
  4. There will be hassles – the lift might not work or the scaffolding might not roll or the cell phone company might be having a bad day.
  5. There will be lots and lots of interaction with people – the mural team will offer encouragement and help, other artists will stop by to see how things are progressing, tour groups will come by, individuals will greet the artist as they pass to and from their cars and places of business, there will be occasional folks just touring the murals who have lots of questions. These are great marketing and public relations opportunities for Exeter, the mural project and my art business!
  6. I will spill paint on the ground, the lift and my clothing. Can’t be helped. Paint wants to be distributed – it is its nature.

Today it seemed like a good idea to take the lift to the very tippy-top of its capabilities. That’s 19′ in the air. It was fun! Now look at the rooftops, Rocky Hill and the rest:

Look at my shadow DOWN on the roof of the building I am painting!

And here is what got completed today after I finished goofing off with the equipment:

See how well it carries over from the other mural?

2-3 days left, that’s all! To be continued. . .

First day on the extension

The beginning, except it was in bright sunlight. (This photo is from yesterday afternoon.)

It was a beautiful day and the mountain view from the lift was just grand!

I saw Rocky Hill over the top of the Mineral King Publishing building,

I looked down on the big Mineral King mural.

This lift goes up 19′. I am much higher than necessary here, but probably not quite at the top.

See how high? The foreground of this photo is the roof of the building on which I am supposed to be painting instead of messing around with the lift.

Okay, the viewing tour is over. LOOK LOOK LOOK how much got finished today!!!

The third tour group of the day was from Australia!!

Mural Extension

Remember this mural? It is called Men + Mules + Water = Power and is in downtown Exeter. (Despite its descriptive and clever name, I think of it as Franklin Lake.)

Today I will begin wrapping it around the corner onto the blank wall. Funny how we know what I mean when I say “blank” because it actually has a door, a window, a mailbox, a light fixture, multiple signs and a green stripe.

Pencil Explanation, Part Three

School pencils are rated #1, #2 and #3.  It is a different rating system, one which I haven’t researched because I am a pencil artist, not a student nor a school teacher. #3 is really hard, and it is horrible if you are writing on a soft surface such as a math workbook. #1 is really dark and wonderful if you get one by accident. #2  are the most common and are the same as the HB drawing pencils. Ever notice that before?

School pencils come with erasers. Those erasers never last as long as the pencils. Drawing pencils don’t come with erasers. My theory is this: the eraser will wear out very quickly but you will have the habit of flipping the pencil over. If you have that habit, when your eraser is gone, you will scratch the heck out of your drawing. Then you will cry. Your drawing will be wrecked. If you are used to reaching for a separate eraser, there is less chance of this sort of disaster. Or tragedy.

Pencil Explanation, Part Two

Pencils are made from a blend of graphite and clay. If they have more clay, they are harder and lighter. If they have more graphite, they are blacker and softer.

H is for Hard, B is for Black.  I don’t get why those two are considered opposites in Pencil World. (Hey Pencil Manufacturers, tune in here!)

Usually the H and the B are accompanied by a number, usually 2 – 6, but occasionally as high as 9 depending on the brands. If there is no number with the letter, a 1 (one) is implied. HB is right in the center. F is an unnecessary interloper that shouldn’t be included in a set because it takes up space that could be better used for a more useful pencil. I’d like a set without an F and with an extra 6B, please. (Pencil manufacturers, are you listening??)

The higher the number, the more the particular quality of that pencil. A 6H is very hard, very pale, and very easily scratches the surface of the drawing paper. A 6B is very black, very soft, and will crack, crumble or collapse internally if you so much as frown in its direction. This is why I’d like a second 6B included in a set of pencils. (Hey Pencil Manufacturers, I’m talking to you!!)

Pencil Explanation, Part One

When I began drawing, I only used the Turquoise brand. Or it might have been called Eagle or Berol or Sanford. They keep buying each other out, and sometimes these graphite pencils now say “Prismacolor” despite the fact that they are all shades of gray. The outer paint color remains turquoise, so I’ll just call them Turquoise pencils in spite of their multiple marriages.

After Turquoise, I discovered blue. Blue pencils are made by Staedtler. Or by Mars. Or maybe they are made by Lumograph. Anyway, their outer casings are a beautiful shade of blue and they tend to be softer and blacker than the Turquoise pencils of the same rating.

Red is not my favorite color – you will seldom see me wearing it. But when it comes to pencils, I LOVE these little red guys. They were made by Stabilo. Sob. Stabilo doesn’t make them anymore. These are the best pencils I have ever used. There may not be much difference between them and the blue pencils, but for some reason, these pencils are about as close to perfection as pencils can be!

The Show Opened and It Is Good

Images of Home

Tulare Historical Museum

Tulare County art (oil paintings) by a California artist

There is a level of apprehension to a show opening. It may be a regular occurrence for all artists, or it may just be unique to me. Some of the unreasonable thought that go through my head sound like this:

  • What if my work looks like insignificant little postage stamps in that giant gallery?
  • What if no one comes?
  • What if I really can’t paint and no one has the heart to tell me the truth?
  • What if someone says rude things and I overhear them?

The horribilization of the event before it happens is something I’ve learned to subdue. It lurks, it hovers just below the surface. It drives a bit of avoidance behavior – yesterday I actually washed my car, for Pete’s sake! (It was more for the other JB’s sake so she wouldn’t be embarrassed to be seen with me.) It gets caught up in trying on about a dozen combinations of skirts and tops.

Reality is that there is a thrill to seeing a room filled with my artwork, hung in groupings, labeled and beautifully lit! A thrill, I tell you. Yep!

Add to that thrill dozens of friends, acquaintances and a handful of strangers all being complimentary and encouraging. (Those little Girl Scouts were cute beyond words!) It was a lovely event, I am touched deeply by those of you who took the time and used the gas to come, and I am speechless with gratitude to those who actually parted with hard-earned dollars to possess a piece of my art.

These photos happened at the end of the reception because talking to people was more important than documenting the event.

Danny had to sort of run a little bit to grab one last treat before it all got removed! He won an I TOLD YOU SO with his brother about one of the paintings. 😎

I left the electrical outlet in this photo so you could get an idea of scale – these are all 10×10″.

Lynda did a superb job of grouping the 60 paintings!

And the 720 square inch painting is here! The title is “One With The Stream”.

The show will be up until mid-July. You enter through the museum door and if you are only visiting the gallery, there is no entry fee. The directions and the hours are here: Tulare Historical Museum.

Images of Home

From 5:30 – 7 p.m. tonight is the opening reception for “Images of Home”, a solo show of my oil paintings. Sixty of them. Many have not been shown yet. Are you even half as excited as I am? Never mind, don’t answer that.

I am a California artist, but instead of representing the entire state, I focus on Tulare County. It is my great hope that in viewing my artwork, you will see that we are more than bad air, high unemployment and other nasty things. We have Mt. Whitney, sequoia gigantea, poppies, oranges, Mineral King and the Kaweah Post Office. That’s here in our county! (And, our air has been quite clear for awhile, thanks for asking.)

Hope to see you at the reception – I’ll be the one with the giant silly grin.

This image is on the postcard for the show. So is the address – 444 W. Tulare Ave. in Tulare, California.

The Big One is Finished!

Remember Ross Perot saying “Measure twice, cut once”? Lots of other people have probably said the same thing, but I remember him the best. Well, good thing a canvas doesn’t require cutting after (not) measuring. Remember my 864 square inch painting? Today I actually measured it and it is only 720 square inches! All that noise about how huge it is, and I never actually measured it! Just thought you might like to know so that when you come see it, you won’t whip out a tape measure and a slide rule. Yeppers, the painting is finished and the title is “One With The Rod”.  Here is a teaser peek:

Images of Home

Tulare Historical Museum, 444 West Tulare Avenue, Tulare, California

Opening Reception – Thursday, May 5

5:30-7 p.m.