Small town stuff

Last night the phone rang. Even though it said “Private Caller”, I answered. It was an acquaintance who identified herself, and immediately apologized, saying she had called the wrong Jana. After a few questions, I was able to tell her the last name of the “right Jana”. Where else can you dial a wrong number and not only find a friend, but get the info you are seeking?

While making a phone call a few years ago, I expected to reach Louise. Instead, I misdialed and got Pam. When I realized what I had done, I said, “Since I have you on the phone, can I order a cheesecake from you?” Isn’t that a hoot??

Last week I got a message on my home phone that was intended for someone else. I know where the caller works, so I looked up her work #, called her and told her that her message went to the wrong answering machine. She told me who the message was intended for, and I said, “Oh! That is my vet’s Mom!” (I was pleased that she didn’t say, “Oh? I prefer a Physician’s Assistant.”)

Rain Casualty

Casualty is another C word, but not an art one. (Remember “commission” and “consignment”?) Nevertheless, here is the literal definition: “a person killed or injured in a war or accident”. The figurative definition is “a person or thing badly affected by an event or situation”.

I was driving around on Sunday afternoon being a Looky-loo at all the rain action in Three Rivers and passed Neighbor Kelly’s house just minutes after this happened:

It was hogging up part of the road. Neither Kelly nor I have chain saw experience, nor could we find a handsaw. We got our pruners and I grabbed an ax. Together we got it hacked back and dragged off the road. We borrowed some cones from our neighborhood water project to mark it for cars to notice. (I mean the drivers of cars, but you knew that!) Kind of cool to have an ax, know how to use it! In Three Rivers, we depend on our neighbors for help. I know if there is a tree casualty in my yard when my personal chainsaw-operator is absent, I can call on Neighbor Kelly to come help me deal with it! (These two photos were taken after she and I dealt with all the stuff in the road – obviously there is still work to be done!)

Wasn’t it a beautiful tree?

Dreaming of a Wet Christmas?

It has been raining in Three Rivers since Friday. Today is Monday. Thought you might like to see a few pictures.

Looking downstream from the Dinely Bridge, Three Rivers. (I know you know that, but it helps people searching for Three Rivers to have Three Rivers in the text. There, that is 3 mentions of Three Rivers. Nope, four mentions of Three Rivers. Oh-oh, that makes five mentions of Three Rivers. . . wait, now it is six!)

On Thursday, the water didn’t even reach the stick. On Friday afternoon around 3:30 it was at 1.5. On Sunday afternoon at 1 it was raining too hard to read, but my memory of how much was showing says 4.5.

Looking upstream (white buildings on high right are St. Anthony’s Retreat). It has been higher but the rain isn’t finished falling yet!

Colors (an infomercial)

This will be a long entry – if you are just wanting a quick look, you might want to return later for a more thorough reading!

Colors is the studio and gallery of Three Rivers artist Wendy McKellar. It is at 41763 Sierra Drive, just upstream from the place that sells Shell gas. In addition to being Wendy’s studio, it is an art shop, a collection of local art and crafts as chosen and displayed by Wendy. Stepping into the building is like a grown-up (but smaller) version of Small World in Disneyland (minus the annoying song). It is all color and light, and even makes a non-shopper such as myself want to look and look and look!

This is how the place looked with my work set up in front. Notice the lack of high visibility of pencil drawings – the store/studio/gallery is called “Colors”!

Here is a bit of Christmas merchandise – all of it handmade/handcrafted/created locally by people I know. (Couldn’t decide among all those appropriate words and since this is an infomercial, decided to use them all!)

The flower is for sale. The chairs are not. The colors together just grabbed my attention to the point of distraction. The only cure for that sort of Color Junkie problem is a photograph!

Who could resist a retail establishment that looks this charming? The ultimate compliment around here is “OOH, this looks just like The Coast”. I believe Colors qualifies for that sort of effusiveness (it means “expressions of gratitude, pleasure and approval in an unrestrained or heartfelt manner”.)

All of these paintings are available at Colors. They are 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $40 each (same price as if you purchased them from me directly.)

But wait! There’s more.

Just kidding. Had to throw that in so you felt as if it truly was an infomercial.

Here is the address and phone number. It opens at 10:30 a.m. (but I can’t remember which days or the closing time.)

41763 Sierra Drive, Three Rivers, California 559-561-4993

p.s. Happy Birthday, Wendy!

Sundries

Not “sundried” but “sundries” – it is a word that means “various items not important enough to be mentioned individually”.

Sometimes the sun is so good coming through the windows of the workshop that I can prop small paintings on the door for photography purposes. Kind of handy to not mess with the tripod!

This was the Stocking Stuffer boutique. It was more of a girl-hang-out day than a work day.

Last Blast of Autumn

December is winter in our minds, but the reality in Three Rivers is that most of the month is still autumn. Have a look at my studio and workshop with the flowering pear tree! When my friend Stacy sold it to me almost 10 years ago, I told her I needed the largest one she could get because I didn’t have time to wait for it to look good. It still looks like a skinny pencil tree to me – no fault of Stacy’s, just my crummy soil and inconsistent watering.

Dogwood

My Dad used to refer to this flower as a “fried egg” and it would annoy his Aunt Mary to no end! As a kid, I didn’t understand their low-key teasing; as an adult, I get it. (Isn’t that the case with much of life??) This is a sold piece, but I wanted to share it with you because these flowers are so doggone gorgeous!

Commission

Remember this word? It means “an order for something to be produced such as a work of art”. Indeed! A friend of a long-time customer contacted me with a request to draw a house. The photos came next-day type post and had to be signed for. There were three and they had obviously been peeled from an old album. None of the three had a complete view of the house; two were from the front and one from the side. There was snow, and changes had been made from the 70s photo to the more current one. Have I mentioned lately that I love to draw? I LOVE to draw, and this challenging puzzle was greatly satisfying!

Buy Now Button

If it doesn’t work for you.please e-mail me if you’d like to buy something. Apparently it works if your name is Vicki, but not if your name is Bob. Technology. Sigh.

Learn, Schmearn

That is what Drawing Student Megan said in response to 2 possible solutions to a drawing problem. Still makes me smile!

When figuring out a path for my business of art, it seems that I am constantly learning, whether or not I want to. Take these Christmas ornaments for example: last year I was so excited to paint little Big Trees (tee hee hee, that sounds odd) on wooden disks. They sold okay, but not great.

This year I evaluated the sold ornaments versus the unsold ones, and there was a definite pattern. I repainted the remainder to resemble the sold ones, and they haven’t done so well either.

In addition to the Big Trees, a friend suggested that I paint little scenes on the remaining zillion blank disks. I tried a few, and although they sold very well, they take way more time than the price can handle. Here are the final 2 of that variety (sold, of course, and to the friend who made the suggestion.):

There are 10 Sequoia ornaments remaining. What will become of them? How about this: I will offer one each as a gift to the first 10 people who respond to this blog entry. Ick, that sounds ungrateful! If they won’t sell, I’ll just give them to you? But they are kind of neato! And adding the word “FREE” without strings attached often makes a thing look better. So does pricing it for lots and lots of money, but that isn’t my style. My style is honesty and generosity; hence, this blog and this offer!

You can either email me at cabinart@cabinart.net or comment on the blog. The first 10 get an ornament. If no one bothers, it will most definitely be a learning experience!