It is time to do a few small paintings to sell at Kaweah Arts. The proprietor requested Sequoia trees and mountain ranges. I looked through my canvas sizes, looked through my photos and made some decisions. Inventory number, title, wire on the back, add to the inventory lists, crop and enhance the photos—all needs to happen before paint lands on the canvas.
Wait! This isn’t a Sequoia tree or a mountain range. What is it?
It is a scene I have wanted to paint for many years, but felt it was a bit too hard. This will be one of my long slow paintings, with many many layers. There is no deadline, and I want it to be Most Totally Excellent.
Okay, this is a standard 6×18″ painting of a big tree, AKA redwood, AKA Sequoia, formally known as Sequoia gigantea, not to be confused with the redwoods of northern California, called Sequoia sempervirens.
WHAT IS THIS???
This is a work in progress, a housewarming present for someone Very Important in my life. She showed me the pieces she has in her kitchen, and I was inspired to ask her what I could paint to add to the collection. (These might not be the actual pieces that she has, but hers are very similar to these.)
The sequoias and mountain range paintings can just hold their camels* for a little bit. I have some designing, improving, polishing, rearranging, composing ahead.
*Learned to say this while in Israel back in 2016 and decided it is more fun than horses.
Long month; many new ideas, thoughts, trivia, and items of interest for you.
Old coffee grounds do NOT act as fertilizer; instead, the caffeine (yes, even in used grounds) acts as an herbicide. (I read this in a science magazine.) This could explain the poor growth in the planting bed by my front porch. . . 24 years of using an herbicide instead of fertilizer. . . oy vey.
2. The creature that I was certain is a vole is almost certainly a gopher, according to Trail Guy. None of the animal reference books at the cabin have gophers in them, so how was I to know? By asking Trail Guy instead of consulting the books, of course.
3. Have you heard the saying “Someone got a wild hair” to describe random or risky behavior? Turns out that the saying is “wild hare”; I wonder why an untamed rabbit causes people to go rogue.
Reading Rabbit is an educated bunny, not to be confused with a wild hare.
4. Did you know that very few people value their hubcaps? I’m certain there must be a study, a poll, or a survey that confirms this. I have sent photos of the found hubcaps to the place where Mineral King folks get their news, and NO ONE CARES. They recently went into the trash.
5. A friend of mine is frugal almost to the point of absurdity; I have learned many things from her through the years. (The Queen of Cheapa) A recent adventure in frugality was fixing her own tooth when a crown fell off. She bought dental cement online, rinsed with peroxide, dried the tooth, and reapplied her own crown. I wonder how long it will last; if I hear more, I will include it on another Learned List for you.
6. Enzyme cleaners in tablet form for contact lenses have become impossible to find. ‘Tis a mystery.
7. Everything is a process. Want insurance? Start making phone calls, working through “phone trees”, leaving messages, waiting. Want to do something with your phone? Start making phone calls, leaving messages, listening to robots lying to you about “your call is very important to us”. Need a medical appointment? Be prepared to be on hold, to hear multiple reassuring messages about how much “we care about your health”, and then plan on getting multiple phone calls to “preregister”, to “verify”, to “confirm”, and to “prepare”. My opinion is that everyone is overloaded with precautions that waste everyone’s time, all in the hopes of not getting sued. It all comes down to lawyers and insurance. Further, big companies are difficult to deal with.
8. If you switch cell phone providers, you have to get a A. transfer PIN, B. account number (which account #??), C. unlock your phone from the previous provider. I emboldened C because the new provider neglected to mention this and many hours were wasted on the phone with the new provider trying to establish the reason for the new phone’s inability to work. The phones are still locked after more wasted time with the old provider, our old nemesis Huge & Rude (and incomprehensible).(See #7 and then find our new vocabulary word on #10)
9. The Clover Creek Bridge in Sequoia National Park was NOT built by the Civilian Conservation Corps; it was built by a construction company before the CCCs came into the Park. Additionally there is another one like it that most people just fly over without actually seeing: the Marble Fork Bridge (the creek after it runs through Lodgepole campground). You can learn more about these bridges on Tulare County Treasures.
10. A friend sent me this most excellent new word: “ineptocracy”. (see item #7) Look at the definition, and see if you can relate: Ineptocracy (in-ep-toc’-ra-cy) – a system of government where the least capable to lead, are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.
11. Here is a little gift of a link to a very touching story on Tim Cotton Writes: The Last Impala.
Perhaps you could use a peaceful seasonal image after all that information. I am happy to oblige.
I have a new friend. Krista Fulbright is an artist, working in watercolor. She moved to Exeter from Missouri (or “Missour-uh”, as another friend pronounces the state) a handful of years ago.
We met at an event at Cache, and I was struck by her sincere sweetness. Sounds corny, but I mean it.
She initiated contact, asking to get together for plein air painting. I told her honestly that I don’t like this activity very much, maybe because whenever I paint this way people ask if I am planning on finishing the painting. Sometimes they say, “That doesn’t look like your regular work”.
Anyway, we had a good conversation, and her response to my declining her invitation was to laugh and say that she understood. She said that we could probably find something else to do together, and I said I was looking forward to it.
We emailed, talked on the phone, texted, and eventually made a plan to get together. She was wondering about reproducing her art, and I offered to share my scanner and knowledge of Photoshop Junior. This resulted in a fun afternoon together in my studio.
As Krista figures out how to earn a living with her art, we discuss different aspects of this squishy and nebulous type of business. I’ve been doing this full-time for 30 years, but I still don’t know much. Things that used to work for me just don’t any more. . . print ads (where??), mailing out postcards (at 51¢ per card just for postage?), art festivals (most cancelled), printing/packaging/selling notecards (who writes anymore??), selling at gift shops (almost all now closed). . . times keep changing quickly. (Anyone read Who Moved My Cheese?)
Together, we explore ideas and share information. I haven’t had many artist friends who are seriously pursuing a career of art. I know a lot of artists, several in cities with large populations, some who rely solely on Fakebook, and many who are hobbyists, or dabblers. Krista is serious, focused, and relentless in improving both her skills and her business.
Krista’s website is https://fulbrightarts.com. Her work is realistic and tight, a style that suits me. It is a privilege to call this hardworking, talented lady my friend.
Sales of my art have declined. Is it the economy? I assume so, since sales are an economic transaction. The specific reasons are: one of my regular vendors was not open this past summer; another one relied on a now-closed adjoining restaurant for foot traffic; the third place relied on traffic to Sequoia National Park, which was closed until July 1.
What’s an artist to do?
Look for a new place to sell, of course.
St. Anthony’s Retreat asked for some of my paintings for their gift shop. This is close to home, a place where I have painted several murals, staffed by many friends, and is an active place in Three Rivers. It brings in people from all over the valley for various purposes, many of which are not actually Catholic. It is a beautiful place, very bucolic, and they have very good food too.
I worked with two friends there to decide what to put in the gift shop. This is what we chose:
Craig Ranch (on BLM land above St. Anthony’s)Kaweah River (St. Anthony’s is visible on the hillside.)
Alta, Kaweah Lake, Lupine (visible to anyone traveling to St. Anthony’s)
Winding Kaweah, almost visible from St. Anthony’s
Redwoods, painted from the same reference photo used on a mural at Santa Teresita, St. Anthony’s youth center
Yarn! Because there was a knitter’s retreat setting up when I delivered the paintings. (Mama didn’t raise no fool. . .)
Fall is supposed to be a relief from the heat. Last week we hit the 90s, AGAIN. Although my mind has the facts of seasonal changes, doubt holds me hostage.
So, I was seeking signs of fall, anything for encouragement that summer wouldn’t last forever.
The redbud trees in our yard are getting some yellow leaves.
Two red branches are appearing at the top of my flowering pear by the studio.
See? Weird, eh?
The pyracantha berries are getting good color, and the mulberry is getting a touch of yellow in the leaves.
I am referring to finishing a large (12×24″) oil painting that I started in August, and then left to gather dust and spider webs while I worked on smaller paintings. Smaller paintings provide something closer to instant gratification; larger paintings build character.
These photos were taken in August.
These were taken in October, a progression of adding paint. You might notice that Vandever (the peak on the right) grew in height. If you are particularly observant, you may notice some angle changes too.
The painting was wet and shiny, so the final photo is not telling the true story. (. . . pants on fire)
I rotated the easel every direction, wasting film like crazy.
NO, I WASN’T WASTING FILM! I have a digital camera. But you probably knew that, because I am so modern, so quick to adopt new technology.
I can hear you thinking sarcastically, “Sure you are.”
This is Farewell Gap at dusk, in Mineral King. (I bet you guessed that already). Perhaps the title will be “Farewell Gap at Dusk”, because I am just clever that way sometimes.
These new oil paintings may look familiar to you from seeing them in progress.
Inventory was low; with the Holiday Bazaar in the near future (November 18 at the Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building) and seeking a new vendor, it was time to start producing.
Salt Creek Trail, 8×8″, $100
Alta, Kaweah Lake, Lupine, 6×12″, $125
Sunny Sequoias II, 6×12″, $125
Cattle Crossing, 6×6″, $60
P.S. They all look better in person, but I think you might know that by now.
. . . the mural/graphics at the Three Rivers Historical Museum? You’ll have to attend the exhibit opening of Native Voices to see!
2. . . . the murals at the giant Catholic church in Visalia? After 13 months of much wrangling, negotiating, emails, phone calls, designs, rewriting of proposals, and rebidding, I withdrew my proposals. They’ll have to find someone else for this. (I’d show you my designs, but I don’t want anyone to kipe them.)
3. . . . the mural for a county library, mentioned back in August of 2022? Nothing. It was promised to me, then silence. A call to artists went out, I submitted my designs (because it expanded from one wall to two walls), then silence. The deadline for a decision passed (May 31), and the silence continues.
4. . . .my overgrown unmowed lawn? After the 5th summer of not mowing, hand trimming, transplanting, and fertilizing, it is looking quite nice. Now that it is mowed, I can see the gaps, and next year I will continue to transplant clumps as I find them at the back of the house where there used to be lawn.
5. . . . my gardening efforts once I started using an expensive humus, Deer Out, and milorganite fertilizer? Things look moderately better, although not magnificent. (Let’s remain in Realville, people!) This is the herb garden, fenced against deer, many plants with underground baskets against gophers, very poor soil, direct hot sun in summer, and zero sun in winter.
Yesterday I showed you some oil paintings of Sequoia, the non-Mineral King part of the park. Today here are some pencil drawings (I LOVE to draw—did you know that??)
These don’t have sizes and prices. Some are sold, some might be framed, and most are probably just in a flat file in my studio. (If you want to buy any, email me at cabinart AT cabinart DOT NET—written this way so robots won’t bother me any more than they already are—and I will see if I can find the original for you.)
One or two might be available as a reproduction print. (Since I am old now, according to The Beatles, I can’t remember.)
Four Guardsmen (minus the smaller foreground trees that block these giants
Clover Creek Bridge, a fabulous structure NOT built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of about 3 pretty bridges in Tulare County. YOU CAN LEARN MORE HERE: Tulare County Treasures
Yesterday I mentioned several things that I have painted from Sequoia National Park. Want to see? Some have sold, and some are currently available. (Every once in awhile, I show items for sale because I am supposed to be running an art business here, not just chit-chatting to my friends.)
Crescent Meadow, sold
Tunnel Log, sold
Sunny Sequoias, oil on wrapped canvas 18×36″, $1200
Moro Rock, sold
sold
Sequoias in Winter, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $650
