About Other People’s Books

Reading Rabbit, an oil painting by your Central Calif. artist

A decade or so ago, I began pursuing a “side hustle” in editing. This came to fruition in a conversation with my dear friend Louise, a historian and writer.

We began with the second edition of The Visalia Electric Railroad, then moved into Trail of Promises. Since then we have worked together on two novels.

The experience with Louise prepared me to work with other authors, primarily folks who had a story to tell but no idea how to get it from their computers (in one person’s case, a manual typewriter) into print.

Not wanting to keep inventory of all these books, I’ve been working on how to make some of them available to the public. (I don’t deal with Amazon because they demand too much, although some of the authors may have listed their books there.) The best method I could figure out was to make a page on my website with links to the assisted self-publishing sites that I have used: Bookbaby and Lulu. They each have online bookstores. You pay them directly, and they send a percentage of the moola to the author.

This is the link to that page: OTHER PEOPLE’S BOOKS.

I’m writing about this today because something weird happened. Someone ordered 3 copies of Trail of Promises from my website, AND THE BOOK IS NOT LISTED ON MY WEBSITE! Excuse me for shouting; this is profoundly mysterious. I refunded her money via Paypal (who, of course, charged me), and told her I would try to figure out how to make the book available again, since it was a very short run and has been out of print for several years.

Because Lulu is very easy to deal with, and I can put the books which I have designed onto their site for sale through them, I have added Trail of Promises to OTHER PEOPLE’S BOOKS.

Now I sure do hope that the customer returns, sees the availability of the book, and reorders.

Here, I’ll make it easy so that you don’t have to click through to my page: Trail of Promises on Lulu.com

Louise and I thank you for your interest in this eye-popping story, a 312 page book about a true adventure with lots of photos.

Planting an Oil Garden

What’s an “oil garden”?

Glad you asked!

Remember this colored pencil sketch for a commissioned oil painting of someone’s garden? (Let’s call him Jeff, because that is his name.)

Jeff approved of the design for his painting and chose 12×24” for the canvas size. Having realized the benefits of starting with a sketch on an earlier commissioned oil painting,I began a larger sketch in pencil on the canvas.

Then, with paint thinned not quite to dripping, I started filling in all the white, figuring out shapes and sizes of the various items.

That’ll do. I tried to begin some detailing, but it was too wet.

Thinking back to the last oil commission of the blueberry/avocado farm, I remember being very unsure of my abilities and nervous about a successful outcome. As is always the case, it was needless to fret. The success (happy customer) has given me confidence on this one and I am proceeding with an eagerness to get to the details.

Trail Guy has said to me for years, “Success leads to success”. Mike Rowe quotes Robert Frost thus: “Way leads on to way.”

I say “Let’s git ‘er dun!”

Clear and Cold in Mineral King

When the fog cleared off, the sun began its work of melting snow. It was a time of much wood-splitting, wood burning, friendship, marveling at the clarity and brilliance, puttering, walks, and for Trail Guy and the Farmer, a time of making sure none of our immediate neighboring cabins had broken pipes from the cold. (A friend one mile down the road didn’t have water from when the snow first fell earlier in the week until he left on Sunday, but nothing was broken, only frozen.)

Okay, enough chitchat. Have a look, first at the changing light on the Crowley Family cabin and Farewell Gap, and then photos in no particular order.

This is Empire, not Sawtooth, in case you only somewhat familiar with Mineral King.

(That last photo is Sawtooth.)

Snow in Mineral King

As we left Silver City, the snow along the road made it apparent that it was going to be a bit dicey at the cabin, another 1000 feet or so above Silver City’s elevation.

There was a bit of a sunny window as we got near the valley, allowing a view of Sawtooth.

Oh-oh. Where is the snow shovel? Yeppers, I shoveled snow at the end of May!

The sun disappeared, and it got cold and foggy. Here are a couple of neighboring cabins.

I flipped over a bench on the porch so I could shovel better and was amused to see icicles hanging off the side.

Our neighbors had us over for dinner (no, they didn’t HAVE us for dinner—we all HAD pizza), and it remained foggy and very cold all evening. They have a top-notch wood stove, so we were very cozy inside.

Fog and cold continued the following day, when I went to another neighbor’s cabin to give a drawing lesson. That’s work that I love doing, and although we struggled a bit with being able to see via propane lamp, we made progress.

The following afternoon was sunny, so we continued our lessons on their deck. We opted for being a bit chilly in order to see.

The clouds came and went, and at one point while my student was trying out techniques, I was suddenly overcome by a need to photograph this window to draw sometime down the road. Literally down the road, because I might be drawing it at my studio, which has that magnificent drafting table and magnifying light.

Tomorrow I will show you how beautiful it all was when the sun came out for the rest of the cold weekend.

Business in the Mountains

The Silver City Store sold two Mineral King oil paintings on opening weekend; a few days later they sold a sequoia tree painted on a wood panel.

Luckily for a future customer, I had one more ready to go. So, on the way up the hill last week, we stopped by to deliver it. While there, I took a few more interior photos. The store is good to me*, and I happily advertise for them.

This year I have brought a few pencil reproduction prints of appropriate subjects. It’s been awhile since those were on public view.
Sawtooth on the sawblade is not for sale.
I designed this logo several decades ago and they are still using it. One of the original mugs (doesn’t say “Mountain Resort”) is on my drawing table with colored pencils in it.
Terrible light, but I wanted to show you the no-longer-functional gas pump and the snow outside.

There was quite a bit of snow in Mineral King when we arrived. Tomorrow’s post will be about that, accelerated to Thursday, because there are too many photos of Mineral King to just confine the topic to Friday’s post.

*Not the actual store, but you know what I mean.

Oil Painting Commission to Stretch This Artist

CUSTOM ART | COLLAGES

Custom art is an important piece of my art business. There are countless scenes and objects that I’d really enjoy painting or drawing, but in 33 years of earning a living with art, I have come to understand that people want what they want, not necessarily what I want.

Therefore, I make custom art, which is another way of saying that I accept commissions.

An acquaintance (friend of a friend) got in touch via my website to request an oil painting collage of many views of his garden.

I’ve done many pencil collages before, but never one in oil paint. This is going to stretch my design and painting abilities, for certain and for sure.

Here is a look at a pencil collage so you know what is meant by “collage”. It’s not actual cutting and gluing pieces together; instead it is combining multiple pictures into one larger piece.

CUSTOMER PHOTOS

The potential customer sent me these photos (actually more than this) of his garden. Although nothing stands out to me as a focal point, and I have no plan-view to understand how all the pieces work together, I do understand a person’s love of one’s own garden.

For once in my scattered approach to business, I had the presence of mind to ask for a deposit in order to begin the design phase. In custom art, it’s crucially important to communicate clearly with the customer. It takes several hours of emailing, thinking, studying the photos, and yes, even lying awake at night trying to figure it out. (Hmmm, do you get paid to lie awake at night?)

SKETCH | DESIGN

After the deposit check arrived, I procrastinated for half a day, trying to figure out how to begin. No need to show you all the mental wrangling. Instead, have a look at the sketch, which I started in pencil and then colored in with colored pencils. It looks like a scribbly mess, because it kind of is. However, it doesn’t make sense to perfect something when we are tiptoeing into new territory, unsure of the destination.

The actual sketch is 2-1/2 x 5”, a proportion of 1:2. This will translate into a 10 x 20” or 12 x 24” canvas. (Other sizes too, but I have canvases this size here on hand, ready to go.)

It may look like a mess to you, but I can assure you that the potential customer knows what each item is. He gave me a list of the things that matter to him. I hope this captures the feel and that I can execute this in oil paint.

P.S. The customer emailed yesterday to say he is pleased and to paint it 12×24”!

It’s June

This is Hume Lake as seen from the footbridge that crosses Ten-Mile Creek on the end of the lake toward the dam. For the past eight summers, I’ve had an idyllic reunion with a childhood friend at her Hume cabin. It is modest and rustic, and our times there are a real bright spot in life.

“Make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold.

That’s a song that we sometimes sing together, especially when we are out in a rowboat on the lake. We also have been known to sing “When Sammy Put the Paper on the Wall”, “Kookaburra”, and a round with 3 different parts including “Fish and Chips and Vinegar”.

You’d want ear plugs if you were with us.

Opening Weekend in Mineral King

This post will be photo heavy, with some captions for clarity, since a few folks among my tens of readers have never been to Mineral King. (It’s a special part of Sequoia National Park accessed by its own road.)

Farewell Gap
Iconic view from the bridge of Farewell Gap, the east fork of the Kaweah River, with the Crowley family cabin.
Timber Gap. You can get to the main part of Sequoia by a very long walk over Timber Gap.
A tree across the Franklin/Farewell trail about 1/2 mile below Crystal Creek.
Pussy paws
Languid Ladies AKA Sierra Bluebells
Western Wallflower
No idea
Dandelions
Rock outcropping of Empire (not the highest part where the mines are) with Monarch/Black Wolf falls

Cold Springs Campground is closed for an undisclosed reason (hazard trees?) but you can walk through on your way to the Nature Trail. The bridge desperately needs painting, but your park entrance fees and wilderness permits and other tax dollars are going to other needs things.

Iron Falls is Reader Sharon’s name for this section of river along the Nature Trail.
Violets
How is it that Trail Guy and I have never noticed this square nail embedded in the road before?
A cabin neighbor is burning yard rakings while cooking something in a black pot alongside the fire. Most cabin folks fly their flags when in occupancy.
Sawtooth Peak
Sierra Currants in bloom
The other kind of currants
Franklin/Farewell trail. The main peak is Vandever, on the right side of Farewell Gap.
Crystal Creek spreads wide across the trail.

It was a weekend of catching up with old friends, splitting wood, taking walks, reading, knitting, and eating. So many people brought us food: focaccia, pizza, dark chocolate (my vice), wine (someone else’s vice), carrot cake… never mind watching the blood glucose when surrounded by generous friends!

Western Tanagers show up in early summer. They flit around so much that Trail Guy did well to get this blurry photo with his red head turning.

The Road

The lower 8 miles of county road is worse than ever, thanks to the heavy trucks and equipment working on the park section. The next 10 miles are utter perfection—thought I was on the wrong road, or perhaps dreaming. It reverts to mess briefly right below Slapjack, and again around Redwood Canyon. I think the new pavement stops above Redwood, but since it was in fits and starts for awhile, I lost track. The upper dirt sections have a new layer of roadbase, which has been graded. However, it won’t take long until those sections deteriorate into corduroy. Those sections extend a mile above Silver City, and then the road becomes its old familiar mess of ruts, potholes, dirt, rocks, etc. Just go slowly and your car will be fine. (Fernando would love the new road. Sob.)

Learned (Little) in May

May isn’t over yet, but since tomorrow is Friday during Mineral King season, May’s learnings are a little early.

Actually, I learned the first item in April, but since April’s Learned List was FOURTEEN ITEMS, I pushed it over onto May. May is a little lighter on learning than normal. Guess I read too many novels or slept late too often. . . Yes, May still has several days left for learning, so it is possible a few things will spill over onto June.

1.Gopher Hawk is the name of a tool that catches gophers. It is easier to set than the old Macabees traps, which I have only successfully set one time. It is expensive, but seems to be effective. I first tried a borrowed one without the tools to get it in place; when I read more about it, I ordered the whole trapping set (BEFORE I learned that our local hardware store sells it). Like everything, it takes a little practice and a lot of patience. I might need to order a second one, because the cats are catching squirrels instead of gophers this year so far. Gardening is war.

2. A stained glass window from a childhood memory is a story that I will tell you more about when it is closer to being finished. Here is a peek at this lovely artifact hanging behind that chandelier on someone else’s deck.

3. Waymo is something I heard about from a friend who traveled with an elderly couple in a city. She and the woman needed to get somewhere when their car wasn’t available, so my friend used Waymo. What is that? It is basically a driverless taxi. Yep, you get into a car that has no driver and it takes you where you ordered it to go, using your phone, of course. This blew my mind, and I blurted out, “NO DRIVER! I can’t even stand driving an automatic!” For me that is NO WAYmo.

4. Small town living: in reading an article from This Evergreen Home by Mike and Mollie Donghia, I realized that living in Three Rivers still has many of the benefits of “the good old days”. You might enjoy the article.

5. This quote on happiness from economist and philosopher Adam Smith caught and held my attention:

“What can be added to the happiness of a person who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?” Source: The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759) (with thanks to James Clear’s newsletter)

Selling at Silver City

Silver City Store, as it looked in 1985, painted in 2018 as a commissioned oil painting. (The original pencil drawing is in a frame and as such, won’t scan properly).

Over the weekend, I took all my Mineral King themed paintings to the Silver City Store, which is where I worked in 1985 when I met Trail Guy and changed the entire direction of my life (from meandering and going nowhere to based around Mineral King.)

Sawtooth on a saw blade was commissioned by the resort and belongs to them —not for sale.

The first time I sold my art in a store was the summer of 1986, when I had prints made of my drawing of the Silver City Store. Now it is called Silver City Resort and it is much fancier.

Usually I take 6-10 paintings and some notecards to the store at the beginning of the season, and then restock throughout the summer. This year I decided to take everything all at once.

Manager Molly was very gracious in helping me fit things in. We pulled nails, pounded new ones, and scooted lots of things closer together. They have more merchandise than ever before—if you like to shop, you will definitely enjoy the store this year.

When it was all in place, I pulled out my little Canon Elph camera, and the battery was dead. I didn’t have the inferior phone camera with me, because there is no reason to take it up the hill.

So on the way home, we stopped by and I did some quick photos (had a replacement battery back at the cabin).

A gap here is good news.

Two paintings sold over the weekend!

Entering White Chief. . . I admit, this is one of my favorites and I was surprised it hung around for two years.
Mineral King Trail

It’s not a gallery with white walls, shiny floors, and lots of space, but my art does well in carefully selected stores. Silver City is the first and best place I’ve ever done business.

P.S. Silver City is 21 miles up the Mineral King Road and is 4 miles below the Mineral King valley.