Mineral King August Tradition

The Mineral King Preservation Society has been hosting a concert for several (five? ten? I can’t remember) years. It happens on a platform that was initially built for dancing back in the days of the Mineral King resort. The musicians are a married couple who call themselves Mankin Creek. They are bluesy, folksy, terrific!

You can see the edge of the platform. On it, and around the edges too – might have had 100 people.

Dinner is provided – sandwiches from Sierra Subs, grapes from The Farmer (our hiking partner).

Farewell Gap had nice light.

I messed around with settings on my camera, found “super vivid”,  and decided it would look better painted this way.

But, this is how it looked with real alpenglow, not enhanced by the camera’s fancy settings. It is the best!

Some of the staff from the Silver City Resort were uninhibited about dancing and really added life to the evening. Afterward I talked to them (they sell my paintings for me!) and learned they are from: New Hampshire, New York, Nebraska, Michigan, San Diego, and Orange County. Uninhibited about dancing and undaunted by travel.

These events make me tired. I need to spend time just sitting and knitting to prepare and to recover. The color in real life is pretty close to “super vivid” light on Farewell Gap.

Taking a walk with a friend is also a good recovery activity from too much time in a crowd.

And look who we saw on the way down the hill after the weekend. Didn’t get his face – Trail Guy was driving and not too keen on sitting in the middle of the road while waiting for a good bear pose. My inability to get good animal photos is one of the reasons I stick to landscapes.

Post Show Thoughts

“Still Here” is over. This is my first time to exhibit in Arts Visalia, and I don’t have anything to compare the show to, particularly in light of the virus approach to handling things. Four pieces sold, and the director thought that was great, because some shows have no sales. (That would be highly disheartening.) Many cards and a few books sold too. The last day had steady visitation, a great time to visit with friends and meet some new people with an interest in art. In spite of the low-key approach, not knowing if the video interview and the virtual show was viewed much (thank you, those of you who told me you watched!) and the wondering about actual visitation levels, I think the show was a good experience and worth doing.

These are the pieces that have new homes (when they are shipped or retrieved).

Yokohl Creek was by far the most favored piece, both by those who saw the show in person and online. One smart person wasted no time claiming it; I will package it up to ship on Monday.

Someone I don’t know bought Yokohl Sky, which is always a boost of confidence.

Dear friends bought the cabin drawing while we were hanging the show! They had to be sneaky about it because I would have happily just given it to them. (A wise friend once taught me this: “If your friends won’t do business with you, who will?”)

Of my 13 pencil drawings of flowing water, “Rough and Tumble” has been the favorite (It is the background of the homepage on my website), most often spoken about or wished for. A friend bought this one too, which really warmed my heart.

Extra, Extra

Today I went to Arts Visalia to gallery sit. It was closed!

Tomorrow’s hours are noon – 8:30 p.m. and there are some available appointments, if you’d like to see my work in person. Here is the phone # to call: 559-739-0905. Ashley is there until 5:30 today (Don’t quote me on this because the operation is a little bit squishier than I realized) to make an appointment for you.

 

The Show Goes On

On the first Saturday of the show, I gallery sat. Yep, that’s what it is called, like babysitting. The night before, the other artist’s work was featured on a local teevee news program. That brought a few people in specifically to see the show “Seen and Unseen” by Ricardo Favela. I visited with those folks, had relatively little to say but asked questions and listened to them, and then followed them into my show in Gallery 2, “Still Here”. Then I had much to say but managed to let them talk too.

This was my view from the babysitting desk.

I could also see into “my” room.

Doesn’t it make you want to go closer?

But wait! There’s more! Someone visited the show virtually and bought this painting! (Thank you MB)

Red dots are good in galleries.

And this is interesting: two other friends, one who saw the show in person and one who faithfully reads my blog, both told me that this painting, Yokohl Creek, is their favorite one in the show!

You too may visit the show in person, virtually, (VIRTUAL TOUR) and if you are so inclined, you may watch my interview (but don’t make me watch because I will think that I am ugly and my mother dresses me funny.)

Gallery Hours: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, noon-5:30

Gallery Address: 214 East Oak Avenue, Visalia

Gallery Phone Number: 559-739-0905

Last Day of the Show: April 30

 

 

The Show is Up – Here are the Facts

We set the pieces around the room so Director Michelle could see the best way to arrange them.

Arts Visalia hung 17 oil paintings and 10 pencil drawings. A drawing sold, so I took another in. (THAT WAS A THRILL!) They also have The Cabins of Wilsonia and Mineral King Wildflowers (all signed) and a variety of notecards for sale. (I didn’t take the citrus assortment, because there isn’t enough room in the price to donate to Farmer Bob’s World after the gallery takes their bite.)

My work is in Gallery 2; Ricardo Favela’s work is in the Main Gallery.

The fancy electronic sign in the foyer.

SEE THE SHOW IN PERSON: The gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5:30. You can make an appointment to see the show (they accept appointments from 1-3), or you can just show up and go in if there aren’t other people already in the gallery. (Their limit is 10 people at one time.)

VIDEO INTERVIEW: If you want to watch the video interview of me, it should be available on the gallery’s interview page tonight. (Please don’t tell me how I did; ignorance is bliss, and this whole virtual/video situation makes me a bit squirmy.)

SEE THE SHOW ONLINE: If you want to view the show online without driving to the gallery, it should also be available on the gallery’s virtual tour page tonight. The director photographed each piece; I don’t know if prices are visible. 

BUY ART: If you want to buy a piece, you may use the gallery contact page, or I can help you figure out the best way to make that happen if you don’t want to talk to a stranger. (Don’t worry – the gallery director, Michelle, is quite personable.) Pieces need to stay at the gallery for the duration of the show.

SEE ME: I will be there on Saturday, April 3 (tomorrow), and probably a few other days through the length of the show.

SHOW LENGTH: The last day is April 30, 2021. 

Which picture do you think is mine?

Still Here, an Art Show

Tomorrow I will be delivering paintings and drawings to Arts Visalia for my upcoming show, Still Here.

 

The show will be visible online, or you can make an appointment to see it during gallery hours, Wednesday – Saturday, noon – 5:00. The gallery director will interview me on Wednesday, but I don’t know how soon the interview will be visible. (More will be revealed. . .) The gallery’s website address is here, and here too; I don’t know when my work will be visible. (More will be revealed. . .)

Here is the poster.

Who is Farmer Bob?

Farmer Bob is Bob McKellar, a most enterprising and remarkable orange grower and business man from Ivanhoe, Tulare County, California. He started Seven Sycamores, a wedding venue, and most recently has begun Farmer Bob’s World, a citrus learning center. They “strive to bring the entire scope of the Ag Industry to life for urban school children, families, legislators and bureaucrats who visit our farm.”

Their Grand Opening is on Saturday, March 13, from 9-3. McKellar Farms, 32988 Rd 164, Ivanhoe (about halfway between Farmersville and Seville, which I know is highly useful information for you.)

A friend in Three Rivers (Why?*) asked me if I had any citrus themed art to sell on consignment in the new gift shop at Farmer Bob’s World. Indeed I do! I have a few small oil paintings, three different pencil reproduction prints, but alas, no cards. So, I ordered 4 pencil drawings of oranges in notecard form, to be assembled and sold as an assorted package.

Because Farmer Bob’s World is a non-profit, I will donate a portion of the sales of these card packages that I sell via my website. (They already get a percentage from the ones they are selling at their gift shop).

The cards are about 4×5″, fold-over, blank inside, and the price per package of 4 is $9 (plus 7.75% sales tax if you live in California, I am so sorry, it isn’t my fault but I am still sorry) plus mailing cost, which I will have to estimate. So these cards are not exactly a bargain, but maybe I am just out of touch with the cost of cards these days. 

That wasn’t very helpful.

How about this: if you order them in California and want them mailed, they are $11/package. If you live outside of California, they are still $11/package because the postage might be more. If you buy them directly from me without having them mailed, they are $10/package. I will donate $3 to Farmer Bob for each package sold.

Ick. I’ll go paint now because this business end of things makes me twitch. Too bad I don’t earn enough to hire a business manager.

*The friend is a member of the board of directors for Farmer Bob’s World and knows that I would not have seen the announcements on Facebook; he also knows that I have been making citrus themed art for many years. It is good to have friends.

Dithering Over Decisions

Still Here, my upcoming exhibition for the month of April has me dithering about how much is enough, how to prioritize the work ahead, and wishing for the umpteenth time that I had a functional and accurate crystal ball.

When Arts Visalia asked me if I’d move from January 2022 to April 2021, I decided that I would finish 4 of the 5 paintings in progress and not try to add anything else. The fifth could just wait for another opportunity.

This might be finished now.

Because I am painting larger than normal for me, I am not able to guess how long a painting will take to finish. The ones on the easels seemed almost impossibly far from completion. Then suddenly 3 of the 4 looked ready to sign. So, I pulled out #5, because it will be a nice addition.

Maybe there is time to finish this one.

 

Incrementally closer to completion with each painting session.

Meanwhile, I went through my framed pencil drawings and decided a bit more variety will be good. So, I delivered 3 more drawings to my framer with the usual instructions of “Make them look good and call me when they are ready.” I believe in hiring the best people for the job and then just getting out of their way.

I wonder if Arts Visalia will rethink the decision to hang my work in Gallery 2 and move me into the Main Gallery. I could fill it up. My work could fill both galleries. HEY, ARTS VISALIA, DO YOU READ MY BLOG?

Probably not. Guess I’ll head back to the easels.

Show Prep

The weather was stunning last week, which made it difficult to focus on work. Trail Guy invited me to go enjoy the great outdoors with him, so I spent 2 hours doing non-work. Then I dove back into my show prep.

First, I chose photos for Arts Visalia to use for publicity. They requested 4; I chose 12. Oops. 

Then I worked on the artist statement, which I streamlined a bit more (thank you, Blog Reader Sharon!)

Next, I filled out the contract. Seems a little bit out of order, but maybe they know that I am a woman of my word.

Finally, I painted.

These big boys are a little cumbersome to move around and store while wet. 

Finally, I decided this smaller one is finished, no more messing around.

Sunny Sequoias #33, oil on wrapped canvas, 12×16″, $325 (including tax)

You may breathe easier, seeing that I didn’t put this Sequoia oil painting in the dumpster.

Pippin is certainly feeling better about life now that he is allowed access to this chair in the living room.

 

Still Here, Tasks Ahead

Showing in a good gallery involves many tasks, like gathering a mailing list, completing a contract, providing digital images for publicity, titling and pricing all work, making an inventory list, coming up with a title for the show, and horror of horrors, writing an artist statement.

I have been working on this last one for awhile. You may remember that I despise the pretentious way that artists tend to talk, which I call ArtSpeak, occasionally poking fun at some of the nonsense. (A post about it is here.) So, I wrote up an artist statement and sent it to a dear friend who has helped me with many marketing tasks through the years.

This is not my artist statement but it is what I said to her when requesting her help in editing.

“In reading guidelines for writing an artist statement (just the very term causes my lip to curl up in disgust), I have come up with the following and wondered if you could be Jane Bag-of-Donuts from West Undershirt and see if it reads well, makes sense, and is straightforward enough for Tulare County without insulting the Wanna-be Snobs.”

More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .

If I was a smoker, I’d light up about now, but I think I’ll knit a few rows instead.

A Good Yarn, colored pencil, private collection