Category: General

Careful, Central California Artist

Lalalalala. . . that’s the fat lady singing.

I photographed the Reimer’s drawing to send to the owner for his approval.

Nope, that photo was not good enough, so I raised the blind on the window over the drawing table and tried again.

I told Mr. Owner that this was the time to speak up if he wanted any adjustments.

Mr. Owner replied: “I love it. I just noticed the white curtain over the window in the middle. Do you think there’s something else that might go there that would be appropriate or that might look good other than just the white?”

I responded: “I’ll send you the scanned version so you can see it’s a pretty lace curtain. I don’t think that came through with my photograph.”

Scanning is a trick because it is drawn on paper that is ever so slightly too large for my new scanner. I tried it umpteen times, and finally decided it was as centered as possible. This is the scanned version after some photoshop magic.

A Few Thoughts About the Drawing

Bamboozlement and hoodwinkery are two of the necessary skills to produce a cohesive pencil drawing of a highly detailed building with many angles and parts, condensing about 40 photos into one believable view. Maybe I have earned a master’s degree in visual trickinology by now.

There is more to depicting an iconic business like Reimer’s than simply taking a few photos and copying them. First, it is impossible to get the whole thing into one photo and be able to see all the parts of this varied structural magic land of sugar.

The place is oozing with charm, which is evident in all the curly trim, multi-paned windows and different gables. Those gables show up best when looking at the place straight on, but as I continue to tell you, this isn’t possible with a camera.

The setting is idyllic, and I included a hill in the background to indicate that it is in a rural foothill setting. Besides, the hill IS actually there.

And the place is very welcoming. Hence, the main door is open.

Careful, Central California Artist. You don’t want to get a fat head or break your arm patting yourself on the back!

Rejoicing in 250 Years of Independence

An Oil Painting Develops

Sky first

Most distant range next

Things got confusing, so I flipped it all upside down to see if I could focus better on the shapes.

Moving forward

Hi Jackson. Please do not bite me while I am painting. It would also be appreciated if you didn’t lean on the back of my legs.

Can I get all the different groves, fields, and patches in? How important is it to get each one perfect? The customers said it isn’t, but accuracy is a driving force as I paint.

The roof of the house is now in the lower left. There will be blueberries covering most of the house, a decorative addition. They will be balanced by avocado leaves in the upper right corner.

Now it can dry a bit before I continue adding and tightening the detail.

REMINDER

I can help people write books and get them printed. The books that I have shepherded from idea to publication but that I don’t sell can be found on this new page: OTHER PEOPLE’S BOOKS. This includes Tales of TB, Springville’s Hospital, The Crooked Cross of Diamond Lake, Only the Living, and Adventures in Boy Scouting.

MURAL “UNVEILING” TODAY

In case you are curious, this is some of the area around Ivanhoe. I really love it there, which you may have figured out. Of course I also loved living in Lemon Cove, and now I love living in Three Rivers. (Don’t move here—remember that we are fat, have diabetes, the air is bad, and there is no Trader Joe’s. Or 4 year college. Or most of whatever else people are used to in more populous areas.)

I didn’t know (or care) that Alta Peak is visible from Ivanhoe when I was living there. It was all simply “The Mountains”. Only people from far away said “The Sierra”, and people from cities said “The Sierras”. My dad taught me that it is simply “The Sierra” which is shorthand for the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Dad said it, I believe it, and that settles it.

This sort of view is probably in my blood and why I love to paint orange groves and mountains, none of which are listed on my website currently because I may be quietly hoarding them in my studio and house.*

The golden hill is part of Venice Hills, known locally as “Venice Hill”, singular.

*See?

Groves, Hills, and Mountains, 10×20”, $450

ivanhoe library mural mural Tulare county

What Happened, Part Two

Today I will be painting on the Ivanhoe library mural, Lord willing, the Creek, etc. The past two days have been seriously disrupted by many hours on the phone trying to solve the website problem, which also took down my email.

If I was a smoker, it would have been a couple of 2-pack days.

Contemplation

I really contemplated whether or not it is possible to run an art business without a website. Many artists only use Facebook and/or Instagram. Having dabbled in those several years ago, my gut instinct is NO NO NO NO. And NO!

There are no Yellow Pages, direct mail is cost prohibitive and cannot be easily updated, and I’m not inclined to wear an A-frame sign or a weird chicken costume and stand on a street corner. I don’t want to rent public space when I have my most excellent studio and painting workshop here at home, an easy 35-second commute by foot from the house.

So, my inclination is to just relax and recover, and then look into another hosting company. BlueHost used to be based in Arizona, and humans were accessible here in the United States without a robot on the phone to direct you to another country where some poor (but very smart) person with an accent (occasionally accompanied by background children or roosters) would keep reassuring you that they really were sorry for your problem and would do their best to help. It wasn’t until after a series of phone calls that added up to 5 hours (yes, I counted) when I insisted that the case needed to be escalated and stated that I will look for another server/host company that I got an email saying the problem was resolved.

Maybe it is resolved; however, my confidence in BlueHost has taken a hard battering, and there may be a separation in our future.

Techie Details

They upgraded me to an expensive plan, which I declined. They moved me to a more reasonable plan, which included a $199 “migration fee”. Then they neglected to “migrate” my site to the reasonable plan; on one call I was reassured that it had been done, and it worked briefly. Next, the email that is attached to the website ceased functioning, and I was told that it had not been migrated. WELL, MIGRATE ALREADY!

Ugh. Can we talk about something more pleasant? Let’s lift our eyes until the hills. . . from whence does our help come? Not from tech, that’s for sure and for certain!

More Tasks in the Painting Workshop

When a painting doesn’t sell, I study it to discern what can be improved.

This painting has been with me for awhile, so I gave it some thought and then made a few subtle changes.

I don’t expect you to be able to discern what I did to it, but maybe after it is dry and scanned, I’ll show you the before and after scans.

This painting has also been with me for awhile. It took about 4 years to complete because of not having a clear vision of what it ought to be. The photos meant something to me, but just didn’t translate into a nice scene. While I thought it was finished, it hasn’t rung anyone else’s bell

More thought, more study, and some useful input from Trail Guy resulted in this version.

Again, I don’t expect you to be able to discern what has been improved, but now I am hopeful that the right customer will come along.

Next week I’ll show you a more drastic do-over as we contemplate those finishing tasks in the painting workshop.

Remember

Life Lately

My life is full of random things lately. Some projects at church, a colorful scarf using up scraps to surprise a friend, walks by the river, minimal Christmas decorations, an oil painting workshop. And power outages, internet and phone outages, and road blocks.

Work consists of selling calendars and reminding folks of my show at CACHE* in Exeter, “Simply Home”, which ends December 29. Is that the last day or is that the day the show is coming off the walls? (Volunteer-run organizations tend toward squishiness, so I am unclear on the meaning of the ending date.)

2025 CALENDARS

SIMPLY HOME

Sunny Sequoias, 18×36, oil on wrapped canvas, $1500

**CACHE HOURS: FRIDAYS 1:30-4:00, SATURDAYS 10-4, SUNDAYS 12-4*

Avoiding, Obfuscating, Obscuring

Those words all describe my recent blog posts. I haven’t shown you any work in progress, only the pieces hanging at CACHE in my solo show “Simply Home” until December 29. (Have you been yet? Live too far away? I can ship paintings. Just sayin’. . .)

So, let’s enjoy a few more autumn photos from Three Rivers, taken before the storm. Chinese pistache trees remain the star in the landscapes; flowering pear is the champion outside my studio.

SIMPLY HOME

UNTIL DECEMBER 29, CACHE, 125 South B Street, Exeter, California

CACHE’s hours are posted on their website under the “Visit” tab. Scroll to the bottom and look on the right side.

Veteran’s Day, Chapter Two

When thanking the Veterans you know, embrace this observation from Army Veteran Charles Province:

It is the Soldier, not the minister, who has given us freedom of religion. It is the Soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the Soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to protest. It is the Soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial. It is the Soldier, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote. It is the Soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.