Daily Painting Catch-up

Here is proof that I actually do work in addition to watch the marshmallow-heads at the bridge in Mineral King. Yes, my business and website and car license plate and studio and business cards all say Cabinart, but sometimes Cabinart brings you kitchen-art. (I said “kitchen”, not “kitsch”). This California artist has to paint items that sell to those of you with gorgeous yellow/golden/reddish kitchens. These paintings are currently for sale at Colors, the art gallery and studio of Wendy McKellar in Three Rivers.

Mineral King Bridge, Part 7

Yesterday I left you exhausted and overwhelmed from too much information. Today I will simply show you the neat-o little peek-a-boo hole to see the river through the crumbling abutment.

And, as a special treat, I will answer your burning question of how the loader got to the opposite side of the bridge – trenchplates!! Yeppers, that is Road-speak for giant flat metal thingies that are strong enough to span gaping holes for giant yellow machines to drive across crumbling bridges. We shall not speak of the weight limit again – pay no attention to the sign that prohibited anything over 4 tons from crossing the bridge.

Daily Painting

Oh yeah, I forgot I was supposed to be painting and showing them to you. Got kind of caught up in the excitement of the bridge project and the wildlife and wild weather. I AM painting, just not showing and telling. The lemon and the pomegranate were grown in Tulare County, California. (I am a California Artist, Mr. Google!)

All of these paintings are available for sale at Colors, an art gallery and studio in Three Rivers. Owner/artist Wendy McKellar and I know many women with red and yellow and gold colors in their kitchens. These women often like their colors to coordinate. I also like my kitchen colors to match – anyone know of bright blue and white fruit??

Mineral King Bridge, Part 5

Here is a peculiar sight. The fan carries away toxins created by the welding of galvanized metal. Who knew?

Isn’t this a nice photo? These 2 men have worked together for years. Kind of just warms your heart, no?

This one is even better! It is my personal favorite. This man would rather be climbing Vandever than contemplating matters of consequence while wearing a uniform beneath it. Gotta commend him on his work ethic – knows the cabin folks are counting on him to be there for them on this project.

And here is one more peculiar sight for you to puzzle over. Hey Sawtooth Six, you paying attention??

The Daily Pomegranate

They’re very good for you. I think they overtook blueberries, but might have now fallen behind green tea or acai berry. Not sure, but they are certainly beautiful, and make great jelly!

Pomegranate 35, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $40

An afternoon in Sequoia National Park

A pair of friends backpacked from Mineral King to Crescent Meadow. Michael (my husband) brought their van down to Three Rivers, and I drove up to Giant Forest to pick them up 6 days later.

Much has changed in Sequoia National Park over the past 10 or 15 years. I followed Clueless Clive from Illinois for the entire trip up. He was clueless about the fact that if someone catches up to you, she is driving faster than you are. He was clueless about the purpose of turnouts to allow the faster follower to pass.

We waited for 15 minutes at this lovely view spot for the light to turn green.

Light? on the road to The Park? Yep, road work is now a regular part of a trip to The Park, and it includes delays, torn up road, single lane stretches, and no view from Amphitheater Point because it is full of construction equipment.

Then, when the downhill traffic has passed, the light turns green and everyone proceeds in a pack for the rest of the drive.

Despite the delays, I arrived early so I thought I’d just drive out to Crescent Meadow to meet the hikers there, instead of in Giant Forest as previously arranged. Nope. The road is closed on weekends unless you are a bus.

Waiting is rarely a problem for me.

There are huge redwood benches where you can wait for a bus or shuttle, breathe exhaust and cigarette smoke, and listen to idling diesel engines and many languages. The many languages part hasn’t changed. I recognized German, Spanish and Chinese. Okay, I figured out those were the languages, but only recognized specific words in Spanish.

“OSO!” Since I had a close encounter with an “oso” last week, I remained on my giant redwood bench while people ran toward him. (When the oso stepped a foot into my cabin last week, I was less than hospitable toward him, and wasn’t interested in meeting his cousin.)

It was 9/11 and there was a flag at half-mast in front of the Sentinel Tree. This is the same place where I met President Bush #43 in May of 2001. Security was looser then. We were all less worried, and younger and more innocent about bad things happening to good people.

Quite a bit of knitting was accomplished before my friends appeared from one of the shuttle buses. I enjoyed the time without demands, phone, computer, or clocks. A good time was had by all.

Isn’t this a precious father-daughter photo?

Mineral King Bridge, Part 2

Hmmm, I’ve never heard this parking lot referred to as the Franklin Lakes Trail parking lot. Guess those hikers have to park somewhere too.

The project was begun the day after Labor Day, this year. The first order of business was to build a footbridge, which my husband The Road Guy, aptly accomplished with the help of some Trail Crew guys.

See why a footbridge is necessary? The abutments have to be dug out and replaced, one side at a time.Ā Never mind about the giant yellow machine that had to drive across the bridge in order to accomplish this. Of course it doesn’t weigh more than 4 tons. . . right?

The second order of business was to arrange alternative forms of transportation across that bridge, so that folks can get their stuff to their cabins.

There were lots of willing workers, and it was fun to coordinate loads. There is a great camaraderie among cabin folks. There is also great generosity in the loan of several wheeled items to use for the purpose.

Mineral King Bridge

Because Mineral King is one of my main sources of inspiration, and many of my readers love Mineral King, there will be several posts about this bridge project. If you only read the blog for the art, stay tuned, because the project won’t last forever and will only have 1 or 2 entries a week until its completion.

At the end of the road in Mineral King, Sequoia National Park, is a bridge. It spans the currently low and slow flowing East Fork of the Kaweah River. On the other side of the creek (“river”) is a parking lot, trailhead, and a handful of cabins.

A few years ago Federal Highways bridge inspectors came to Mineral King and declared the bridge unsafe. A sign was posted to prohibit any vehicle over 4 tons (8000 lbs) from crossing the bridge. It was shored up with some jacks and I-beams, which were inelegantly covered with tires. Ā Engineers got involved, plans made and a prefabricated bridge has been purchased to replace the existing bridge.

The bridge is a hang-out place.

The view is incomparable, spectacular, the most photographed view in Mineral King, and possibly within all of Sequoia.

This could be a long story, so stay tuned for the next chapter tomorrow, Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel.

Rural Living

Homer’s Nose, 16×12″, oil on wrapped canvas, $225

As a California artist, it is a little strange to have chosen this rural, central valley for my home. I like living in Tulare County. Sometimes I actually revel in it. Representing the beautiful parts of my home motivate, inspire and give me purpose with my art.

Only once in a blue moon do I wish I lived in or near a city. Here is one of the reasons that it sounds tempting to me:

I Heart Art: Portland — a collaboration between handcrafted retail site Etsy; the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Craft; and the Portland Etsy street team, a group of local artists who sell on Etsy — had initially planned a series of professional workshops. Instead, a member of the artists’ group suggested a way to hook up makers with sellers.

Just like speed dating, artists rotate on short “dates” with businesses and must make an impression in a short time. Their elevator pitches help determine if their art gains a buyer that night.

“The idea of an elevator pitch is very familiar to the business world,” says Watson, but not so much in the art world. “This whole idea of going to a shop and trying to build a relationship and get an account … was very foreign to a lot of people. It became really apparent to us that we needed to do something like this.”

via I Heart Art: Portland is like speed dating for artists | OregonLive.com.

Can you imagine having so many places to sell and so many working artists that such an event is actually necessary???

Tulare County has about 450,000 people in it. That is a large number, but small enough that I can pick up the phone, call any artist here, state my name, and whether or not we have met, we know of each other and respond with instant friendliness and enthusiasm. Maybe that is a better situation that so many galleries and artist that they are strangers to one another!