Category: General

This photo is apropos of nothing; I just put it here because I like it. 

Recently I had the privilege of an honest discussion about some blog posts with three wise friends. It made me realize a few things:

1. Sometimes my posts need an editor. Blog posts are meant to be spontaneous and heartfelt, and a little bit of fun is always welcome. “Blog” comes from “web log”, which is essentially an online journal. And what is journaling if not spontaneous? But when work is public, editing is a good idea. A person can only self-edit so much, so sometimes things don’t sound as intended.
2. These are the three posts we discussed: 1. Quick Quick can you help us? 2. Did Mineral King Need a Paint Job? and 3. Messing with Other People’s Art. I reworked them a little bit, so if you are curious, reread them, and if inclined, tell me what you think (because I love an honest discussion where I can learn).
3. Sensitive people will find things to be upset about; blunt people will tell it like they (Ahem, “we”) see it. Neither type is right or wrong; we are simply different.
4. Listening, learning, thinking, and applying will help prevent us from mowing over, blowing past, or dismissing one another (although that is an easier method in the short run).
5. Not everything has to be talked about, but when someone you care about is bugged, it is good for the relationship to pay attention.

Phew. I need a cigarette.

JUST KIDDING! NEVER SMOKED, NEVER WILL.

How about a nice picture to wrap this up?

(Heh-heh-heh)

Whenever we have a lean winter, Trail Guy gets ahead of the calendar and tries to start the summer season. He went to Mineral King, spent a few chilly days, and came home again. 

I stayed quite busy with work and life, while it was still beautifully springlike in Three Rivers. Plus, I got to see the photos, and now you do too. (Appropos* of nothing, that yarn would probably match the now finished Dutch iris.)

According to Trail Guy, also a huge fan of wildflowers, there were fabulous poppies in the burned areas along the road.

*Apropos is pronounced “aa-pruh-poe” and is French for “in regards to” or “with respect to”. It means that one is inserting a non sequitur, which is Latin for “it does not follow”. You’re welcome.

The poppies below Comb Rocks recovered from last week’s snow.

The daylight was waning when I got the poppy paintings to this point.

I don’t like to waste paint. Life was full of unexpected and urgent interruptions while I was working on these paintings, and I didn’t know when or if I would get back to painting before my palette was ruined. There are ways to keep the paint fresh, but it is never as good as when I first squeeze out. 

Instead of wrapping it up and hoping for the best, I decided to use it up.

The photo shows a tangle of leaves but I can redesign those when I work on this painting again.

Please excuse the interruption.

Several of my blog subscribers are having trouble seeing the photographs when they receive an email of a new blog posting. 

It has something to do with the mysterious fact that there might be 2 (or even 3) versions of my blog (and maybe even my website.) As you know, I am an artist, not a webster. My web designer turned his business over to someone who is too overwhelmed to return emails, so I am just flailing around, looking for ideas.

Here is one: I think this link, right here on this very email/post/page, THIS ONE, might be the Real Working Blog. 

IF YOU ARE A SUBSCRIBER AND ARE HAVING TROUBLE SEEING THE PHOTOS IN YOUR SUBSCRIPTION EMAILS, DO THIS:

1. Unsubscribe (there is probably an option to do so in tiny print at the bottom of the email with this blog post).
2. Click on the link above, the one that says THIS ONE, and RESUBSCRIBE. 
3. You will get another email to confirm your subscription, so do that.
4. TOMORROW, FRIDAY, JANUARY 14, 2022, when your email notifying your of the morning’s post arrives, see if the photos are visible.
5. IF you do this, please let me know what happened. Why? Because. . .

The first subscriber who does this, and reports back to me will receive a little gift as a thank you for helping me solve this mess.

This: 

This week is cold. It isn’t even winter yet, but we got snow in Three Rivers, along with rain. I have been working on a little project in the painting workshop, but kept the doors closed because it is cold. This means it is too dark to take photos.

That:

I bid an indoor mural job for some people who had me paint this for them more years ago than I can remember. (More photos here)

This time they want small areas painted in 4 different areas with very specific detailed things: wisteria, trumpet vines with hummingbirds, boulders with lichen, grass and wildflowers, and a manzanita shrub. This might take longer than the redwoods, due to the fiddly nature of the subjects. Painting indoors is easier than painting outdoors; the only worries are dropping brushes and dripping paint. Drop cloths, along with knowing I can always add another leaf or two help with those very real concerns.

Etc.

1. I finished a 6×6″ poinsettia commissioned oil painting (too wet to scan)
2. I began the sixth commissioned Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint oil painting.
3. My painting pants, a recycled part of Trail Guy’s uniform from his days working for Sequoia, which I’ve been wearing since 2009, RIPPED! The fabric was quite thin – too much sitting on asphalt and rough boards of scaffolding and the bed of a truck. I should have been cleaning my paintbrush on the backside of my pants instead of on the legs so that the paint would glue the fabric together. I don’t know when they ripped, but it was while wearing them at home that Trail Guy noticed. (This was much better than when my skirt ripped while I was in town – see item #1 here.)
4. The last day for my show at Exeter’s Courthouse Gallery will be January 2, 2022. Here’s a weird thought: that was supposed to be the beginning of my show at Arts Visalia, the one that actually took place in April.
5. The 2022 Calendar, Places and Things We Love, is almost sold out. (5 or 6 left? only at the Courthouse Gallery – speedy quick like lightning, LET ME KNOW TODAY IF YOU WANT TO ORDER ONE AND I WILL RESCUE IT ON FRIDAY FOR YOU! – Order here.)

   *Have you heard people say “eck settera”? It is spelled “et cetera”, abbreviated “etc.”, properly pronounced “et settera” and it means “and the rest” in Latin. You’re welcome!

    

After I finished 3 more Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint paintings, I thought it might be prudent to do one more. This would go quickly (both the painting of it and the selling) at a smaller size, 6×12″. I chose that size for the Mural Gallery, who had just sold a 6×12″ painting of Farewell Gap. I thought this might be a good companion to that one, if they were willing to call the customer.

I delivered the new one wet to the Mural Gallery, then headed to the Courthouse Gallery for the day. Within an hour, someone came in who had just been at the Mural Gallery. She loved the painting but didn’t buy it because it was wet!

She walked around the show, and came back to the new 11×14″ painting of Sawtooth that I had just hung on the wall, replacing the first 11×14″ that had sold. I hadn’t yet put up a “SOLD” sticker, and the customer said, “That’s the one – I’ll take that!” 

Oh-oh.

Me: “Umm, I’m sorry, that one is sold!”

Customer: “Can you paint it again for me?”

Fall down laughing!

Me (after getting hold of myself): “Of course!”

Me (after customer leaves): “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? WHAT IS GOING ON?”

Me (next day): “I wonder if I could paint this scene now without looking at any photographs or previous versions.”

Trail Guy: “Better not try that if you want to sell it!”