Sawtooth Peak Oil Painting Continued
The layers continue to build on Sawtooth Peak, an oil painting.
As it was when you last saw it:
Another layer added to the sky:
Another layer added to Sawtooth:
Another layer added to the lower ridges:
And more added to the lower ridges:
Yo, Professor Layer, may I be finished with the sky and the peak and the lower ridges now? (Can you see Trail Guy’s visor in the background as he adds grommets to the Kaweah Artisans banner?)
When this dries, I’ll put in branches at the bottom edges. I think this wants greenery, or maybe it is fine as it is. . .
What do you think??
You Know You are Middle-aged When. . .
An older and wiser friend reminds me from time to time that life is like a roll of toilet paper–the closer to the end, the faster it goes.
I’ve been thinking lately that you know you are middle-aged when. . .
. . . you prefer hiking uphill to downhill because your knees kill you going downhill.
. . . you choose not to watch a movie because you don’t want to shuffle 3 remote controls and don’t understand why it is even necessary.
. . . your pastor, doctor and the president are all younger than you. (Not so with the current president, in case you were wondering.)
. . . you go to your class reunion and can’t find your friends among all the old people.
. . . you know the words to the orchestrated songs in the grocery store.
. . . you notice young people driving too fast instead of old people driving too slow.
. . . you recognize the word “update” as a euphemism for “complications and trouble ahead”.
Do you have anything to add to this list?
*Rapid Change is available for sale here.
Drawing Mineral King
It is Friday, and the only new thing I have to show you of Mineral King is a drawing. My weekends have been taken with memorial services (one last Saturday and another one tomorrow), drawing workshops, art receptions, business presentations.
I’m not complaining, just ‘splaining.
The drawing is new. The scene is old, or perhaps “classic” is the right word.
It has been awhile since I drew anything of Mineral King (except for water). Maybe a series of pencil drawings of Mineral King would sell as reproduction prints. Cards? Too much money to print, too little profit. But I’ll give that some thought too.
Want a laugh? Look at how I drew this scene in 1987.
Growth is good, unless you are a cancer cell.
How to Get My Blog
Sometimes when I tell a friend that he can see something on my blog, I hear one of the following replies:
- I don’t get your blog.
- I’m not on Facebook.
- What’s a blog?
- I don’t do blogs.
Here are my answers to those replies:
- Nothing to “get” – you can visit The Google* and type in www.cabinart.net and it will take you to my website. Then click or tap the word “Blog” on the menu and it will take you there OR YOU CAN SUBSCRIBE.
- See the word “Blog”? I put a red oval around it so you can find it easier in this picture example.
- I’m not on Facebook either. My blog is on my website, not on Facebook.
- “Blog” is a shortened term from “web log”. It is a journal or log (but not a diary – there are no secrets on the World Wide Web!) that is kept on a website.
- Nothing to do on a blog except read and enjoy; commenting is optional.
Look at this picture of my blog page. I’ve circled the part where you can subscribe. If you do so, you will get an email confirmation. You have to follow the link in the email in order to begin getting my blog.
You, yes, little ole you, can join the tens of readers who subscribe to my blog. Then you too will finally get my blog!
Thank you for reading to the bottom. You deserve a gold star. Too bad I only know how to make red stars. Let’s call it a proverbial gold star.
Sorry. I must be overheated.
*The Google – Sometimes I say “Mr. Google” and a friend says “Uncle Google”.
The Rest of the Stories
Remember Paul Harvey? We had to be quiet during lunch so my parents could listen to him every day at noon when we were home from school. He would tell a story sometimes with a surprise ending, and then he would say, “And now you know. . . (long, very long, very very long extended pause). . . the REST of the story.”
Remember the pencil drawing of the walnut grove? The recipient loved it.
Remember the very difficult and (for me) very large painting of the Oak Grove bridge?
It is finished. It now hangs in my dining room, because I am really happy with it. If you want to buy it, it can hang in your dining room.
Remember a painting I did of a trail in Mineral King? I improved on it a bit. Without showing you the old version, you might not recognize the improvements.
Remember the habañeros? The commissioned oil painting is finished. I still don’t know how to dispose of the peppers themselves. If I bury them in the garden, they might grow new ones. . . can’t be growing toxic waste in my yard that way. . . put them in the green waste bin? But they are red!
Finally, remember the “easy” painting of the bridge?
And now you know. . . .
(very long pause)
the REST of my stories.
Remember
After Hours
On breaks from the studio, during my “commute” to the studio, after hours, and on weekends, this is a glimpse into what inspires me, fills my time, keeps me interested in marching on.
Ethan, a boy from Three Rivers, sells beautiful eggs, and there may be some paintings soon.
This type of iris is my favorite. The colors are never quite as good in the photos as real life, but sometimes I have done okay with oil paint in capturing these. (It’s been a few years since I painted any.)
See that shadow through the lace? That is a Peeping Sam(son).
Making mosaic items –stepping stones, a few table-tops, a bowling ball, drinking fountain and light pole – is a striking change from drawing in pencil. These were done with tiles I found at garage sales and a few left-over pieces from when I was slamming these out by the dozens. The big box stores don’t carry bright colors or pretty designs any more, so I think the era of easy tile buying has ended.
We planted tomatoes and stepping stones. Trail Guy built this fortress against deer, gophers and birds. Guess we’ll still have to deal with the bugs.
The herb garden is my place of refuge. The various fence pieces are all salvaged. It won’t keep out the deer, but it will slow them down a bit. It looks a little hokey but I get satisfaction from using what we have available (or “upcycling” in the current vernacular).
And sometimes I just sit, read, knit, pick the catkins out of my hair from the mulberry branches overhead, and smell the lilacs.
Christmas in Visalia
Holidays, Christmas in particular, are a season for selling. This means it is a season of buying.
I do not want to be commercial, but what if people want my merchandise and can’t figure out how to find it?
Selling is serving. (I heard this somewhere recently.) I live to serve.
Would you like some Christmas cards? Holiday cards? Whatever sort of greeting cards?
This is Christmas in *Visalia, a scene made up of real elements, a pencil drawing interpretation by me of Candy Cane Lane in 1994.
Quantities are very limited. . . only 7 packages remain. Each package is 8 cards and envelopes, $15. Price includes tax. Cards are blank inside, size 4-1/2 x 6-1/4″. If you need me to mail them, toss in another $2.00.
First come, first served. Use the contact button above (under About The Artist) to let me know if you’d like them. Or, email me – cabinart at cabinart dot net (written that way so the spambots won’t bother me). Or call me – 559-561-7606.
*Visalia is the county seat of Tulare County. Tulare is not the county seat. These weird names are pronounced “Vy – SAL- ya” and “Too-LAIR-ee”. I am not making this up. I live here, and this is how we say things. However, there are many people around here who think the town “Orosi” is pronounced “Oros-uh”. They are also the ones who say “Missour – uh”. We like those folks, but are quite curious about their pronunciation habits.
More on Membership
Somewhere recently I heard that it is a “subscription economy” we are in now, rather than a “membership economy”.
Several of the computer programs I use no longer just sell the program. Instead, they sell a subscription that is either paid monthly or yearly. So, I bought outdated versions, because my internet service isn’t dependable enough. I need the thing to be on my computer, not out there on the World Wide Web. And, I don’t need any more monthly expenses.
Then I got thinking about memberships to stores: I quit Costco because it bothered me to pay to shop (and a couple of other reasons.) But, I joined Amazon Prime for free shipping, because I don’t have to drive down the hill using up gas and time and adding miles to my car.
Lots of free internet services offer premium versions and upgrades. I don’t pay for the premium version of this blog platform because this one works. It already costs me about $500 a year to pay someone to keep it up to date.
I don’t pay for an upgraded version of LinkedIn. I enjoy reading their articles and finding links to good articles online but it isn’t a great use of my time.
Someone far wiser than I (Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism and The Disciplined Pursuit of Less) suggests that when you have to decide whether or not to pay for something that used to be free, think about it this way: “What would I pay to get this if I didn’t have it?”
The business of art requires continual decisions. Choices and consequences, choices and consequences.
Guess I showed them.