This painting has been very challenging. I’m working with multiple photos, combining them, and making stuff up, hoping for it to be believable. It is very large for me: 20×28? 24×30? Can’t remember. Huge. Because this is not a commission, there is no deadline, no requests or requirements, no money waiting at the end to […]
Sawtooth in the Fall (and in the Wrong Location)
I erroneously thought I could finish this painting in just two more sessions. (This could be called The Triumph of Hope Over Experience.) My painting sessions are shorter than I like right now. Some of this is because the tech troubles continue, necessitating a trip to the Apple Store in Fresno (to no avail). Since […]
Because I Want To —Wait, Sawtooth??
Been painting things lately just because I want to, so why am I painting Sawtooth? I began this painting because there is a messed up wall in the foyer at church where I hung a large painting of Sawtooth with lots of wildflowers just to cover the mess. The woman who keeps things looking good […]
Last Mineral King Visit of the Season
Cabin closing isn’t very fun. It is bittersweet, with so many conflicting emotions. How can this summer be over? Thank goodness I won’t be driving up and down the road and can be home for a pair of minutes! Will the cabin be okay? Will the road make it through the predicted El Niño? How […]
Mineral King, Almost Done for the Year
I have a theory about summer’s heat: when a summer starts out gradually and kindly, it lasts forever. We are living out my prediction this “fall”. On our most recent trip down the hill, it was in the 90s and then the low 100s. So fun in the Botmobile without A/C. Not. The road construction […]
Fall Color in Mineral King
Fall color in Mineral King is fairly subtle. Things turn yellow and brown, and then fall off and leave gray behind. But we also have great aspen trees, and when the light is right and all sorts of mysterious factors combine, they can get bright. Reds are rare, so a strong orange is fairly exciting. […]
Another Work Weekend in Mineral King
To summarize this past season in Mineral King, the word “work” comes to mind. The summer began with neighbors coming to Trail Guy (and the Farmer) for help with a nonworking stove, nonworking refrigerator, multiple and various leaks, and a nonworking water heater. Some of these were multiples. . . many neighbors, many problems. It […]
Meanwhile, Back in Mineral King
Before the blog and website went dark and I took a subsequent break, there was a major work weekend among the cabin folks in Mineral King. This was the 2nd weekend of reducing fuels, which is another way of saying that a bunch of people gathered together and worked our tails off to clear off […]
Taking Labor Day Seriously
Yeppers, off schedule for Mineral King on Fridays. Sometimes that just the way it all works out. All I did was work over Labor Day. I labored, beginning with helping some neighbors make progress on painting their cabin. It was a very satisfying project, just a good productive mellow time of being with dear friends. […]
More Doing Mostly Nothing in Mineral King
What is wrong with me lately? The inner lazy chick seems to be winning. A dear friend gave me a fantastic camera, one that she said she tried and hated. We are very different in that instead of returning the camera, she hung onto it. (I would have sent it back.) She is very generous, […]