Mineral King: 1 Hike, 2 Canyons

Last week we took in the 2 best canyons, White Chief and Farewell, with a friend on one long mostly off-trail day. The flowers were spectacular.

 

The lupine were at their peak.
Almost there – a steep climb. The fit folks would say “just a short hop over the ridge”. The sort of fit would say, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” The unfit wouldn’t even be present. (Putting it this way makes me feel better about my own personal struggles in the fight against gravity.)
The wildflowers were truly stunning on the south side of Farewell Canyon where the old route is.
The photos never do the real scene justice; however, I bet your legs aren’t sore.

Variety in Mineral King

My recent time in Mineral King was varied. Have a look:

The art show and sale, “Art: Inspired by Mineral King” was a hit! 

Some of my paintings on the display screens; everyone else’s were on the other side.
Botanical watercolorist Joan Keesey demonstrated.
Watercolorist John Keesey told another disappointed potential customer that the piece they wanted was not for sale. . . sigh.

Trail Guy couldn’t get out of the driveway to come help me bring the show home and I couldn’t get in with all my stuff because 2 cars parked directly at the end of our road.

If you recognize either of these cars, please explain to the owners that it is a bad thing to block a driveway.

We enjoyed a bonfire with our neighbors (and we were a bit short on sweets so I went to them a-beggin’).

We shared our roasting forks and they shared their marshmallows.

We walked the 4 miles to the Farewell Gap/Frankin Lakes junction. It felt like 6. Who moved this spot that we call “The Wildflower Cafe”??

It was worth 8 miles round trip to enjoy the wildflowers.
Franklin Creek was crossable – Trail Guy rock-hopped, and I walked straight through.
I learned a new (and difficult to photograph) flower called “Blue-eyed Grass”.

I had some fun going to Soda Springs and then to a swimming hole above Soda Springs with some friends/neighbors.

This is how a crazy 7 year old enjoys cold water with his grandma, who is not very traditionally grandmotherly!

When we could exit our driveway, we went to Silver City to retrieve my display screens and were happily surprised by dear friends/neighbors, who helped Trail Guy rehang our wedding photo. (We were the first to go on the wall, because the former owner was a great romantic and felt she had a hand in our meeting and marrying.)

Just a few of the many wedding photos, 2 couples with whom I worked at the store and married the same year.

Another hike ensued, but you’ll have to wait until next Friday to learn about it.

 

 

Art: Inspired By Mineral King

Farewell Gap, a pencil drawing, will be available as a framed original for $400 and in card sets.

After 7-8 months of painting toward a show about Mineral King and (almost) in Mineral King, it is tomorrow!

Is it considered shouting to use bold type? Or is that only for capital letters? I’ve always always always considered italics to be whispering, so maybe this paragraph will be more soothing to your ears.

Four artists with cabins in the Mineral King area will be showing and selling our work on the deck of the Silver City Store tomorrow, June 30, 10 AM until 3 PM.

The Silver City Store is 21 miles up the Mineral King Road. It is a long way there, a long and winding road, and it is well worth the effort it takes to get there. The store is at about 6700′ in elevation, and it is no longer called “The Store” but now is “The Silver City Resort”. The store itself has been remodeled into a new rustic elegant interior; the artists will be on the spacious outdoor deck.

Linda Hengst, Joan Keesey, John Keesey and I will be there. Linda paints in acrylic (or is it oil? Hard for me to tell the difference), Joan does tight realistic botanicals in watercolors, and John does whimsical playful watercolors of somewhat stylized scenery of the area. Linda’s work makes you say “Ahhhh”, Joan’s work makes you say, “Ooooh”, and John’s work makes you smile. My work? Um, let’s see. . . “How much for this one?” 

I am taking 23 oil paintings (some of which I have shown you on this blog), 5 pencil drawings (all of which you have seen on this blog), Mineral King cards (old and new designs), a few reproductions of pencil drawings (also of Mineral King, duh) and some copies of my book The Cabins of Wilsonia. (The Cabins of Where? Yes, they have been requested.)

Let’s roll! See you tomorrow??

Art: Inspired byMineral King

Show and Sale

FOUR ARTISTS: Jana Botkin, Linda Hengst, Joan and John Keesey

SILVER CITY RESORT, 21 miles up the Mineral King Road

Saturday, June 30, 2018

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Honeymoon Cabin #33, 6×18″, $160 inc. tax. (I like this one so much that if I saw it in a gallery, I’d probably buy it.)

Early Season in White Chief Canyon

Trail Guy’s favorite place to hike is White Chief. Mine too. I wasn’t there for this hike, but he graciously and eagerly shared his photos with me to share with you.

Oops. This is from a hike up toward Timber Gap, not White Chief. White Chief shows in the distance.
Phlox, also from the Timber Gap hike.
The square top is White Chief peak.
This is a scene I painted over the winter, but with lots more color, mostly greens.

Several friends have taught us to be on the lookout for heart shaped rocks. Trail Guy has gotten very good at spotting them.
Western Wallflower

A marmot, probably fixing to do an ear-splitting shriek of a chirp.
What’s hiding in the rocks?

Today’s painting is for sale:

White Chief III, 11×14″, oil on wrapped canvas, $275

Mineral King 2018

Opening weekend in Mineral King in 2018 was cold, drizzly, foggy and not conducive to any photos. Besides, my camera battery was dead.

The skies cleared briefly on Sunday evening. I borrowed Trail Guy’s camera for this:

Monday was glorious, sunny, bright, and warm(ish). I took this from our friend’s porch

The little cabin is actually an outhouse. It is where I found that gigantic snowball in March. Wow, 2-1/2 months later, and now the snow is only on distant peaks.

Finally, here is the classic photograph.

Would this look like camera distortion if it was painted in oil?

And thus we begin another summer season in Mineral King.

Painting Drawing of the day:

Farewell Gap #4, pencil drawing, framed to approximately 11×14, $400 including tax

Past Mineral King Opening Weekends

The Mineral King official season begins around Memorial Weekend each year. The gate was unlocked and opened to the public on Wednesday, May 23. Since at the time of this blog post I haven’t yet been to Mineral King, I will show you some photos from years 2007 forward. Why 2007? Because that is the year I first used a digital camera. The weather varies tremendously from year to year.

2007
2008
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2016
2015
2017
2017

Small Business Decision

The business of art is full of choices and decisions, and rarely is there a map or an instruction book. I can find things on the World Wide Web, but often the advice is contradictory, or geared toward folks who live in cities or sell in galleries. This forces me to do my own thinking, an exhausting proposition at times.

For the upcoming show on June 30, “ART: INSPIRED BY MINERAL KING”, I have been painting diligently since January. Many pieces have sold, so I just keep painting more. 

Last week I made a small decision: I am not going to show photos of the newest pieces I’ve finished on the blog. Instead, I am saving them for the actual show. Afterward, I will post them here, hopefully with a SOLD sign on them.

This is a marketing decision. Might be good, might be dumb. As my dad used to say, “Time will tell”. (I prefer “More will be revealed in the fullness of time”.)

Then what shall I show you today? How about Piper and some weird white poppies:

There are white poppies in my yard. Piper is puzzled by this.

Mineral King Show Coming Soon

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANN!

June 30 will be here quickly. That is the date for the Mineral King art show that I will be participating in with 3 other artists at the Silver City Store. 

Heat will be here quickly too, so I need to finish these oil paintings before it is time to turn on the swamp cooler and swat mosquitoes while painting.

Sawtooth, enough for now.
Farewell Gap at the beginning of a painting of the end of summer.
Farewell Gap looking better.
Better yet. . .
Farewell Gap finished?
Timber Gap with lupine, finished?
Eagle Lake, begun
Eagle Lake, more work ahead.

These are my painting companions.

Tucker
Three little buddies.

Early Season Mineral King

It is almost cabin time in Mineral King. The road will open on Wednesday, May 23. Trail Guy was there last weekend, and these are his photos. The browns and grays are still dominating the greens, and there is some snow on the peaks but not in the valley. The last mile of the road is kind of messed up, but I haven’t driven it so can’t give you any specifics as to whether or not 4WD is required. I guess it all depends on how highly you regard your vehicle.

In Which My Captions are Hijacked by a TC Native Speaker

In order to recover from the ordeal of my wrastling match (yep, that’s the way it is said in Tulare County – we are the same folks who say “warsh” for “wash”, and sometimes we say “crick” instead of “creek”) with the Kaweah Post Office oil painting, I enjoyed the yard a bit. By “enjoy”, I mean that I took a few photos and pulled a mountain of weeds.

Then it was time to get back at it, “it” being the easels. Been lollygagging around recently, so I am having to parent myself rather vigorously in order to finish my responsibilities. (“But I DON’T WANNA!”)

Here is a batch of Mineral King paintings in their ugly stages, but improving slightly.

Oops. Forgot to take the before photo of this one.

Now that’s a real unusual way to portray Sawtooth. Whatsa matter, Central California Artist? Are you getting tired of painting Sawtooth like regular folks?

Well, I’ll be! If it ain’t another Sawtooth painting!

You think this oil painting of Eagle Lake is a mess? You ought to see that sorry excuse of a trail!

This one’ll be real purdy when you get them wildflowers in it.

Ahem. Something seems to have taken over the captions of my photos today. Sounds like a Tulare County native speaker.

Shut up. Those are my people.