I paint the same Mineral King scenes over and over. One in particular sells very well. It is the classic Mineral King scene, the view from the bridge at the end of the road. Farewell Gap, the East Fork of the Kaweah River and the Crowley family cabin.
Let’s look at these in order of painting. There are variations in time of year, color of light, amount of snow on the peaks, amount of water in the stream, size of the fir tree on the left, arrangement on the canvas, and skill level of the artist. (Don’t mention this to my boss – she’ll get worried that I might ask for a raise.)
There are 32 of these in my iPhoto, but I don’t think that corresponds with the way I’ve titled them. Sometimes I can’t count very well. (Oh great, there goes my raise.)
And no, I won’t put all 32 in this post. They also might not be in order of getting painted. (There goes my raise for sure.)
Farewell Gap, 2007Farewell Gap IV, 2007
Now there is a gap in time. Either I numbered the paintings wrong, or I took a big break from painting Farewell Gap. I think I spent a few years painting nothing but oranges, trying to get more comfortable with oil painting.
Farewell Gap VIII, 2010Farewell Gap, 2010Farewell Gap in snow, 2010Farewell Gap, a do-over in 2010?
This might have been a repaint to the 2nd one above. Oh man, don’t tell my boss. She would be shocked, dismayed and disappointed at my shoddy record keeping.
Stop by again tomorrow for more Farewell Gap Mineral King oil paintings.
It is an interesting phenomenon of a seasonal community like Mineral King that friendships can be formed on the basis of a few days a year over the course of many years.
A prime example is our relationship with the Sawtooth Six, our neighbors for 4 days a year over the last 30-something years.
It took me quite a few years to learn their names. We used to find out when they were visiting and plan to be gone that weekend. Now everyone has grown up, and we anticipate the Sawtooth Six’s visit with pleasure.
Kurt and Scott are fascinated by the repartee of their host, AKA Cabin OwnerJon gathers hiking wisdom from Trail Guy.Scott defends the “or derves” (nope, not spelling that word) from the voracious meat bees, always a threat in August.Ted wonders how he got mixed up with such a motley crew.The gracious and kind Cabin Owner is a wonderful neighbor and friend.Hey Jon, I know you are reading this! Thanks for cooperating for this very cute photo.A professor wears his clean socks in the dirt and no one knows why. Eccentric, perhaps? Provocative? Hard to say with this one.
Trail Guy is an introvert. However, sometimes he mingles and socializes with animals.
Hey, Spot!
Sometimes he socializes with people.
This is Craig. He is at the East Fork of the Kaweah River, below Atwell Mill. Reminds me of an oil painting, appropriately titled “Below Atwell”.
This is Blair. He is very social, and while talking to someone on the trail, that someone told Blair, “You look a lot like Robert Redford!” (He does.) Trail Guy was waiting patiently on the trail above until he got tired of waiting. Then he yelled, “Come on, Robert! Let’s Go!” (I have it from a reliable source that Redford’s friends call him “Bob”. I’ve let Trail Guy know in case he needs that info in the future.)
What? No people? Trail Guy, where are your peeps?? (Not telling where this is, nope, gotta keep the people out of some of the really special places. Except now Blair knows.)
Blair is taller than Bob.
Isn’t this fabulous? Trail Guy is developing a great sense of what makes a good photo (combined with my cropping and editing skills, of course.)
Wait – is that Blair or is that Bob??
Here is Trail Guy with Keith. They are so cute in their matching Mineral King tee shirts and straw hats.
Poor Trail Guy is just worn out from all this socializing. The hiking doesn’t wear him out. Remember, he is Trail Guy!
Mineral King cabins have the most visitors in August, as evidenced by more cars (No need to keep your hood up – it doesn’t deter the marmots, and they aren’t busy in cars in August.)The colors are getting more yellow because. . .. . . the grasses are drying out and there is goldenrod in bloom.See? Goldenrod, and the flowers and grasses are tall.This is not a sign of fall, although it could be a place to fall. It is a style of trail building called “rip-rap”. This is looking down at a section of such trail. It is hard to walk up and even harder to walk down. You’ll be pleased to know I didn’t fall – thank you for your concern.Squint and look across the stream. Fireweed is in bloom, and it usually appears in August. The stream is low, although not sluggish.The aspens are still green, and the grasses beneath them are still green. Not fall, just August, late summer.Goldenrod!This is how August looks along the Nature Trail, from Cold Springs Campground up to the actual Mineral King valley.
Mineral King has a quick summer. Gotta go, gotta experience, gotta enjoy, don’t blink, because boom, it is over. (The temperature in the early morning of the day I took these photos was 38 degrees.)
First random Mineral Kingobservation is about a wildflower called “Cow Parsnip”. I think white flowers are a little bit boring but this one grows taller than me sometimes and has this ongoing mystery of the leaves.
Is this Cow Parsnip? Look at the lacy leaves.Or is this Cow Parsnip? Look at the big maple leaf type leaf (from the Department of Redundancy Dept.)
Second random observation on Mineral King is also about wildflowers. Goldenrod is a yellow flower that I find a little bit boring except that it is a harbinger of fall. This photo was taken on July 30. Seems early. . . does this indicate a big winter coming?
The yellow flower in the foreground is Goldenrod.
Random observation #3: Hey Trail Guy! Your favorite flower is next in the queue.
Trail Guy with Indian Paintbrush along the Nature Trail, which I think would be better called the Wildflower Walk.Leopard Lilies. Anyone know how to extract fragrance from flowers??
Random Mineral King observation #4: This platform thing was supporting a display of Mineral King artifacts in the ranger station. The display was dismantled to be moved to the upcoming Mineral King Room in the Three Rivers Historical Museum soon. Trail Guy retrieved this platform that he built in 1986, and together we thought of making this table. Rustic, resourceful, and cabin-ish, yes?
Random Mineral King observation #5 is about garbage. Mineral King lost its garbage service, and all cabin folks have been driving their trash to Silver City. We cannot keep it in our cabins because it will attract bears. This adds to traffic on the road. It is very hasslesome, so Trail Guy is also acting as Garbage Guy this summer. He procured a dumpster through his many connections, and each week he unloads trash from the dumpster near the cabins into his Botmobile and then hauls it to Silver City, where he unloads it from the Botmobile into the massive dumpster at Silver City.
I hate that he has to do this, particularly when people are inconsiderate. (Actually, he doesn’t have to do it; he chooses to.)
WHO ATE A FRESH PINEAPPLE AND DRANK A TON OF BEER AND DUMPED IT UNBAGGED INTO THE DUMPSTER BETWEEN JULY 27 AND JULY 31?
You are an illiterate inconsiderate idiot, and you need to apologize to Trail Guy. He is doing everyone a BIG FAT FAVOR, and your piggish messy behavior is unacceptable.
A very very fine bottle of cabernet might help ease his pain. He goes to bed early, so you could sneak it to the cabin after dark, and be sure to tiptoe because he sleeps with his ears open. You don’t want him to know who did this dastardly trash deed and is atoning for it.
(THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO MAKE ME NOT BE MAD AT YOU, SO DON’T EVEN TRY. I AM NOT GOING TO EXCUSE MYSELF FOR SHOUTING EITHER – THIS IS MY BLOG AND I FEEL LIKE SHOUTING.)
Trail Guy is a fine man with a servant’s heart who just wants to be of help to his cabin neighbors. Why don’t they have a little gratitude??
Some do. It only takes one pineapple-eating, beer-guzzling idiot to wreck stuff.
Final random Mineral King observation: Foxglove grow very well in Mineral King (and in Wilsonia too), but the Park doesn’t want them there because they aren’t native to the area. A few remain in spite of eradication efforts. I think they are very pretty. I included them in a drawing in the Mineral King coloring book.
Now you will know what color to make them if you bought the coloring book.
The second most popular scene I do as a Mineral King painting or drawing is the Honeymoon Cabin.
Bottom canvas is the beginnings of another oil painting of the Honeymoon Cabin in Mineral King.
This is the one remaining cabin from the resort days in Mineral King. The resort was owned by Ray and Gem Buckman, and they sold to Disney, thinking that the ski resort was an inevitable next step in Mineral King.
It wasn’t. No ski resort, but Disney ended up owning property. This is the only structure remaining, and the Mineral King Preservation Society turned it into a little museum.
It is quaint. It is scenic. It is paintable.
Working from 2 photos, pulling the best features from each one to make the painting as appealing as possible.Reshaped the top-right of Vandever (the mountain), began adding greenery to the juniper tree on the left and the red fir on the right. (I think it is a red fir – I should know after painting and drawing it multiple times!)Now it is looking like something I might be willing to sign with my name (as opposed to Mickey Mouse’s name?)
This just needs to dry so I can scan it. Photos taken while wet usually have this weird sheen. . . that’s why the gable end of the cabin looks sort of faded here.
Honeymoon Cabin #?, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $100. Use the contact button underneath the About The Artist tab if you’d like to buy this before it sells at the Silver City Resort.
My favorite place and time in Mineral King is a flower show in the first half of July at the junction of the Farewell Gap and Franklin Lakes trails.
First, we had to get there. It is 4 miles one way on a well-graded uphill trail. Some parts are flattish, some steeper than others. There is very little shade. There are 2 creeks to cross.
Thistle, just a preliminary sneak-peek to the flower show.Franklin Creek, the 2nd creek to be crossed on the way to the flower show.Explorer’s Gentian is my happy flower, and it was out in profusion on the way to the flower show.Leopard Lilies are Trail Guy’s happy flower. They hide a little bit, but not for those with an acute sniffer.
Here we are at last – the flower show! Bigelow Sneezeweed is the star.
Here comes our friend Kirk, but he is only passing through.Two buddies, who like to hike, love Mineral King, and are both thrilled to still be healthy while approaching upper-middle-age. (Says she of middle-middle-age.)Happy Trails, Kirk! We will finish our lunch in the flower show cafe before heading back down.
Would you like to spend an hour or so in air conditioning, looking at art of Sequoia National Park, drinking wine and noshing on “or derves”? (You don’t really expect me to spell that word, do you?)
On Sunday, August 7, 2-4 p.m., Courthouse Gallery in Exeter, 125 South B Street, you can do exactly that.
At least four artists will be participating: Nadi Spencer, Shirley Keller, Anne Brantingham, and me. There might be others, but life is full of unknowns.
Sequoia, particularly Mineral King, has been my main subject for many years, and I am ready to share those pieces in a fine gallery. At last count, I had TWENTY-ONE pieces to show, both oil paintings and pencil drawings!
I’ll bring coloring books – Heart of the Hills, and Heart of Mineral King. Exeter and Sequoia coloring books won’t be ready yet. . . that will give the colorists among the crowd something to anticipate after the post-show letdown, if they are prone to such emotional swings, and assuming there will be “a crowd”.
I hope you will be there too. I’d hate to get all gussied up and and then have to hang out by myself. (I have a somewhat hassle-some new haircut.)
All photos in this post are courtesy of Dr. Christopher Tremblay of Western Michigan University. He is a 1994 graduate of the Lee Honors College and has been fascinated by Disney since his parents took him to Disneyworld at age 5. Now he gets to share that love with other honors students at his alma mater.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Walt Disney wanted to build a ski resort in Mineral King. It was under the jurisdiction of the National Forest Service, and they were inviting people to put in bids for the project.
The ski resort didn’t happen. That’s a whole other blog post (or 2 or 12).
At Western Michigan University, there is a special summer class that participates in something called “Walt’s Pilgrimage”. One of their stops was Mineral King last year, and they liked it so much that they returned this year.
From left to right (front row only): Walt Disney, Cathy’s Mom, Cathy’s grandfather Ray BuckmanCathy in the Honeymoon Cabin, the museum of the Mineral King Preservation Society.
Participants of the Disney class, all honors students in the Lee Honors College of Western Michigan University. Dr. Christopher Tremblay is kneeling in the front left.Trail Guy and Tall Cathy were a very compatible teaching duo.
Here are the other paintings I finished last week. It was very hot in Three Rivers, so they dried quickly outdoors, and I was able to scan them without getting paint on the scanner.
It is horrible to get paint on a scanner. It’s even more horrible to scratch the glass trying to remove the paint. Best to not ask me how I know this.
Five new little oil paintings of Mineral King, all for sale at the Silver City Resort (unless they already sold!)
This week I had some special visitors to my studio. These are folks I’ve known since the 1980s, plus some extended family members. One of my old friends said, “I think your painting is improving.”
I hope so! I’ve been oil painting for 10 years, and if there has been no improvement, I need to quit.
On Sunday, August 7, 2-4 p.m., Courthouse Gallery in Exeter, 125 South B Street,
