I did not go with Trail Guy because I was at Hume Lake.
Trail Guy Goes to White Chief
Brain-melting Painting
Remember last week or so I showed you some completed paintings intended for Silver City, unless they sold first?
They sold.
Someone else asked for the one called Mineral King Family Cabin about 5 minutes after it sold, so I told her I’d paint another one for her.
Of course I needed to paint some new little pieces for Silver City too.
These aspens really caught my attention, maybe because of all the details, maybe because I have been painting many paintings of the same scene recently. They aren’t finished, but I signed them anyway. It was so hot in the workshop even with the swamp cooler, so maybe my brain was melting a little.
This one needs a do-over on the sky, and the flowers were put in too early. It needs to dry before I put those dots of color in. I signed it too. Brain melt.
I figured these could wait until another painting session, but a friend came over and kept me company, so I just kept working. Such a good friend, to sit in the swamp cooler “cooled” workshop with me!
This is a view of the Honeymoon Cabin I haven’t tried before. I signed it too. It isn’t finished —the angle of Vandever is too steep, and the cabin roof is the wrong proportions. But, that melting brain did at least allow me to get this far.
It was the first hot spell of the season, and maybe it isn’t hot compared to real summer. (It is still spring on the calendar.) Things felt hotter than normal because the previous night we were without power for 12 hours. This means no A/C, no fans, no internet, no landline, no cell phone (because we don’t have service without wifi). It also meant almost no sleep.
I thought about why we can easily live without any of those things in Mineral King. Simple. We live simply there. Woodstove, propane fridge, no phone, and no A/C or fans required.
Painting Mineral King in Mineral King
The view of a family cabin from the Mineral King bridge with Farewell Gap in the back and the stream in the front is the most popular scene that I paint of Mineral King. Sales have been brisk, and I am trying to get some inventory ready to go. So, instead of just hanging out in Mineral King, I did some work.
First, I started painting without the easel. It is annoying to set up, and I just wanted things to be easy.
Then I changed my mind. It seemed possible to set up both paintings side-by-side on the easel, which would make it worthwhile to hassle with the easel.
Yeppers, this works.
After awhile, the paintings felt too hard. I was looking at about 6 different photos, getting confused about which one to follow for which part on which canvas. Which which which. Time for a break. I walked to the bridge and sketched the various ripples, rocks, and willows, which all showed because the willows weren’t leafed out yet.
Finally, I set it up to dry so that I could get it home without incident.
I’d rather not work while in Mineral King, but if I cannot hike, I might as well be productive. And it is pretty handy to go see the real scene instead of relying on photographs.
Mineral King: Late May, Early June
There was a fair amount of puttering, cabin maintenance, hanging out with neighbors, a few short walks, and some painting on my most recent stay in Mineral King.
Because I needed to complete two more paintings of the iconic scene of the Crowley family cabin with the stream and Farewell Gap, I spent some time studying the water and a few details that often elude me. Customers don’t care or notice, but if I can’t get it right after painting the scene well over 60 times, then I am a little concerned for my own ability to pay attention.
The snow was holding on the peaks and passes. We strolled up the valley toward Crystal Creek.
Crystal is very wide, but easy to cross, especially if you do it my way, which is to just walk right through.
The early flowers are showing now.
Chihuahua Creek was running strong. This is a seasonal creek that races down the pack station road most years. The trail crew put in a very effective water bar last fall, so now the mud on the road is due to seepage, rather than an errant stream.
Speaking of the pack station, someone asked me about it last week. The short version is that the last concession packers in Mineral King got sideways with the Park, there were lawsuits, and then silence. It was a long time ago (15 years? 20?) No more horse rentals. Now the Park brings up stock as needed to resupply trail crews or just to get the critters out of the heat. They have a tack shed, and there are two abandoned buildings from the previous packer. That’s all I know.
In addition to studying the water at the bridge, I photographed the trees on either side of the Honeymoon Cabin, a mini-museum maintained by the Mineral King Preservation Society. The cabin is the second most popular subject that I paint of Mineral King, so it behooves me to know the details.
I took a short walk up to Spring Creek. There is a very appealing curve in the stream below, but I will have to do some rearranging in order for it to make a nice painting.
The bridge was not in, but on the way home on Monday, June 3, we passed a couple of Park guys on their way up to place the bridge.
We took a stroll one evening to enjoy the late light, cool temperatures, beautiful views, and quiet.
On the way down, we encountered this:
The road has great wildflowers, lots of dirt sections, and is quite passable. BUT, you should be prepared to wait, and be prepared to meet 10-wheelers and other construction vehicles.
Five New Mineral King Oil Paintings
All these paintings will eventually be for sale at the Silver City Store, unless they sell here first.
First Mineral King Stay of 2024
On the drive up the hill, I was just astonished by the abundance of yellow flowers, particularly bush poppies, covering the areas that burned in 2021. There were also blazing stars, common madia, flannel bush, and monkey flowers, all yellow. There were some other colors too, but yellow dominated.
I have been working on a painting of a scene, incorporating every cabin below Timber Gap and Empire’s outcropping, in spite of there being no actual place to see everything at once. So, this was a good opportunity to really observe each cabin before all the foliage had leafed out.
I spent several sessions standing in various locations, sketching how each cabin might look in relation to its neighbors.
But I bet you didn’t come to this post to see me go on about my work.
The Mineral King road is still under construction with a fluctuating schedule of closures. As soon as I think I know when it will be open and when it will be closed, the schedule gets rearranged. There were many pieces of equipment parked along the shoulders (such as “shoulders” exist on this road), many piles of dirt, and many places of dropping down to gravel where sections will be repaved. But compared to last summer, it isn’t scary.
Let the summer begin!
A One-Person Oil Painting Factory
After the Redbud Festival, it took awhile to rearrange everything in the studio and the painting workshop. I returned many of the paintings to Kaweah Arts, but not all that I had “borrowed”.
While sitting in my booth at the Redbud Festival, I had a lot of time to assess my paintings. I made lists of what to change, correct, or improve on eight of them.
It didn’t take long to do those little improvements. I’m not showing you the before and after because they are too wet to scan; besides, why would it be advantageous to point out all my errors? It was just a small matter of darken this, lighten that, brighten something else, add a branch or two, adjust some color for greater realism or to make it more appealing.
Feeling much better about those “old” paintings, I returned to the small sequoia paintings. The goal is to complete enough so that Kaweah Arts has some back stock. So far, sequoia paintings are the most popular subject, and I am happy to keep producing them.
Next, I will return to painting pieces for the Silver City Store (on the Mineral King road, four miles below the actual Mineral King valley) to sell this summer. I have great high hopes, because the resort was closed last summer, along with the entire area. However, the road will be under reconstruction and there will be some closures. In theory, it will open for Memorial weekend. In reality, we shall see what they actually choose to do. There is supposed to be a schedule, but it changes almost daily.
I’m running a one-person factory of oil paintings of scenes local to Tulare County
Mineral King in September
Yes, I know it is still April. Before I left for Texas, I painted this view of the Mineral King valley as it looks from the Timber Gap trail in September. The first layer was done a few days earlier, but I didn’t take any pictures.
I left it wet on the easel to put branches and greenery on the tree and sign it after I get back home.
Tomorrow: Things I Learned in April.
Speedy Quick Like Lightning
After spending most of the winter working on difficult subjects that took much thought, revision, and enormous amounts of time, painting familiar small Mineral King oil paintings to sell in the upcoming summer months feels speedy quick like lightning.
I think Hiking Buddy took the reference photo with her superior iPhone, generously sent it to me, and I phoofed up the colors, making them more vivid than the real life scene. Still, it was better in real life, because everything is.
This is Farewell Gap Alpenglow, 6×12″, $125, and it will be available at the Silver City Store this summer, unless it sells before that.
Happy Birthday, Hiking Buddy! (2 days early because I don’t post on Sundays.)
Four Steps to Timber Gap
If you have ever walked to Timber Gap, you know experientially that it is far more than four steps. I don’t remember the specific mileage, but it seems to be about 2 miles.
This post is actually about painting Timber Gap, and it took more than four steps. However, I only took four photographs. (I liked the title, and I am the boss of my blog.)
The trail is not the Timber Gap trail. It is the trail that leads to Franklin Lakes and Farewell Gap, but we are headed the opposite direction here. The Timber Gap trail has terrific views of the entire Mineral King valley. The flowers are Bigelow sneezeweed.