Seeking Inspiration in Mineral King

As a studio painter, I rely on my camera and memory. I’m continually seeking the best light, the most advantageous angle, the brightest colors, the most details and anything else that can be recorded. What is inspiration? Something that motivates me to take photos, to paint, to draw.

It was another beautiful day in Mineral King. (Not gonna call it “paradise” because of the drought.) Here is the way I take photos for painting later while in the studio.

Nice light and colors, Farewell Gap barely visible and the peaks around it completely hidden. Plus, the stream isn’t visible.

Now you can see the Gap and the stream. I wonder how much I’d have to distort the perspective to include them.

This is nice. Vandever is fully visible and there is some blue reflection in the stream. The trees don’t really look like fall, but the lack of color in the foliage and low water indicate the season. Do I really need to paint the Honeymoon Cabin? Maybe this scene is good on its own.

I want a closer look at the water and rocks. The growth around and across the scene is certainly unruly. Real life is quite messy. Have you noticed that?

This is better. More water, more peak, less tree. Or is less tree an improvement?? I have a personal bias toward vertical scenes. It is hard to be objective. Objectivity just might be impossible.

Forget it. Let’s go for a walk.

Looking For Red Leaves in Mineral King

No red leaves at the Honeymoon Cabin.

No red leaves here either.

Let’s go hiking and see if there are any red leaves further up the valley.

Yellow tunnel ahead – no red leaves there.

Entering the yellow tunnel – maybe there will be red leaves on the other side.

Yeppers, just above Soda Springs!

And at Franklin “falls” – wow, we need rain.

What are these red leaves? I think I ask this question every year, but when the leaves are green, I pay no attention whatsoever to this plant.

There it is again!

No red leaves on Farewell Gap. Plenty of bronze.

Reddish leaves on the way back down.

These yellow leaves were glowing.

I wonder if people who are surrounded by red leaves go in search of yellow leaves?

Did you know that there really is very little red in nature? It’s true!

Feels Like Summer, Looks Like Fall in Mineral King

Last weekend the fall colors were beginning to show in Mineral King. Weird, because it sure still felt like summer. Rather than blather on about the endless heat, I’ll just shut my yap and share some photos.

See that reddish tree? I wonder if it the same one I spent a weekend chasing back in 2012. 2012 was certainly more colorful, but it is still early.

Instead of red leaves, there is weird red stuff on the bark.

Still lots of green in the leaves.

I’ll save the other photos for next Friday, because Fridays are for Mineral King on this blog.

 

Married in Mineral King

Yep, we were. 28 years ago tomorrow.

Hey Trail Guy, thanks for 28 years of supporting my relentless pursuit of art as a way of life.

(No, I’m not putting personal messages on the World Wide Web.)

Fall Shows Ahead

Last year I couldn’t do any shows in the fall because I spent the entire year drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia (WHEN WILL IT BE HERE???)

This year I am painting again, because paintings sell best at shows. Truthfully, cards, tee shirts, and calendars sell best, but if one is an artist, one needs pure art to set the stage, provide the atmosphere, supplement and be a backdrop for the small stuff.

Here are paintings in progress:

The raven is for an upcoming show for which I lack information. The oranges are in progress.

My favorite bridge in progress on this 10×10″ canvas because I love to paint this. The rocks are always challenging, as are the arches. Each time I am sure that I am making a dog’s breakfast of the scene. Each time I persist, and then I almost break my arm patting myself vigorously on the back.

The beginnings of another Mineral King scene and some pumpkins that I have been reluctant to finish for about the past 6 years. If someone said, “I love that and want to buy it!” – that might light my fire to finally finish it.

Earning a living as an artist, particularly in a rural place like Tulare County (3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state) is a balancing act. It would be just grand to be able to paint anything I want and have a large population base from which to find the buyer. The reality is that I paint what people want because that is the way to please customers.

Even so, I continue to repaint my favorite bridge and oranges. Over and over and over. . .

Early Signs of Fall in Mineral King

 

The color and the light and the feel of the air changes in September. It is still green, but not quite as.

The deer get weird.

The squirrels get busy. This is a chicaree messing around with a red fir cone. They drop them like bombs in the early morning on the roofs of cabins. It is rude.

There is a hint of yellow beginning in the cottonwoods.

It is a peculiar change of color.

A reluctant change.

A hesitant change.

The currants aren’t as confused as the cottonwoods.

I don’t know what this is and never notice it in the summer, but it is a confident harbinger of fall.

The East Fork of the Kaweah has dwindled to almost nothing, and in fact, it does dwindle to nothing at one place in the upper valley. Very weird to see it just go away and then re-emerge a few yards downstream. I’ve never seen that before, but maybe I wasn’t looking. The drought is making us all hyper-aware of water in all situations. (I was playing in water coming out of a fire hydrant at home last week as we were testing water pressure – couldn’t stand to see it just flow without some sort of reverence or enjoyment!)

Farewell, Farewell (Gap) and I hope “farewell, Summer” soon.

 

New Mineral King Painting

It is still summer in Three Rivers, which means it is still nice in Mineral King. But, I have too much work to do, both in the studio and at home to be hanging out every weekend. Summer eventually catches up with me in the form of messes everywhere, incomplete stuff, unfinished business.
I am preparing for fall sales and shows (not that I have a ton, but it is all relative, and compared to what I do in the summer, the fall is cookin’!) This means I have to paint new paintings.

Because Fridays are for Mineral King and I don’t have any new photos or stories, have a look at a recently completed Mineral King oil painting.

Sawtooth XII, oil on wrapped canvas, 11×14″, $175



Yeppers, it is Sawtooth in Mineral King, the peak that is visible from Visalia (unless the smog is thick that blew down through Altamont Pass).

What’s Happening Now in the Work Life of This Artist

Today’s posting is a list of information about what is happening now in my life as a Central California artist.

Mineral King Aspens, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50

1. I have another blog –  www.thecabinsofwilsonia.com where I post about the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia.  “Upcoming” as in should be here in several weeks. “Several weeks” as in I don’t really know for sure because the book printer doesn’t really know for sure.

2. This week on my other blog there will be posts about the following subjects:

  • quilt squares in Wilsonia
  • who is interested in buying the upcoming book (and who isn’t – a rather surprising factoid to me!)
  • a story by possibly the most interesting cabin owner in Wilsonia (but he did not end it with “stay thirsty”)

3. I’m still too busy with more important and interesting things to figure out why the comments won’t work and too busy to figure out how to post new work to my website galleries.

4. Maybe I’ll start showing new work on the blog.

5. There is an upcoming show in November called “Hidden in the Leaves”. I could fill the entire space all by myself with this subject, but we are limited to 2 pieces each. It will be here in Three Rivers at Sierra Subs & Salads, preparers of the best food around!

Sit, Knit and Split in Mineral King

When I didn’t have a cabin in Mineral King, I said I’d kill for one. My new boyfriend said, “There is an easier way.”

That was about 30 years ago.

I learned that there are multiple parts to cabin life. There’s the social aspect, the having 2 homes challenge, the trails, and just hanging around.

Hanging around suits me just fine these days. Seems that life down the hill, life in the studio, life on the computer, life in a drought while on the local water board, life in the book publishing world and life in general is wearing me out. Retail Therapy isn’t going to cut it. Instead, I go to Mineral King to just sit, knit or split.

Sit

 

Knit
Split
More sit
More knit
More split
Sit and knit, and now I’ve split

Another Fine Subject of Central California Art

Call me butter – I’m on a roll.

Did you know butter is good for you? Yep. Everything we learned about animal fats and saturated fats is probably wrong. But that’s for a different blog.

This blog is about what a Central California artist finds to paint in a place like Tulare County, the 3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state.

Mineral King! I paint Mineral King! I blog about it, paint it, draw it, and live there in the summer whenever I’m not at home painting.

Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack with that surprising news. Maybe you should eat more butter to prevent future heart attacks.

Sawtooth Peak is visible from the valley floor (San Joaquin valley, not Mineral King, but it is visible from there too, duh.) except when the Bay Area smog blowing down through Altamont pass is obscuring the vision.

Don’t you think my oil paintings begin with a rough first layer? I show you this in case you are a painter and think your paintings always begins with ugliness. You are not alone – take heart (and have some more butter).

I work from back to front. The sky is first because it is the furthest from us. Then comes the ridge and Sawtooth Peak. I climbed it once. I also got helicoptered off it once. Once was enough for each of those experiences. However, I will paint it over and over. When it sells, I’ll paint it some more.

There are certain subjects that I try to always keep around as oil paintings – Farewell Gap, Sawtooth, the Kaweah River, the Kaweah Post Office, oranges, and poppies. That’s Central California from the viewpoint of a Three Rivers artist. (one who loves butter)

It’s coming along. I might show you a time or two more before it is finished. Or maybe not.

Now I am going to cook an egg in butter.

(Note to self: don’t blog in the future when you are hungry.)