The 2015 calendars titled “Beautiful Tulare County” with my current best paintings that fit the format (can you say “run on sentence”??) are available.
New Mineral King Paintings
It’s Friday, so here is what I have that pertains to Mineral King. These are new oil paintings, some of which are already sold!
Mineral King Flowers, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, sold
Mineral King Big Rock, 6×6″ oil on wrapped canvas, $50
Mineral King Cottonwood Trail, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $50
Hiking Mineral King, 6×6″ oil on wrapped canvas, $50
The 2015 Calendar is HERE!
The new calendar for 2015 has arrived!
These are my best oil paintings. Sort of. My best oil paintings that fit the calendar format and fit the months. Sort of. The best blend of my best oil paintings that sort of fit the calendar format and sort of fit the months.
It is called “Beautiful Tulare County”. (Stop laughing – there is lots of beauty in this rural place in Central California and it is my job to find it and paint or draw it!)
$15, includes tax and mailing to you!
Want one? There are several ways to get one.
1. Use this Paypal button and your Paypal account.
Mineral King Fall Painting
Cabin is closed, color wasn’t very spectacular, and the Park lit a burn which completely obscured the views. So, have a look at how Farewell Gap in Mineral King usually looks in early fall.
Fall Painting
Friday’s posting about scariness in Mineral King even smelled like smoke to me. Oh wait – that is because the smell from the prescribed burn was in Three Rivers. Let’s soothe our senses with something else that is a symbol of fall, a nicer symbol, both decorative and edible.
Pumpkins VIII, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90
2015 Calendar Coming!
Two years ago I published a calendar of oil paintings.
Last year it was a calendar of photography. (I was too busy drawing The Cabins of Wilsonia to paint.)
This year it will be a calendar of oil paintings.
It will be called Beautiful Tulare County. If that sounds like a joke, stop being cynical! There are beautiful places and times of year around here. It is my business to find those places and times, and then to share them with you.
The calendar’s pages will not be precisely seasonally correct. They will be close, but summer is a dominant season around here, so those types of paintings will be dominant in the calendar.
Waiting for the price from the printer (NOT the book printer!!) and the estimated time of arrival before making them available for purchase. I’ll make it an easy price, a round number that includes tax and mailing costs.
Taste The Arts
Blooming Oranges #2, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125
Taste The Arts
Saturday, October 11, 2014
11 AM – 5 PM
Downtown Visalia
Taste the Arts is the name of a street fair type event in Visalia. It is very extensive, with lots of opportunities to try different methods of making art. There will be demonstrations in spray paint, stenciling and murals, along with lots of artists exhibiting and selling their work.
Here is their link: Taste The Arts
I participated in an early version of this show about 2 years ago. The Arts Consortium is the most organized group I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and I expect this event to be great!
Painting for a Show in a City
With the first fall show coming on October 11, the pressure is on to get some paintings finished, signed, dried, scanned and varnished. Let’s see what is in the painting workshop.
Yikes. This photo shows me that my Mineral King mural needs to be freshened up. Wouldn’t it be fun to repaint it every 3 months to reflect the actual season? Forget it – I have to finish paintings that can be sold!
I had no trouble finishing these pumpkins. The bridge might be finished. The poppy fields are rough – this is after one pass over the canvas. The orange wants a few more blossoms.
I thought this would be too hard, because it is a challenge to turn 2 rectangular photos into one square scene, and real life is very messy so I’m trying to clean it up here. The rocks and background trees have been really satisfying. I love detail – did you know that?
On the advice of a trusted friend, I added more foliage to the poppies. It probably isn’t enough to suit her, but I like it. Those 4 orange poles will become The Four Guardsmen, 4 sequoias you pass among as you enter Sequoia National Park from Three Rivers. There is Farewell Gap (Mineral King) as it appears in early fall – leaves changing a bit, no snow, and very low water. Getting the water and rocks to look right is stretching my limited abilities. And the bottom scene is the trail to Farewell Gap. The light was wonderful that day! It isn’t finished in this photo.
Upcoming Show: Taste the Arts, Saturday, October 11, 11-5, downtown Visalia on Garden Street from Main to Oak Streets. (no idea where I will be – I’ll just follow directions like a good soldier when the time comes.)
Woohoo, world, I’m going to the big city of Visalia to meet some people and sell some art!
Yeah, I know, I really don’t get out much. Visalia is the county of seat of Tulare County, population around 125,000. “City”? It is to me! Three Rivers is 35 miles east and has about 2500 people, including all the part-timers. Just sayin’ so you can keep things in perspective from where I live.
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. . .
Hidden in the Leaves
Turning Leaf XV, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50
No, nothing is hidden in these leaves. These are 2 new paintings for a small (fancy word for that is “intimate”) show coming to Three Rivers in November.
I think we are all discouraged by the ongoing heat and drought, and there are so many trees that have died or prematurely lost their leaves that we are going to have to produce our own colored leaves this fall. This California artist certainly has wanted to feel and see Autumn.
Turning Leaf XIV, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50
It is fun to paint leaves because it is a rare chance to use bright reds and because they are forgiving in their shapes. Plus, these are small enough that they feel like a painting instead of a commitment.