Oil Paintings | Cabin Art

A New Place to Sell

Sales of my art have declined. Is it the economy? I assume so, since sales are an economic transaction. The specific reasons are: one of my regular vendors was not open this past summer; another one relied on a now-closed adjoining restaurant for foot traffic; the third place relied on traffic to Sequoia National Park, which was closed until July 1.

What’s an artist to do?

Look for a new place to sell, of course.

St. Anthony’s Retreat asked for some of my paintings for their gift shop. This is close to home, a place where I have painted several murals, staffed by many friends, and is an active place in Three Rivers. It brings in people from all over the valley for various purposes, many of which are not actually Catholic. It is a beautiful place, very bucolic, and they have very good food too.

I worked with two friends there to decide what to put in the gift shop. This is what we chose:

Craig Ranch (on BLM land above St. Anthony’s)

Alta, Kaweah Lake, Lupine (visible to anyone traveling to St. Anthony’s)

Winding Kaweah, almost visible from St. Anthony’s

Redwoods, painted from the same reference photo used on a mural at Santa Teresita, St. Anthony’s youth center

Yarn! Because there was a knitter’s retreat setting up when I delivered the paintings. (Mama didn’t raise no fool. . .)

oil paintings Three Rivers

Finishing a Big One

I am referring to finishing a large (12×24″) oil painting that I started in August, and then left to gather dust and spider webs while I worked on smaller paintings. Smaller paintings provide something closer to instant gratification; larger paintings build character.

These photos were taken in August.

These were taken in October, a progression of adding paint. You might notice that Vandever (the peak on the right) grew in height. If you are particularly observant, you may notice some angle changes too.

The painting was wet and shiny, so the final photo is not telling the true story. (. . . pants on fire)

I rotated the easel every direction, wasting film like crazy.

NO, I WASN’T WASTING FILM! I have a digital camera. But you probably knew that, because I am so modern, so quick to adopt new technology.

I can hear you thinking sarcastically, “Sure you are.”

This is Farewell Gap at dusk, in Mineral King. (I bet you guessed that already). Perhaps the title will be “Farewell Gap at Dusk”, because I am just clever that way sometimes.

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Five Finished Oil Paintings

These new oil paintings may look familiar to you from seeing them in progress.

Inventory was low; with the Holiday Bazaar in the near future (November 18 at the Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building) and seeking a new vendor, it was time to start producing.

P.S. They all look better in person, but I think you might know that by now.

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Painting Sequoia, Not Just Chit-chatting

Yesterday I mentioned several things that I have painted from Sequoia National Park. Want to see? Some have sold, and some are currently available. (Every once in awhile, I show items for sale because I am supposed to be running an art business here, not just chit-chatting to my friends.)

Sunny Sequoias, oil on wrapped canvas 18×36″, $1200

Sequoias in Winter, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $650

Redwood Grove, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

oil paintings Sequoia art Sequoia oil paintings

On the Easels and Sources of Inspiration

“On the Easels” isn’t exactly accurate; it is a euphemism for “paintings in progress”. It has been awhile since you have seen what oil paintings I am working on. With the annual Holiday Bazaar coming up on November 18 (sounds far away but is actually now closer to us than summer was), I have to be ready to fill my booth with little items that folks like to buy for Christmas gifts.

Yes, there will be 2024 calendars.

These current paintings are all about Three Rivers, because what doesn’t sell at the bazaar will go to the gift shop at St. Anthony’s Retreat Center. This is a new location for my paintings. With the Silver City Store closed over the summer, it is prudent to find new outlets.

Kaweah Lake with Alta Peak and lupine is always popular. (6×12″)

Must always have paintings of the Sequoia trees! (6×12″)

I don’t remember where this is but think it might be up South Fork Drive in Three Rivers. (6×6″)

This is a trail on the BLM land near St. Anthony’s Retreat Center. (8×8″)

People often think that an artist must be “inspired” to create work. Maybe. But must a baker be “inspired” in order to keep the display cases full? Must a farmer be “inspired” to keep the trees irrigated, fertilized, and pruned?

Inspiration comes from many sources. Sometimes mine comes from a particular quality of light, sometimes from not knowing what else I could do to earn a living, and sometimes it comes from the fact that Fernando has 248,000 miles and won’t last forever. An artist I greatly admired used to say that his inspiration came from the bills in his P.O Box.

Aaaand More Painting Progression

This is 8×8″, using a photo taken last spring somewhere on the BLM land above our house. Some people call it Case Mountain because it is below Case Mountain (mostly privately owned and gated closed). Some people call it Salt Creek because Salt Creek runs through. We call it BLM, because it is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. It used to be relatively unknown, and then along came The Google and everyone’s need to announce everything to the entire world. (STOP IT!)

You might be able to tell that I moved the trail toward the center. The photo is a vertical rectangle but I am painting it as a square so I scoot things where I want.

Finished sky, distant hills, trees behind the trail, a small rock, some shadows, began applying color to the grasses.

Another rock, shadows on the trail, and details on the grasses make this come alive.

Drawing in the branches was a little tricky while the sky and hills were still wet. I did it anyway.

This needs to dry before I figure out if I can put in some microscopic but effective dots for flowers, make sure the big tree looks convincing, and of course, sign it.

Would you believe me if I told you that it will look better when dry and scanned, and even better in person? Yeppers, it’s true.

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Orange Oil Paintings, WHAT SHALL WE CALL THEM?

Liking this one, because it is oranges and a cobalt blue bowl

The bowl is more detailed here. If I hold it on a tilt, the wet shine doesn’t show.

Untilted, with a shine from being wet and more detail on the left-out orange.

The oranges in the bowl are improved here.

And I think it is finished, but of course it is shiny and wet. I’ll sign it after it is dry, then scan it. BUT WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT??

This is close to finished, but lacking contrast.

Much better, but WHAT SHALL WE CALL IT??

Obviously, I could use a little help with titles here.

“Oranges in a Blue Bowl” is too obvious; maybe I can think of a title that has to do with the fact that orange and blue are complementary colors. This means they are opposite one another on the color wheel—”complementary”, not “complimentary” such as “Oh my goodness, you are looking gorgeous today!”

Normally we think of ducks being in a row (WHY??), but I could call this “Citrus in a Row”. Nope, too obvious. “Citrus Variety” is boring.

Any ideas for me??

citrus art citrus oil paintings citrus paintings custom art oil paintings orange art orange oil paintings

Four Finished Fruits

I know these aren’t just generic fruits, but the alliteration was too big of a temptation to resist.

“Half”, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65

“Whole”, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65

“Front & Back”, 4×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $55

“Navel”, 4×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $55

All these orange oil paintings are for sale at the Mural Gallery in Exeter, whose address might be 121 South E Street, and hours might begin at 11 a.m. but not on Tuesday, possibly not on Wednesday. Maybe you’d better call 559-592-3160 before just showing up, because clearly, I do not have solid information other than the fact that there is a boatload of great art in that tiny building.

Phew. Take a breath, Central California Artist.

citrus art citrus oil paintings citrus paintings orange art orange oil paintings orange paintings

More Orange Paintings, A Progression

These have more detail and are larger than the 4 small orange paintings I showed you last Friday.

That one is almost finished. It could be considered finished, but I don’t think it is as good as it could be. I’ll need to contemplate it for awhile.

This one will require quite a bit of drawing with my paintbrushes. I like to draw with pencils, and I like to draw with my paintbrushes when they cooperate.

It helps to see the shapes more accurately when things are upside down. This is not an option when painting from real life. Thank goodness I am a studio painter.