More Spring in Three Rivers

A glorious time of year in a beautiful place – that’s spring in Three Rivers, and it brings me inspiration.

In Three Rivers, this is called “Karl’s Tree”. It is a group of 8 dogwoods, a variety called “Carolinus Florida”. It blooms around the first of April, give or take, based on the weather.

Did you know that locust trees come in pink? These are also in Karl’s yard. They are more purple in real life than in this photo.

Fiesta flower is common in my driveway in early April. Mid April too.

Here is a pink dogwood and a white one too, both in bloom at the same time.

But what is there to DO in Three Rivers? Oh, trespass along the flume, look at the flowers, see the views, you know, just boring stuff like that.

The poppies look yellow in this photo. Colors don’t always work out to be accurate in digital photography or on the computer.  But, it is still beautiful!

A Dry Winter in Mineral King

Trail Guy went to Mineral King. I worked. He is retired. I am completing a book of drawings. It’s cool – we understand that this is a consequence of our vast age difference. (Calm down, I’m just exaggerating!)

I might be a good influence on him. On the other hand, I might not be.

The fact that he is enjoying photography is the good influence.

He requests the camera regularly.

A radio commercial says this: “Never wear a fanny pack. No really. Don’t ever wear a fanny pack.”

Dude gets weird sometimes. I take full responsibility. (Remember my knitting photos??)

He has always noticed beauty, but now he records it.

He is noticing good light more, actually seeking it out.

Recognize Sawtooth?

Do you pray? How about asking God to send rain and snow? We need it.

P.S. If you see Trail Guy today, wish him a Happy Birthday!

Mineral King in Monotones

This is how Mineral King looked on Thanksgiving Day.

Not much water, not much snow, not much color

Not much snow, not much sun, not much color.

Ditto to the above comments. This is looking down from the junction of the Timber Gap/Monarch Lake trail.

Sawtooth, minus much snow, as seen from the Timber Gap trail.

Crystal Creek, not much water, no snow, not much color.

Heading back from Crystal Creek, not much happening visually.

Hey! Sunshine!

Please, God, send some rain and snow.

THANKFUL

For more things than I can take the time to list (or you want to read), I am deeply thankful.

Kaweah River in autumn photo by Jana Botkin

Kaweah River in Autumn, Three Rivers

 

2014 Tulare County Calendars Here Now!

12/11/13 – 3 calendars available

12/1/13 CALENDARS SOLD OUT!

12/10/13 – 4 calendars left!

12/9/13 – 8 calendars remaining!

As of 12/6/13, there are only 23 calendars remaining. When they are gone, they are gone. If you only said, “Save me one”, and you still want it, use Paypal NOW. 

The 2014 calendar of Tulare County photographs are here now, available right here, right now.

This calendar is full of what I consider the best of Tulare County. I am a California artist, a studio artist who works from photos, a regional artist who doesn’t get too far from home, a Tulare County artist with 21,600 photos on her computer.

The 2014 Tulare County calendar is full of my favorites, taken by me and by my husband, aka Trail Guy.

2014 Tulare County calendar


More Tahoe

If you came here on Friday for Mineral King, I’m sorry. I temporarily ran out of things to show and tell on the subject. I hope you aren’t too disappointed to find Lake Tahoe . . . same mountain range. . . does that count?

We took a short hike, along with what felt like hundreds of strangers, many of whom spoke other languages. Obviously, Lake Tahoe is much more accessible than Mineral King. Ever had to say “excuse me” to pass someone on a trail in Mineral King? Maybe if it was narrow and someone was carrying a large pack. . .

No, we didn’t climb that. I think it is Mt. Tallac.

This is along the trail to Eagle Falls, and ultimately Eagle Lake. (There is one of those in Mineral King. There are probably lots of Eagle Lakes.) This one required a permit for a day hike! In spite of it being late October, there were still some wonderful places of colored leaves.

The falls were barely trickling under this bridge when we were there. This is probably quite spectacular in the spring. We chose not to go on toward the lake, because there was a giant one behind us. Besides, we hadn’t applied for a permit. A permit to day hike! Kind of irritating, if you ask me. (You didn’t, and I don’t blame you, considering my attitude toward such things.)

This is the view of Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe as seen from the Eagle Falls and Eagle Lake Trail.

Emerald? Looks more Cerulean to me! (That’s an art word for blue. It isn’t quite as fun to say as “indigo” which is a fancy word for “navy” or “alizarin” which is a fun word for red.)

Closing Weekend in Mineral King

There is beauty in the shoulder seasons in Mineral King. There is beauty in all seasons in Mineral King. In spite of that, it is a summer place to me. I feel sad when we close the cabin, when I am no longer there half of every week and not hiking, knitting and reading guilt free, and not turning on the computer but cooking on a wood stove.

On the other hand, it is hard to live in two places. (Now that’s an embarrassing statement – sounds like “It is so difficult to manage a household staff” or “Stupid Rolls got another flat tire” or “My latest hair extensions weren’t quite the right color”.)

We usually spend the final weekend at the cabin chasing the sun. This year was no exception. I’ll let the pictures speak for the rest of this post.

Your Opinion Sought

Greetings, oh Gentle and Faithful Blog Readers.

Last year I printed a calendar of paintings.

This year I have only been working on The Cabins of Wilsonia drawings and a few commissioned paintings. I don’t have any new paintings for a calendar.

On my computer there are 21,500 photographs. With the help of my husband’s honest and strong opinions, I have chosen 12 of those photos.

Now, I seek your opinion.

Shall I turn these into a calendar? Or are there enough calendars out there in the world? You all know me as a pencil artist, a painter, and a portrayer of the beauty of Tulare County. But, will anyone care enough to buy a calendar from me of photos of Tulare County?

It includes Sequoia, Mineral King (duh), and Three Rivers. Yes, I occasionally go to Visalia or Exeter, but please forgive me for not including either of those locations.

Thank you for reading, for considering this question and for responding!

LATE BREAKING NEWS – Great positive response from you all! The calendars will probably be between $20-25 and that will include shipping. They will have staples for the center instead of the spiral thing. The paper might be stronger than last year. They will have squares for writing. The folded size will be 8-1/2 x 11 (like copier paper). And Mary Jo, I will look through my photos and see if there is something that fits your very good suggestion. Katie, I’m with you – would love to do a year of nothing but fall photos. . . might be a bit too odd for normal people. (We’re special, don’t you know?)

Wildlife and Wildflowers in Mineral King

Today I will try to be quiet so you can enjoy some photos in peace.

Okay, I cannot contain myself. This guy was RIDING A BIKE down the Mosquito/Eagle Lakes trail. Strictly forbidden. Bad photo, but I wanted to let you all know to not do this. (ride your bike on a trail, not take bad photos) Now, shhhhhh (me, not you)

Decisions, Decisions

The commissioned pencil drawing presented several challenges. When a place is really beautiful, visually captivating, unusually interesting, my oh my it is difficult to choose the right view!

I didn’t intend to draw this view but thought it made a nice photo.

The door by which one enters a building is considered the “face” and is usually the most welcoming view.

Since it is actually the office of a ranching business, showing the tank with the name was a good commercial idea.

This used to be the front door. It faced the afternoon sun, and with the stone steps and the view beyond, I was a goner. But I knew it wasn’t even worth showing to the customer because this sort of view is not why people commission me to draw their houses and offices and cabins and ranch offices.

This is the view which attracted my attention to this beautiful house way back when. . . with the orange trees recently topped, the house really shows up well. Unfortunately, topped trees look sort of like a weird lumpy lawn.

Come back tomorrow to see which view the customer chose!