Blogiversary Bonus

What is a blog? It is a web log, an online journal, shortened to blog. 

What is a blogiversary? It is blog anniversary.

Yesterday was my 12th blogiversary. That is 12 years of posting 5 days a week about the business of art, life in Three Rivers/rural Tulare County, peculiar sights, a (rare) visit to another place, things I learn, and always, Mineral King. That is approximately 3,350 posts.

Today I am just giving you some photographs of beautiful things in my little world. It has nothing to do with the business of art, other than an awareness of beauty which I believe is the basis of good art (“good” as I define the word).

 

Thank you for hanging with me through the years, or thank you for joining up somewhere along the way.

8 Things I Learned in March

  1. See the pointed peak? After many years of noticing it, I learned it has a name: Sulphur Mountain. A friend called it by name when we were having a poppy conversation. Shortly after, another friend left me a message telling me to be sure to see the poppies on Sulphur Mountain. Twice in one day!
  2. Even if poppies begin in January, even if it snows on them in February, they can still be fabulous in March.
  3. (THIS IS A STRONGLY EXPRESSED OPINION THAT I AGREE WITH – NOT SOMETHING NEW THAT I LEARNED). From Kevin D. Williamson: “Daylight Saving Time is a great example of the progressive imagination, forever at odds with the organic cycles and natural variation in human life, insistent that no aspect of that life — down to the time on the clock — is beyond regimentation and rationalization. Inconvenient. Irritating. Arrogant. And, in spite of the connotations of the word ‘progressive’, absolutely stuck in the past.” I severely dislike being jerked around and resent the foolishness that tells us we are getting another hour of daylight. We are not getting any more daylight—it is simply being “moved” to another part of the day. Humans do not have the ability to create more daylight. (Did you know it is Daylight SAVING Time – not SAVINGS?)
  4. After being without a printer that works with my computer, it is a real treat and a luxury to have one that ACTUALLY WORKS! Reminds me of how special an automatic garage door is—I never stop appreciating it. 
  5. California Poppy Preserve, Antelope Valley is off State Route 138 off of Interstate 5, just south of Frazier Park, heading toward Lancaster. I have seen photos from this place for years but never knew where it was.
  6. Trail Guy was channel surfing and found A River Runs Through it, one of the few movies we saw together at a theater, thirty years ago. (REALLY?? 30?? Yes. really.) Back then I thought it was a boring movie with nice scenery. This time I actually liked it. (The oil painting is titled “One with the Stream”, painted in 2011 of Trail Guy fly fishing in Mineral King; it hangs in our dentist’s office, Dr. Darren Rich, a dentist I highly recommend and not just for his good taste in art, in Exeter).
  7. I was looking through some old sheet music by the Carpenters (I still love the Carpenters, always have, always will). Did you know that “Bless the Beasts and the Children” was cowritten by Barry De Vorzon & Perry Botkin, Jr.? Neither did I. I don’t know who he is; that was a weird little surprise. Related to Trail Guy? Not all Botkins are related to one another, so who knows? Here is his website: Perry Botkin, Jr.
  8. She Of The Barking Dogs has retired—what a relief! When she is home, the dogs don’t bark. 

If it wasn’t for February, March would be my favorite month; February wins because it doesn’t get hot, sometimes it rains and snows, the clock stays where it belongs, and it is the beginning of the intense green along with flowers.

Paint While the Poppies are Hot

Poppies aren’t literally hot; this is my version of “Strike while the iron is hot”. What does that actually mean? I think it has something to do with blacksmithery—taking action in a timely manner.

These four oil paintings of California poppies sold immediately.

The poppies are out in abundance, and interest in them is high. Gotta paint poppies now! These will have to be done quickly and possibly delivered while still slightly wet if I am to tap into the season of interest. Let’s get those canvases ready NOW.

 

These two (6×6″ and 4×6″) are now available at Kaweah Arts in Three Rivers (unless they sold over the weekend).

This 8×8″ needs some more touching up and a signature.

Chop-chop, Central California artist!

And here is a thought: I do not remember poppies in abundance like this when I was kid. Is it because: a. they just didn’t bloom this way; b. my family wasn’t “into” poppies and wildflowers; c. I was oblivious? 

Probably c.

 

Poppy Peeping

The poppies and other wildflowers were at at their peak on March 11. Three friends and I took the afternoon off to go fill our eyes.

First, we had to empty our wallets to fill the gas tank. Welcome to Three Rivers.

Then we headed down around the lake, and up Dry Creek Road, all within eastern Tulare County.

This last photo shows Terminus Dam in the distance, which creates Kaweah Lake. The flowers weren’t fabulous right there at the Dry Creek Preserve, but it was clear and green, which is pretty fabulous on its own. 

We never did get out amidst the flowers but stayed on the shoulder of the road, and actually did no trespassing whatsoever.

I must be finally growing up.

February is Over

I don’t have a Learned List for you this month. I learned some things, but they don’t belong here. Instead, here is a list of things for which I am grateful in February.

  1. February remains my favorite month, because it truly is the beginning of spring around here. 
  2. We have access to some fantastic oranges, which are very fun to glean and to share.
  3. Sales of my paintings continue.
  4. Our three cats are still alive and well, 4 years for Tucker, 3 years for his nephews Jackson and Pippin.
  5. My catalytic converter hasn’t croaked.
  6. The wildflowers are terrific.
  7. We had some snow and rain.
  8. We have fantastic friends who step up during times of difficulty to help.
  9. The daffodils are steadily blooming and will continue for awhile including in places that I forgot I planted.
  10. Knitting is a great pacifier, a healthy and productive alternative to smoking. I started and finished one sweater, finished another sweater and a baby blanket, and began a new baby blanket. 

Now, let’s just enjoy some spring time in the foothills of Central California.

The poppies are barely visible below Comb Rocks but I know those are poppies and not fiddlenecks. (In case you care about such details).

Not on Purpose

Remember in the olden days when we took photos and didn’t see them until our film got developed?

We have gotten used to looking at them instantly, which is great in theory, but what happens when you are outside in the bright sun and cannot see the screen? Cameras rarely have eyeholes, and the ones that do are small, blurry, inadequate, scratched, or just dirty.

Additionally, if you cannot see the screen, you cannot see the controls on the screen. Sometimes this creates accidents.

A little over a week ago after a storm (not the snowstorm), everything was so beautiful that I laid down my paintbrushes and headed out with Trail Guy to see some natural beauty. The wildflowers!!

THEN, without knowing it, I had a camera accident.

How would I know? I couldn’t see the screen. When I put on some glasses and moved into the shade, I realized that the color was absent, so I randomly pushed the controls until color appeared again.

This flowering pear is the first to bloom in the neighborhood (mid-February) and the last to lose its color in the fall (sometimes late November). This photo might have looked okay in black and white.

It took quite a bit of button pushing when I got home to restore the normal settings. I don’t know how it switched to black and white and doubt if I could make it do that again, at least not on purpose.

Now I am going to experiment with something called “colorize” on Photoshop Junior. This is an opportunity to learn.

Schizophrenic Weather

Recently I have been enjoying the green, wildflowers, and daffodils, sharing them with you all.

Wednesday morning, February 23, this was how our yard looked.

I heard a radio announcer say, “The Sierra is celebrating much needed snow”. I’m unsure how a mountain range “celebrates”, but I know we are very very thankful for any and all precipitation here in Three Rivers. Probably in all of California other than the upper north end of our bizarrely diverse state.

It is too dark to photograph snow around here. It only looks great when the sun comes out, but the snow disappears almost immediately.

Trail Guy has such a soft spot for Pippin.

My flowering pear is in bloom at the same time we get snow? THIS is why I love February!

The yard doesn’t look quite as sittable as usual. I’ll just stand—thanks for asking.

Twelve Reasons to Write Notes

Do you write notes to people?

Do you get notes from people?

Writing notes is now a rarity; people switched to phone calls, then email, and finally texting, where punctuation, complete sentences, and spelled out words are an oddity. (“The word is ‘before’, not B4. Around here we speak English, not Bingo.”)

Consider these reasons for writing:

  1. It makes people feel good.
  2. No one has ever cherished an email or a text.
  3. Mail is fun.
  4. You can practice your writing skills.
  5. You can practice your penmanship.
  6. It gives our wonderful postal carriers purpose.
  7. It makes gratitude tangible.
  8. You can use my notecards. 
  9. Sometimes people will email a response or even write a note back to you. 
  10. It acknowledges the fact that someone did something for you that wasn’t required.
  11. It keeps manners alive.
  12. It will set you apart from others.

Notecards available here: Cabinart/Store/Notecards

 

Lazy Listicle Two

This Central California artist has recovered her writing voice, although we (the royal “we”–ain’t no one here ‘cept me) are still waiting for an order of canvases to show up so that I can start painting poppies. Two are commissions, and the rest are just for general inventory.

  1. Poppies are in bloom and have been for a couple of weeks. It isn’t a “superbloom” or anything that will knock your socks off; the thrill is that they began blooming in January. This is helpful so that the new poppy paintings won’t look exactly like ones previously painted and sold.
  2. These chairs are made of something called “Polywood”, a long-lasting material fabricated out of recycled milk cartons. Polywood is American ingenuity combined with capitalistic sensibility, along with a bit of earth-huggery, and a good dose of practicality. (Maybe they can hire me to write ads for them.) The chairs cost a small fortune, but since we have spent several small fortunes on wooden ones that collapse, this almost feels like an investment rather than just a purchase. We have a very sittable yard.
  3. I have finally grown some food. Check out the broccoli! Too bad it is ready all at the same time.
  4. Mailboxes are situated all over our giant yard, an excellent method of storing tools. This is the latest one. Maybe someday I will give you a tour.In hindsight, I can see by these last 2 posts that I have spent a good deal of time outside in the past few weeks. We always need and want more rain, but if it isn’t here, I will just soak up some greenery and rays, and be thankful for the precipitation received in December.

Lazy Listicle One

Since I am not making art that translates well into blog posts, here is a list of random topics, unrelated to anything in particular. Lists are the lazy way to write.

  1. Three new stepping stones: they look so much better with grout than without. You can see that I acquired some yellow tiles. Want any? I have a box that is almost too heavy to lift, full of these 4×4″ pieces of ceramic sunshine.
  2. The narcissus (mini daffodils?) and/or paperwhites bloom in January around here. (I don’t know what they are officially called.)
  3. We have the sittingest yard!
  4. This will be a sweater. The yarn matches a skirt I found, which was a big thrill to this color junkie, especially since I took a chance by ordering them off the internet. They are the color of sequoia trees, which is a thrill to this simple-minded Central California artist.Tomorrow: Listicle Two.