What passes for winter in Three Rivers is probably what many parts of the country regard as springtime. When we get rain, we get green.
This is greenery when I am walking, but probably just weeds to the property owner.
Moss is boss.
More moss!
The buckeye trees are leafing out.
We get flowers too.
The neighbor’s narcissus.
My paperwhites.This many are so very fragrant.
And, we get lichen. Well, we already had that, but I’m on a roll here, taking photos while walking.
An old friend told me she was envious that I get to live in Three Rivers. In order to help her feel better, I told her this:
“There are elements of 3R that aren’t so great, such as frequent power outages (more frequent than towns down the hill), smoke in the fall, evacuations during wildfires, unreliable and spotty cell service, phone and internet outages, occasional water outages, no dentist, no drug store, expensive groceries, only 3 churches to choose from, shrinking population, Park closures that adversely affect commerce, limited commercial choices (is this a bad thing?).”
This painting is So Difficult. I continue to engage in mental and artist gymnastics in hopes of making it good enough to sign.
This is where I last left you, in the saga of Can I Actually Finish This?
I found a painting by Bierstadt that had light and clouds and mountains in the distance; briefly I deluded myself by thinking I could copy his technique. Then I saw a poster with rays of light coming through redwood trees, advertising Kings Canyon National Park, and briefly deluded myself into thinking rays of sunlight would look good here.
Using either of those ideas would be the art version of “duplicitous language”. It is inspirational to look at other people’s brilliant art, but copying would look contrived, pieced together, and derivative (meaning obviously stolen). There must be a way to be influenced by others without actually copying.
Next I spent time looking through the 30,000+ photos on my laptop, hoping that if I found the original photos that a solution would come.
I FOUND THE PHOTOS! These were taken up North Fork Drive in Three Rivers back in 2010, I think, but now I can’t remember the exact month or the year. (Gimme a break here—33, 224 photos!)
These aren’t really very much help. Look at the overhead canopy of leaves, the somewhat disconnected branches, the skinny trunks. It is the light and shadow that make this a nice photo, but I cannot duplicate what is here convincingly.
I kept studying the painting, wondering what was wrong with the trees. I’ve thickened the trunks and begun adding bark, so what’s wrong here? Maybe it is that one curving from the left over the road that looks phony-baloney. You can get away with weird stuff in photos, but if you copy it in your art, you will look ignorant.
Better, but not believable yet.
I added more bark texture while contemplating the next move.
It was time to study some real trees, so I took photos of different oak trees while out walking.
This will require more thought, more experimentation.
What passes for winter in Three Rivers usually involves sunshine and green hills. Do those folks down the hill know that the fog and gray usually ends at Terminus Dam (Lake Kaweah)?
I walked a new route yesterday. It’s been awhile since I went that way, back before peripheral neuropathy when I could actually walk that far. Now I have to drive there, which feels somewhat counterintuitive when one is seeking exercise. It is busier than my normal routes, there is more litter, and sometimes I have to cross over to the wrong side of the road in order to have a shoulder to walk on. Sometimes it is worth extra effort to experience something new.
Pickleball on a private courtA drawable old tractor The hills are not fully green yet.This is a new style of stone pillars.I prefer the old styleSomeone likes retired CHP cars.My friend used to live here. She died in 2015. I still miss her.“Bundel”? Come on, people!A celebrity owns this place.Nice-looking farm stand; I’ve never seen it open.Alta Peak, the Kaweah RiverA shaggy ponyThe oldest residence in Three RiversA loading chute, from when cattle were a bigger part of 3RThis bridge in March 2023The same bridge in January 2024Recent rain really muddied the water.That loading chute again.The oldest residence again.More modern outdoor wallsLots of effort on this mailbox. (Those are cattails.)This barn might be paintable or drawable.
The fountain (hard to see here) is dolphins. With those palm trees, I wonder if these folks moved here from Malibu or Florida or even Pismo.
If you receive this in your email and want to see the photos, click on the title.
This painting was waiting patiently for some attention. I gave it an entire afternoon, photographing it at 5 stages.
First, I put in some sky patches in the upper left.
Next, I strengthened the trees. They are all sort of skinny in the photo, so I will probably choose a few to fatten up. Later.
I mixed several greens and just danced around all over the canvas without a real plan.
Then I worked on the road, along with a bit more specificity in the greens.
Finally, I paid attention to the details in the closer things off the shoulders of the road.
In conclusion, the photo is mostly a suggestion of shapes and light. The details are murky, so I am just winging it, pantsing it, trying this and that with an occasional peek at the photo. Photos. I have several, and yet have no memory of taking these pictures.
Two titles are under consideration: “Take Me Home. . .” and “Somewhere in Three Rivers”.
1. The 2024 Mineral King calendar is still available. At the time of this post, there are 8 left, available through my website or if you email or call me. The Three Rivers Historical Museum no longer has any.
2. I spent 1-1/2 hours on the phone with Apple today to learn why blog subscribers using MacMail or AppleMail cannot see the photos in my blog posts that come to their email. (A few can, but WHY??) No answers came other than that I now need to spend an interminable length of time on the phone with the host of my website. Later. Today’s session used all my reserves for bad hold music and helpers who cannot help.
3. The new painting of fruit is in its home and is just right for the location.
Thanksgiving was a perfect fall day in Three Rivers. We went for a walk to take in the clear air and last hurrah of autumn colors.
Looking upstream on the middle fork of the Kaweah RiverLooking downstream on the middle fork of the Kaweah RiverNice river spot, and from this angle, the trash doesn’t show.This yard just glows in the fall.Yes, I put my feet in.Trail Guy likes to be perched.I painted this scene not too long ago, but in springtime colors.There was a bit of color remaining at the Memorial Building.
My flowering pear tree was a champion this year.
Finally, a reminder for you (and for me, since I don’t get to keep endlessly lollygagging around). Besides, you might like going to Exeter tonight, to their annual city-wide party! I won’t be there but other artists will be at CACHE and all the stores in town will be open and there will be eats and treats. I am a stay-at-home-after-dark-wet-blanket kind of non-party person. But I wasn’t always, and this is a very fun event.
P.S. The commenting part of the blog has been misbehaving but comments are coming through anyway. So to those of you who soldiered through, thank you!
Because I teach people how to draw, it is prudent for me to keep in practice. I have no commissions right now, so this means I can draw whatever I want.
I began a drawing that was full of challenges, showing my students that I follow the same steps that I teach them. Then I had some interruptions to my work life and just set it aside for awhile. When I returned to the drawing, it was hard to focus.
Flowering pear
I pulled out the drawing and decided EVERYTHING was wrong. So I stared out the door for awhile.
Finally I went back to the drawing, following the advice I would give one of my students to see what, if anything was wrong. I discovered one part that was easy to correct, and then decided that I wasn’t focused enough to work on detail. So I went to the blurry, dark, somewhat unimportant background. “Unimportant” in that its accuracy was irrelevant, but important in that it be a support to the main part of the drawing without drawing attention to itself.
I didn’t document the earlier phases of the drawing because it didn’t seem like a potential blog post. The hat was the most important part to me, so I did it first, figuring that if it didn’t look good, I could just toss the drawing without having invested too much time.
You can see a serious erasure under the horse’s chin. That was the easy-to-fix part, and I hope I can bury the messed up part in some background.
I walked back to the house after this bout of serious focused work (fall down laughing). Told you this was distracted drawing, didn’t I?
Wild turkeys and deerFearless deer are vacuuming up the mulberry leaves.
Tucker and the deer don’t really care about each other.
Trail Guy and I like to explore the bottom of Lake Kaweah when the water is low. It’s a good place to ride bikes, ride horses, walk, or walk dogs, not pretty like the BLM land above our house, but spacious and easy to get to.
It changes each season, depending on water flow, rain, water releases, etc. The floods deposited an enormous amount of silt, sand, and rocks, all in layers. We saw this last January before the lake started filling.
In past years, the Army Corps of Engineers has cleared the roads at the lake bottom, but this year it was too difficult. Or something. There must be some reasons, but from my ignorant point of view, I see all that material as useful for repairing all the ruined roads in Tulare County. Apparently not.
We spent an hour or so walking on the sand and dried mud to see how things might be this winter for walking and biking.
The cockleburrs survive no matter what. And Slick Rock isn’t looking too slick.
Lake Kaweah wasn’t a lake until I was about 4 years old, and it has been going through transformations ever since Terminus Dam was built.
Release, pencil drawing, matted and framed to 20×28″, $495
Lake Kaweah is weirdly fascinating, not exactly pretty, but always interesting. (Maybe next time I will remember to take a bag for trash.)
Explosive sneezing and uncontrollable coughing aren’t good for public interaction, so I won’t be at the Holiday Bazaar after all.
Good news:
My friend Elizabeth the Jewelry Maker will sell my calendars at the bazaar. She has been a bazaar and boutique buddy of mine for many years and makes wonderful (and very affordable) jewelry. She will accept checks or cash for the calendars. (Be sure to look over her jewelry while you are there!)
Look at those Chinese pistache trees in the parking lot!
Merchandise that I will have available:
Small original oil paintings, Rural Tulare County coloring books (for grownups and older children), Mineral King Wildflower books (only 8 left!), The Cabins of Wilsonia books (never you mind how many are left), single cards, card packages, and 2024 Mineral King Calendars!
