New Place to Show and Sell

Three Rivers has a new retail establishment. It is called “Kaweah Arts” and is an art consignment shop, run by a generous, brilliant, and organized woman who simply wants to help artists get their work in front of the eyes and into the hands of the buying public.

There is no sign on the building yet but here is the front door and the address.

Kaweah Arts

41841 Sierra Drive

This is the former office for the Kaweah Commonwealth, which was a weekly print paper for Three Rivers until about a year ago when it converted to digital. A few months ago, the husband of the owner couple had a severe stroke, and now the “paper” (we still called it that even when it wasn’t made of paper) is silent.

The shop opened quietly on Thursday, May 6, and will have a real “grand opening” on Saturday, May 15. 

Step inside to this:

Look to the right:

Lots to see here, much of it familiar. I don’t know the number of participants but I do know the owner, Nancy, is a very thoughtful, and conscientious person to work with.

Congratulations, Nancy and Kaweah Arts!

Grand opening on Saturday, May 15

4 Kaweahs and 1 Dream Cabin

South Fork of the Kaweah, Kaweah Post Office, Middle Fork of the Kaweah, The Kaweah River, and Forrest’s Dream Cabin, all finished. Maybe.

“Kaweah” – “kuh – WEE – uh” is the name of the river (all 5 forks) flowing through the town of Three Rivers. South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, East Fork, and Marble Fork – whoo-eeee, we are a 5 fork place! (But ties are never required.)

P.S. These paintings are 8×8″, 8×8″, 10×10″, 8×10″, and 20×30″. I left the Dream Cabin painting in Forrest’s office, and then didn’t hear a peep from him for 2 days. I finally emailed him with the subject line “Nervous”. He called, said, “How are you?” and I replied, “Nervous”! He was just very busy, only saw the painting late the next night, and said that it looks exactly as he was hoping and definitely better in person. Phew.

Paint On, O Painter

Am I a painter? Or am I an artist? I recently listened to a podcast by a very fine painter as he interviewed a gallery owner, and they both agreed that anyone can be a painter but not just anyone can be an artist. Today, let’s just settle for painter as I show you what is on the easels.

Here are stages on the current Kaweah River painting:

 

It is almost finished, with these tasks remaining. (1) The potato in the foreground needs to be turned into a rock (never mind how it looks in the photo or real life, because here it appears as if it could make some fine French fries). (2) Foreground grasses can be added when the painting is dry.

I love drawing with my paintbrush. I wonder if this prevents me from being a real artist, or if it actually propels me into that stratosphere. Rather than waste any more mental energy on the mystery of what makes a good artist, I will continue to make each painting the best I know how at the time — “best” being a term whose meaning is also hard to pin down. Good Grief Charlie Brown, could I just paint and stop thinking already??

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, until 5 p.m. TODAY. If you would like to see me with the show, I will be there from noon until 5 (Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise.)The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905.

 

 

 

Painting the River

There is something new coming to Three Rivers, but I don’t yet know any details. Might be a simple retail shop where one can pick up local art, maybe some tchotchkes. This is why I wanted to get those little Three Rivers paintings looking better. This is also why I started a new river painting.

This is painting session #1. I want to do this in many thin layers, striving for perfection. But why?

It might be an overreaction to how I felt about the blurry Kaweah Post Office painting. It might also be some residual from having drawn this exact scene in pencil with a touch of colored pencil a handful of years ago, a commissioned piece. I want to see how close I can get to perfection with paintbrushes. I’ve already decided to leave out the tree on the left side, but like everything I do, more will be revealed in the fullness of time.

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. TWO DAYS LEFT, Thursday, noon-5:30 and Friday, noon-5:00. I will be there on Friday, April 30, and will take away the unsold pieces at 5 p.m.(MB, I will be sending you your painting next week!)

 

Three Rivers Oil Paintings Facelifts

Those Three Rivers oil paintings that were just not good enough have now had their facelifts. I think they are all three improved. Don’t worry–the surgery was bloodless.

The Kaweah Post Office only needed a bit of tree work.
The river needed tree work too.
Some subtle changes in the rocks and water also helped this one.
About that viburnum called a “snowball bush” out my front window, no one cares.
I dropped down the blue from Moro Rock.
And put in some river.
More river, along with more things growing on the hillside so it looks like a certain spot along a certain road.
It photographs more true outside in the shade.
Or maybe in the sun, but then you can see the wet paint glistening.
Wait! This needs redbud in bloom.
Now it is finished and drying.

When they are dry, I will scan them again, and maybe even write a blog post showing each one as a Before next to the After.

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

 

 

Fixes in Progress

My plein air painting of the Kaweah Post Office really bothered me.

First, there was something wonky with the roof; second, the signs looked wrong, sloppy, crooked, unacceptable; third, the light was not doing anything worth looking at. So, I messed with all those things. The color will be better when it is finished and I scan it.

Later I will address the lack of detail in the giant oak tree.

This one of the river. . . hmmm not sure why it bothers me, so not sure what to fix. I can’t find the original photo, or perhaps I changed it so much that I can’t recognize the original photo. Because I don’t paint the river often enough to truly understand it, I have to study the photos very carefully to make sure I am not depicting impossible things.

It feels more believable to me now. I will probably continue to add detail, because drawing with my paintbrush is my specialty. 

Neither one of these feels finished, but I will continue to work on them. I still don’t know what to do with the snowball bush/Moro Rock/Alta Peak painting. It might just become something completely different. 

My show “Still Here” is still there, at Arts Visalia, that is. The phone # to make an appointment to see it is 559-739-0905. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, noon-5:30. The last day to see my work there is Friday, April 30.

Three Rivers Oil Paintings

There are a few paintings in my portfolio and studio that don’t please me. Two were painted when I was learning plein air (painting on location instead of in the studio). The other was painted my normal way, working from photos in the studio. Still, something just doesn’t suit me in any of these Three Rivers oil paintings.

I don’t know why this painting of the South Fork of the Kaweah bugs me.

I painted this while standing across the road from the Kaweah Post Office, then touched it up several times, but the bottom line is that I am more comfortable with detail than blurry things.

This one was painted with my easel standing in the living room while I looked out the window at my snowball bush in bloom, with Moro Rock and Alta Peak in the distance. Once again, it is just too blurry. I have fought to see clearly for most of my 61 years and cannot accept a fuzzy version of life and then pretend as if I like it.

It isn’t good to show and try to sell work that I am not pleased with. So, back on the easels, where I just sat and studied them for awhile.

These paintings will take some thought, time and work. 

 

 

 

February Was Too Short

My first favorite month is too short. I have more thoughts and photos to share than we had days on the calendar. Because it is so beautiful, it is hard to keep my feet planted in front of the easels. When Trail Guy asked me if I wanted to go for a walk in the middle of the day, I said yes.

The wildflowers have begun. (Yes, I am fully aware that the first photo is daffodils; thank you for your concern over a potential error on my part.)

SCARLET MONKEY FLOWER?!? I’ve only seen this one other time. It was along the Mineral King Road, maybe halfway up, in July 2012. (Yes, it was a memorable sighting, but I had to look up the date.) It was much smaller than this version.

Popcorn and fiddleneck are standard early season wildflowers. They are sort of boring, except when they first appear, a harbinger of the carnival ahead.

Sunny Afternoon

Sometimes, I just take time off. In spite of the upcoming art show Still Here rescheduled from January 2022 to April 2021, it was too clear and beautiful to just stay indoors to work one afternoon last week.

Trail Guy and I headed to Lake Kaweah on the lower end of Three Rivers or the upper end of Lemon Cove, which is still very low and not very green. However, it is spacious, outdoors, and not crowded. Sometimes I engage in the pointless mental exercise of trying to decide if it is an ugly beauty or a beautiful ugliness down there. 

Across the river there were 3 cowboys on horseback with a dog, all trying to convince a big black bull to get out of the river and go back to his home on the range. I was slow on the shutter so you’ll have to take my word for the bull.

This is Slick Rock. 

Mustard in bloom and cockleburs up close; Alta Peak in the distance with new snow.

We often find a peculiar sight or two on the lake bottom.

What? Let’s look a little more closely.

PVC pipes, with holes in them, spray painted with brown and green, with a concrete weight on the bottom. I give up.

If we could tip this upright, you could see it is some sort of a pedestal. There used to be homes and a motel down here, so there are all sorts of leftovers from that era.

Enough! Back to work, Central California Artist.

We Took a Walk in Three Rivers

Glory, hallelujah, I love what passes for winter here in Three Rivers.

We were not alone.

This is not a Big Foot print; it is a big foot with big toes and claws. 

Green has begun, and the sycamore leaves are still present. 

Say what?? There was another pile of brush with a less fancy sign that also said Quail Hotel. There is a No Vacancy sign lying at the base of the sign. These look like fires waiting to be lit to this wildfire-conscious Three Rivers resident.

We meandered to a point to see if my mural was visible. Yes, it was, sort of. You had to know where to look. Can you make it out?

Keep coming, rain and snow, because I love the green. (Yes, I know the hills are still brown, but if you squint real hard, you can pick out some baby grasses.)