Category: Three Rivers

New Mural in Three Rivers

Yesterday I began a new mural in the Three Rivers Museum’s new Mineral King Room. The internet was on vacation, so you get to see the beginnings today.

This is the only photo I have of the Three Rivers Museum. Paul Bunyon doesn’t belong here, except that Carroll Barnes of Three Rivers carved him from a Sequoia.

Paul Bunyon in Three Rivers at the museum.

blank wall — Blank wall in the Mineral King room designed by Gary Cort and built by Pete Crandall.

outline, ready to paint — The first step is to find the edges of the mural and mask it for painting. This is 5 feet wide by 7 feet high.

The sky is the first thing, because I almost always paint what is farthest away first.

How’s this for a sketchy sketch as a guide for the mural? Yeah, I know. It’s sketchy.

wrong gray — I mixed up Purple Mountains Majesty, plus a basic gray. It was the wrong color of gray – not enough contrast to PMM.

better gray — Better gray to complement Purple Mountains Majesty. (Why, yes, I did make up my own paint color name! Thank you for noticing!)

What am I painting? So glad you asked. This is the upper reaches of Empire Mountain, which contains multiple mines. There was a tram with a cable running on towers to carry buckets of ore from the mines down to the stamp mill. I will paint a tram tower in the front. You can see the beginnings of it tomorrow.

Meanwhile, would you like to say hello to Samson?

Mineral King mural Three Rivers

More Paintings in Place

“Painting” singular, in place, is more accurate. Yesterday I showed you paintings hanging in friends’ homes, friends who collect my art specifically, or collect the art of local artists in general. Some buy it because they love my work and then they become friends, some buy it because they love me.

It’s nice to be loved, and it is nice to have my work loved.

Now, the reason for today’s post:

Before:

After:

Beautiful room, pretty cool painting!

There was a photo of me standing on the hearth next to the painting, but I looked fat, wrinkled, and slightly overwrought. So, we’ll settle for the painting in place.

This is the commissioned oil painting of a Three Rivers home. It was privilege to be chosen to paint this. It was a little bit too hard for me, but it is good to be challenged and to push through the difficulties. The homeowners were a delight to work with.

Thank you, C & S!!

Redbud Report Continued

Heart of the Hills

Yesterday I told you that fifty-eight coloring books, Heart of the Hills, sold during the annual Redbud Festival in Three Rivers.

Lest you think I could have just skipped the booth set up and plopped myself at a card table with a stack of coloring books, plenty of other items also sold. I even had the privilege of seeing some new friends from Fresno who came specifically for pencil drawings, which I had to race home and retrieve. So glad I live close, and that Trail Guy delivered my car to me, since I had walked to work that morning.

Cards, small oil paintings and tee shirts remain popular. But the coloring book stole the show.

My booth was busy almost the entire time, and sometimes I’d see someone sort of hovering around the edges. While I’d be talking with someone else, I’d just pick up a coloring book and pass it over the the hoverer, who invariably said, “How did you know that is what I was looking for?!”

I lied and said I had read her mind. (I hope no one got freaky about that.) It was just obvious to me, taking into account the tremendous popularity and publicity the coloring book is receiving.

Besides, I’ve been doing this show off and on since 1987, so I can read people pretty well.

Wow. It was a busy busy weekend, and I am so thankful to have had this pleasant and peaceful walk to work each morning of the show.

It is truly a blessing to live in Three Rivers.

coloring book heart of the hills Three Rivers

Redbud Report

Redbud is shorthand for The Redbud Festival, an annual arts and crafts fair in Three Rivers. It happened this past weekend. Because I live nearby, I was able to set up my booth on Friday afternoon with the help of Trail Guy and the trusty Botmobile. (That is his 1986 Toyota pickup with 300,000+ miles. If you need a fabulous mechanic, I HIGHLY recommend Foreign Autoworks in Visalia – Toyota, Honda, and their derivatives only. 559-734-8285.)

I purposely brought fewer oil paintings than usual. Just wondering and experimenting with how the booth looks to see if less is more or if less is a bore.

I knew that coloring books would be the big deal, so I hung the somewhat cheesy sign where it could be seen from each entry. And I brought the finished commissioned painting of the Three Rivers house, along with the in-progress version of the Oak Grove Bridge.

I liked the uncluttered look of the screens. Along with oil paintings and coloring books, I had Mineral King tee shirts (now sold out enough to be removed from my website), notecard packages, and Wilsonia cabin books.

It was all mostly a backdrop, a little gallery for the purpose of selling coloring books.

FIFTY-EIGHT COLORING BOOKS SOLD!

Heart of the Hills is available here and at Kaweah River Trading Co., Three Rivers Mercantile, and the Three Rivers History Museum, all in Three Rivers.

Three Rivers 1st Saturday Three rivers oil paintings

Redbud Festival is Coming!

Redbud Festival in Three Rivers is an annual arts and crafts show at the Veterans Memorial Building.

This year it will be on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8. (Yes, that is Mother’s Day).

I’ve been painting a few pieces to add to the collection for sale, in case anyone is interested in anything besides coloring books.

Three Rivers House Commission, Finished?

Is the oil painting commission of a Three Rivers house finished yet?

These are some close photos of detail that I added to the painting.

Step back a bit for the whole view, including the beginning of sycamore leaves. “The beginning” meaning the start of the leafing out of the tree. When all these other things are in bloom, the sycamore is barely showing. That’s why we can peek through its branches and see poppies on the hillsides.

Now I have turned it on its side so I can paint both the bottom and the top of the canvas.

Am I finished with this painting? Is the painting finished with me?

Time will tell. . . that’s how my dad used to say it. I like “more will be revealed in the fullness of time”.

And if I am finished, then it needs a signature, a really good official photo, and a coat of spray varnish.

commission oil painting oil paintings Three Rivers

Remember When Life was Simpler?

Life used to be simpler. We have gizmos, devices, technology now that is supposed to make our lives easier, but think about these things:

Remember when your phone didn’t follow you everywhere, demanding continual response?
Remember when you could just go to the doctor and get help without filling out reams of papers, and wondering if you would be able to afford the visit?
Remember when you didn’t have to know the name of medicines and their possible side effects?
Remember when you just ate food and didn’t think about glycemic index, cholesterol, gluten, veganism, or happy chickens?
Remember when you had never heard of identity theft?
Remember when people didn’t cuss on TV or talk about private body functions and then try to sell medicine for them?
Remember when you had never heard of a “carbon footprint”?
Remember when you never considered whether something was organic or local or sustainable?
Remember when you could have a lawn without feeling guilty about it?
Remember when a fire in the fireplace was a normal guilt-free way to add warmth and comfort to a cold evening?
Remember when you only needed a password if you were playing a spy game with a friend? Something common, like “open sesame”?
Remember when “carbs” were called “starches”?
Remember when the only thing you backed up was your car, and you did it by putting your arm across the back of the seat and actually turned your head instead of watching a little television?
Remember when you could ride in the back of a pick-up? Or drink from the garden hose?
Remember when there were drinking fountains and no one carried around expensive bottles of water? You drank when you were thirsty, not when you needed to “hydrate”. . . “Hydrate”?? What is the matter with everyone?
Remember when you wore sneakers for every activity?
Remember back before you had heard of “plantar fasciitis”, “carpal tunnel syndrome”, “irritable bowel”, “acid reflux”?
Remember when you got home from vacation, and all you had to do was collect the mail at the post office?

Yeah.

That’s why people like to color. It returns us to a simpler activity that we enjoyed in simpler times. It requires no special skill, no guilt, no medical terminology, no technology or user name.

This is why I made a coloring book. Easy. Simple. No password required.

Heart of the Hills

Heart of the Hills: a Three Rivers and Sequoia Coloring Book is available at the Three Rivers Mercantile, Kaweah River Trading Company, Three Rivers Historical Museum or here.

That last one probably will require a user name and password. If you see me around, I’ll have a few in the trunk of my car. We can do business that way. Simple.

$15 each plus tax. Easy.

coloring books Three Rivers

Closing in on the Final List

Hard to tell if anything is different here. We’ll call this the beginning of another day of painting an oil commission of a Three Rivers house. That archway is bugging me, and now I know what it needs.

Too small to see. Guess you had to be here.

Time to work on the edges.

Another umbrella, please! and could you grow some branches on the sycamore while you’ve got that paintbrush out? Oh, before you change paint color, will you plant a few daffodils?

Whoa. This looks a bit precarious. I scooted the painting over as far as possible and then crouched down beneath it to paint the bottom edge.

The list is much shorter now, although there are new items on it.

Paint the middle section of the bottom.
Add more little branches and twigs to the sycamore.
Add the beginnings of leaves to the sycamore.
Spend some time evaluating the details and just nit-pick it to pieces.
SIGN IT!
photograph
let it dry
varnish
let it dry more. . .
DELIVER!!

This painting makes the Oak Grove Bridge waiting oh-so-patiently in the background seem like child’s play. I’m coming, Bridge, just hang on. . .

Who is the Boss of this Painting?

Can you see any changes or improvements in this oil painting, a commission of a house in Three Rivers?

I keep painting, but I don’t know if it is making any noticeable improvements. A little dab here, a little lighter there, make this darker, straighten out that edge. . . am I just licking the canvas??

A dear friend suggested a few changes in the hills and background trees. She was right. The changes are an improvement. More may be required.

A window now has a frame.

The gravel path on the right has changed color.

Here is what I think remains to be done:

the right end of the house
grow the sycamore
put texture into the gravel path on the right, just some in the closest areas in the sunlight
build the archway
push the hills back farther
lighten the porch post on the left
tighten up the rocks near the archway and add growies
add another umbrella

Sometimes I make these lists, begin an area, and then discover a whole new place to work on.

I thought I was the boss of this painting, but it seems to be the boss of me.

commission oil painting oil paintings

Three Rivers House In Spring Oil Painting

The saga of the commissioned oil painting of a house in Three Rivers in spring continues. (I know that was too many prepositional phrases but how else can I ‘splain this??)

I made progress on the landscaping last time. This is an immensely satisfying project, because there are so many different areas, colors, shapes and textures.

Weird, but true. Sometimes I have to turn the painting so my hand can move the correct direction. I haven’t learned to use a maul stick and am not interested as long as I can rotate the canvas (it’s a bit of a problem on a mural).

More tightening up of the architecture was needed. Those windows! They will need to be revisited a few more times before we are finished here. “We”? ‘Twould be nice to have a little help on those more difficult parts, but I’m speaking in the royal We here.

Can you see any improvement? The gravel walkway is looking more gravely, although in person it still resembles a stream.

Hey! A tree grows in Three Rivers. Can you see the beginnings of the sycamore on the far right? I have replanted the tree since in the photos it only has these non-sequitor-heil-hitler-arm-like branches shooting into the scene. Unacceptable.

commission oil painting oil paintings Three Rivers