Bazaar, Not Bizarre

The annual Senior League Holiday Bazaar will take place on Saturday, November 15 at the Three Rivers Memorial Building from 9-4. Maybe. The marquee in front of the Memorial Building says 10-4. This means that if you come at 9, you’ll get first chance at all the best stuff!

This is how it looked on the morning of Tuesday, November 11. Don’t you just want to come to see the Chinese Pistache trees in full color?

There is a jeweler who brings the cutest Christmas earrings I’ve ever seen and she sells them for a peanut butter sandwich! (This is a figure of speech my Dad used when something was seriously underpriced. You don’t have to brown bag it to buy her earrings.)

Some years there is a fabulous selection of homemade jellies and jams for what it would cost you to make them yourself, MINUS your labor!

My 2015 calendars Beautiful Tulare County will be there, $15 including tax. Such a deal – you might want to buy several (but remember, when they are gone, they are gone.)

I still have some Mineral King tee shirts, a few photo books (Mineral King in Photos – $45, Three Rivers in Spring – $30) and new oil paintings. (This year a few knitted items will be sold by my friend Sophie, a weaver, spinner and knitter of extraordinary skill.)

Here are a few photos from previous years.

@0c*wNSzRya^

 

Nikki Crain at her loom

Home Improvement

A dear friend manages vacation rentals. A few years ago, she was asked to take on a home that needed a ton of loving care, and she had to provide it on not just a shoestring, but a frayed shoestring. (This means she had almost a zero budget.)

Because we love to do projects together, she asked for my help. Together we figured out how to rearrange furniture, do things with paint, color, pictures on the wall, fabric, rocks and pine cones.

It was an amazing transformation, and the house became a successful vacation rental.

Now the same owner has handed over another house to my friend. Of course she called me and of course I said yes. (HEY! Does this mean I am a Vacation Rental Consultant?) As a Central California artist, I am used to people needing help and not having much to spend. I don’t know what I’d do if someone actually had a real budget with real money in it!!

The upstairs loft resembled a dorm in an orphanage (not that I’ve ever seen such a room, but I read plenty of orphan stories as a child.)

I sketched layouts, wondered if we could dump various pieces of furniture, lose a few beds (there were seven or eight), get better bedspreads, buy a trunk for the foot of each bed, rip out the carpet, paint, something, anything.

My managing friend eked out a small budget from the owner. We found a few treasures at a yard sale, pulled the faded ’70s art off the walls, discussed furniture, found a nice rug at World Market (found many, but only bought one), messed with paint colors and ideas, and finally came up with a good plan for that loft.

It was a ton of work.

This is where I came in for some real work as opposed to just coming up with ideas.

We’d love to have ripped out the carpet, but the budget was just too eensy. If you want to see the whole house, here is the link. Click here.  It was voted Best Vacation Rental in Three Rivers this year, BEFORE my friend and I went to work on it! (It might be wise to book it before the owner figures out that he can raise the price.)

What’s Happening Now in the Work Life of This Artist

Today’s posting is a list of information about what is happening now in my life as a Central California artist.

Mineral King Aspens, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $50

1. I have another blog –  www.thecabinsofwilsonia.com where I post about the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia.  “Upcoming” as in should be here in several weeks. “Several weeks” as in I don’t really know for sure because the book printer doesn’t really know for sure.

2. This week on my other blog there will be posts about the following subjects:

  • quilt squares in Wilsonia
  • who is interested in buying the upcoming book (and who isn’t – a rather surprising factoid to me!)
  • a story by possibly the most interesting cabin owner in Wilsonia (but he did not end it with “stay thirsty”)

3. I’m still too busy with more important and interesting things to figure out why the comments won’t work and too busy to figure out how to post new work to my website galleries.

4. Maybe I’ll start showing new work on the blog.

5. There is an upcoming show in November called “Hidden in the Leaves”. I could fill the entire space all by myself with this subject, but we are limited to 2 pieces each. It will be here in Three Rivers at Sierra Subs & Salads, preparers of the best food around!

A Central California Artist Paints Her World

I live in Three Rivers so sometimes I actually paint the Kaweah River. This summer it is running low, but as a studio artist, I work from photos, and with 22,000 on my computer, there are some choices outside of going to the river and taking a photo as it looks during this very dry summer.

When an oil painter does the glazing method, paintings begin thin and rough.

Each successive layer adds texture, both visual and actual, if one is a thick painter. Most of my texture is visual.

You can see that I am continuing in my current vein of “juicing up’ my colors. Real life is messy and it is a little dull.

Maybe that is the smog here in Central California. Thanks, Bay Area. It’s blowing down the Altamont Pass. Did you know that?

The next time I show this painting, it will probably be signed, dry and scanned. it is for the 2015 calendar of my paintings – now you know one is coming, so you can plan.

And just in case you were thinking of moving to Three Rivers, here is a little reminder of why it isn’t all rivers and artistry.

Frankly, I am so squeamish that I really don’t deserve to live here. I have a friend who routinely hacks the heads off the rattlers in her yard with a shovel.

Me? I routinely call my friend S who either brings a shovel or sends her nephew to rescue me.

Gross.

I’m sorry to wreck your day like that. How about just being thankful if you live in a place that doesn’t deal with such creepiness.

Happy Customer

Customer? Client? How about a long time friend who commissioned me to paint for her? Commissioner?

Never mind.

I delivered “Spring In Three Rivers” to my friend and hung it on the wall where she had planned for it to go. We looked at the pictures around it and knew it wasn’t the best combination.

Being slightly self-focused, I suggested that we place one of my pencil drawings on either side of the painting. Now, lest you think I am more than slightly self-serving, she already owned these two drawings, and they truly looked right together. Lighter, a touch of pink in one, and all places around here. Please forgive me for not taking my camera and documenting the wall.

You know how it is if you move a thing or two. . . it means you have to move another and yet another. We had a great time placing pictures around the room, and the results made us both very satisfied.

Spring in Three Rivers
“Spring in Three Rivers”, commissioned oil painting, 24×18″ on wrapped canvas

Spring in Three Rivers is a Beautiful Memory

Is that a funny title for a post during the hot time of year? I love spring. It isn’t hot. This painting in progress reminds me of the beautiful season.

oil painting commission of spring in Three Rivers

I’m juicing up (exaggerating) the colors a bit and it is fun. I love dabbing on little specks of different shades of pink. These redbud are so fabulous up the North Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers. I’m so glad that my customer chose this subject for her commissioned oil painting.

Spring in Three Rivers Oil Painting Commission

Spring in Three Rivers just might be an appropriate title, although there is little evidence of any river, much less three of them in this picture. But, we are in a canyon that follows the North Fork of the Kaweah, and the presence of sycamore trees indicates a source of water near by. (Can you tell which trees are becoming sycamores?)

oil painting of a road in spring in progress
Spring in Three Rivers, 24×18″ oil painting commission

Getting that fence the right size and in the right place really was difficult. I kept painting out the rails and repainting them, all in a very rough and messy fashion. Oil painting can stay rough and messy for a long time, with each successive layer  showing signs of improvement. Of course, in art “improvement” can mean different things to different viewers. Many painters in recent history have a huge following and reputation while making a ton of money with paintings that I’d call rough and messy!

Meanwhile, I choose to refine my own work with each successive layer. When the background of the photo just seemed too rough and messy for me to sort out and then enlarge, I just detailed the closer parts. Normally I work back to front, top to bottom, left to right and dark to light. For this painting, I just do what I am able to do, when I am able to do it.

With those messy types of sections where the detail in the photo isn’t helpful, I paint what I can see and hope it trains me to fake (i.e. make up) the parts that I can’t.

spring in Three Rivers oil painting in progress
Spring in Three Rivers now has a few redbud blooms

I think the fence placement is almost correct, but with all that painting in and painting out and painting over, it is too wet to continue.

This means I get to use a new color! It is some sort of magenta, and I’ve veered from my primary colors only palette because I know from experience that I cannot get to the color of those redbud blooms from those primaries.

And More Redbud Festival

It got busy at the Redbud Festival in Three Rivers at the Memorial Building this year. As usual, I saw a ton of people I knew, but I also got to meet new people. The standout to me was meeting Earl from BLOWING ROCK NORTH CAROLINA!! Really! I am that excited! That is where my G’ma grew up, and I visited there in 2010 and just fell in love with the place. And Earl is going to be a friend, I just know it. He came back on Sunday and told me about some books he has written. When I am finished with this series of blog posts, I will be searching for them on Amazon. He is also an oil painter and a retired pastor.

The Writer’s Corner was a busy place. I really enjoyed listening to them and learning about how the different writers chose to publish. All were self-published, some using assisted self-publishing companies like CreateSpace, and others just going at it pioneer style, as I am doing with The Cabins of Wilsonia. (Guess I am a little like my distant relative from North Caroline, Daniel Boone.)

I bought a book about old people who downhill ski, written by Mr. Fischer, who taught at Redwood High School when I was there in the ’70s. I don’t remember him. That’s okay. He doesn’t remember me either.

And isn’t this weird? The Memorial Building has a drinking fountain! Remember in the olden days before we were all raving environmentalists carrying around plastic water bottles, people just got a drink of water whenever they wanted one? No fuss, no muss. Probably no chlorine or special filtering either.

But I digress again.

There were quite a few musical performers who kept any radio dead air away. Sometimes I would say to a passerby, “Want to come into my booth so we can shout at one another over the music?” Most weren’t loud. The belly dancer’s music was really loud. I couldn’t watch her because I was too embarrassed. Guess I’m about as old fashioned as a drinking fountain.

Redbud Festival Continued

Yesterday I left you contemplating the word “dumb”.

Today we will continue our Redbud Festival Tour.

Check out the primary colors. The sign being carried by the man says “Slow! Event Ahead”. So glad it used punctuation, because I’d hate to participate in a Slow Event.

I think this pottery comes to the Redbud Festival every year. Sure looked pretty in the morning sun.

So did these bracelets. There were a lot of jewelry vendors there. There are always a lot of jewelry vendors at these types of shows. I wonder how they can all make a living. I think the products go in cycles, and we are currently in a heavy jewelry phase of the art and craft fair world. I’m glad there aren’t many oil painters around right now. Of course, maybe they don’t do little podunk shows. I like little podunk shows that are walking distance from home. What does podunk mean, anyway?

Look! I got to be by the window with natural light, and my paintings popped out to folks as they entered from the lobby.

This is inside the Memorial Building, a funny shaped place that was probably built in the 1960s. I went to a play there when I was a little girl with my Great-Aunt Mary. The witch got shoved into the oven. Must have been Hansel and Gretel. . .  but I digress.

Those drapes were a heavy hassle. Michael tied them together to let more light in, and I clothes-pinned tee shirts onto them. (Lemons? Lemonade!)

It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself. Why do people say that? I did say so myself.

Redbud Festival 2014 in Photos

Redbud Festival in Three Rivers was on a new weekend and in a new location. It was walking distance from home for me!

Bye-bye, studio, I have to work somewhere else today.

Does your commute look like this? It is WONDERFUL to walk to work.

Most exhibitors parked at the Presbyterian Church. Me? I took this shortcut across the field. It was a trail, but got turned into a bit of a road when the neighborhood got a new water system.

It brings me to the backside of the Memorial Building, where there is a dude on the roof, and the cars match the fire hydrants.

Vendors were setting up their pop-up canopies in the parking lot. I was very thankful to have an indoor space, because it got hot out there on the asphalt later in the day.

See? lots of hot pavement.

BJ is from Tulare and he has BEE-YOO-TI-FUL rustic furniture and very cool yard ornaments. I was briefly tempted to get some quail, and then decided it is dumb to put metal quail in a yard full of live quail. I try to not be dumb whenever possible. It’s dumb to be dumb. Don’t be dumb. Dumb dumb dumb.

There. Have I wrecked the word “dumb”?

Perhaps it would be good to continue this tomorrow.