For more things than I can take the time to list (or you want to read), I am deeply thankful.
Kaweah River in Autumn, Three Rivers
A Bazaar With Knitting, Calendars, Tees, and a Mineral King Box
That is a bizarre title; please be impressed with the way I incorporated Mineral King into a Friday post. (Tahoe is postponed until next week.)
Would you like to see some of the things I will have at tomorrow’s bazaar?
Great, glad you asked.
The lavender purse is spoken for – please forgive me for taunting you with it. See the bright stripes at the very bottom of the photo? Those are socks, which are too big for me, dang it. I think a women’s size 7-11 foot would work in them. See those red felted slippers? They are too small for me, dang it. I think a women’s size 5 would work in those.
But what is this box? Yes, I hear you wondering about it.
Trail Guy and I are not above scrounging in places where people have disposed of items. I INSISTED that we rescue this box. He said it was junky. I agreed but asked him to shore it up anyway, because storage boxes are functional and cool and it would be great to paint on. He complied with my request. and then added wheels too. The lid doesn’t quite shut, it isn’t completely smooth or totally square but it is clean, has wheels, and will hold lots of knitting or whatever floats your boat.
A functional all-purpose Mineral King painting on wheels!
And this is the final selection of calendar photos. We did it!! Thanks to you, Tulare County photo calendars are now available!
See you at the Senior League Bazaar
Saturday, November 16, 9-4
Three Rivers Memorial Building
Drawing and Knitting??
The annual Senior League Bazaar will be on Saturday, November 16, 2013, at the Three Rivers Memorial Building, from 9 – 4.
What does this have to do with drawing and knitting, you ask. (Yes, I can hear your thoughts from time to time – keep them sweet!)
Because this year is dedicated to finishing all the drawings for the upcoming book The Cabins of Wilsonia, the only paintings I’m doing are commissions. This means I don’t have any new paintings to sell at the Senior League Bazaar.
However, I have knitting to sell! Yeppers, knitted wooly cuddly cute handmade colorful useful items.
Why do I have time to knit but not time to paint?
Great question – glad you asked. (Remember, all interviewees respond to questions with either or both of those phrases and I don’t want to be left out of the current culture completely so this is my token way of faking as if I am “normal”.)
I can knit in the car, at home in the evenings, when I am in a meeting, if I am waiting somewhere. Bringing an easel and oil paints is somewhat frowned upon in a doctor’s office or at an airport.
That green purse is spoken for – forgive me for taunting you with it this way.
There will also be calendars! And Mineral King tee shirts! And a very cool wooden box which I will show you tomorrow! And some cards, because I have lots of those.
The Kaweah Post Office Goes to New Jersey
Remember I was struggling with finding the oomph to paint this? Once I got to the finishing details, I wanted to paint and paint and paint some more. I finally stopped so the nice lady with my favorite name in New Jersey could get her painting.
Elizabeth looked through my photos and chose this view for her commissioned oil painting. It shows the fence and gate behind the Kaweah Post Office up the North Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers. (sorry for being so wordy – Mr. Google likes that.)
The California Artist Finds Her Big Girl Pants
I got serious about working on this commissioned oil painting of the Kaweah Post Office in Three Rivers for a nice (and hopefully patient) lady from New Jersey.
Now, this is more like it. layers, details, contrast, texture. It needs to dry so I can paint the words on the signs – KAWEAH, POST OFFICE. The year established and the zip code are too small. The other words are sort of too small too, but I’ve done it before and I can do it again. I’ll probably end up tightening up other parts of the painting too. That’s usually how it goes.
So, I’ll just lift it off the easel, paint the edges, hang it up by the window, and then wipe the paint off my forearms. I always get paint on my forearms when I paint the edges of the canvas.
OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Would you just look at that!?!!
The wire is on the wrong side. The title on the back will be upside down too. I’ve only done this about 800 times so far.
I might need some time off soon.
Kaweah Post Office and Big Girl Pants
Dabbling, thinking it might be good to finish this before it gets hot again when I’d rather be in the drawing studio with its A/C unit instead of in the painting studio with its swamp cooler. Dabbling, deciding, doodling. . .
Has anything even changed from yesterday?
Get going – drink some coffee or eat some chocolate!
Here’s the problem: I’ve been concentrating so hard and long on the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia, just drawing like a pencil machine, that I’ve gotten nervous about my painting abilities.
This is a commission, I’ve been paid, and the customer is waiting. Put on your big girl pants and get busy.
Wow. That created a sense of urgency. Stay tuned. . . more will be revealed.
Painting the Kaweah Post Office Again
Commissions are good! They mean I get to paint something that has a definite buyer. They are the opposite of speculation painting.
Contractors build “spec houses”. It means they build a house like the Field of Dreams philosophy, in anticipation of a buyer. (“Spec” is short for speculation, not specifications.)
Very few artists admit to “spec paintings”. However, isn’t that what we are doing when we paint what we want and then schlep it around to various web sites, galleries, shows and shops?
This new painting of the Kaweah Post Office will only be schlepped to the post office to be mailed to a really nice lady from New Jersey.
An oil painting begins its life in a rough manner.
When folks in Tulare County, particularly Three Rivers, have guests, we love to show them our sweet little Post Office up North Fork Drive. It is possibly the smallest operating P.O. in the United States, but that factoid depends on whom is being asked.
Anyhoo, we are proud of our cool little Post Office, even though it is technically in Kaweah and not in Three Rivers.
And thank you for being polite about how sloppy my painting looks when it is young.
A Lavender Painting
This is a view of my friend Barbara’s French Lavender in Three Rivers. Livingston Lavender Farms, named after her grandmother who built the home, will be open soon for you to come harvest lavender. June 15? More will be revealed.
Imagine a blank journal with lines inside and this painting on the cover for around $15. Aren’t you just itching to own and use one?
More about lavender
My amazing friend Barbara grows lavender. She opens her lavender gardens (or is it a farm?) to the public each June when the lavender is at its peak. People can harvest bunches of lavender.
The dates of this event are a little squishy, because the bloom is dependent on the weather.
This year, it is possibly Saturday June 15. This happens here in Three Rivers, and you just sort of have to pay attention to the paper and to people who might know.
Barbara and I like to collaborate on art projects. She had me paint lavenders on saltillo tiles for her garden and to sell during the Hidden Gardens Tour. These sold well, so I have painted more for her Lavender Harvest Event.
In addition, I have finished 2 new paintings based on her beautiful lavender. The hope was to have them printed into blank books to be useful as journals. More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . .
I know I said 2 paintings. Guess you’ll have to come back tomorrow.
Lots of Thoughts
Or, Loughts of Thoughts? Or Lots of Thoughts?
Clearly, this California Artist has thinking time while drawing all those pencil pictures of The Cabins of Wilsonia, where she is right on schedule.
This is some of the noise in my head:
- While at the Post Office, the clerk asked if I wanted cash back. While at the grocery store, the clerk asked if I wanted stamps. I wondered if perhaps I would be offered a head of lettuce at the bank. . .
- How can I live in a town of 2600 (so says the population sign) and go months or perhaps even years without seeing people I know?
- How can I live in a town of 2600 and attend a party where I meet scores of new people who live in my same town?
- Doesn’t it seem to you that if your phone and internet service quit for 2-3 days that the phone company should offer a discount? I think they know that they have a monopoly and won’t lose a customer because there is no other place to go. And just in case you were thinking of calling to ask for a discount for being without service, they make sure there are 47 phone numbers for them, each complete with its own maze of button punching to make you think you are getting somewhere when instead, you are just punching buttons to pass the time.
- How is it that saturated fat, eggs, butter, protein and coconut oil used to be Nutrition’s Worst Enemy and now they are all considered fine, in fact, beneficial?? I’m reading Young for Life by Marilyn Diamond and someone else. She has changed her mind. She thinks there is a plot to keep us from learning correct nutrition. We know it is true that in the years since non and low fat products have gotten popular, our population has gotten progressively fatter.
That’s it. I’m having ice cream for lunch. I’m sure sugar will remain the Enemy, but my fingers are in my ears, my eyes are squeezed shut, and I’m shouting, “LALALALALALA!”
Worth It, oil on board, 8×10″, sold, sorry, but not really, Hi Shannon