Studio Tour Today, Tomorrow and Sunday

Today is the first day of Studio Tour Eleven. It is my 7th time to participate. Have you been? It is really fun to drive around Three Rivers and see people’s yards  studios.

It is greener than this photo shows. In fact, it is downright beautiful in Three Rivers right now!

This is what you will see as you pull into my driveway (but the redbud might be a bit faded by now).

If you are really lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the introverted Perkins. He is not friendly like Zeke or Kaweah were. They shouldn’t have been so friendly with a coyote, or whatever ate them. Sigh. Being introverted is why Perkins is now 15 years old, when all his comrades have disappeared through the years.

You are ‘posed to have a ticket to come. The info is here: Three Rivers Studio Tour Tickets

Painting a Post Office

One of the most popular subjects for painting, drawing and photography in Three Rivers is the tiny Kaweah Post Office about 3 miles up North Fork Drive.

I’ve drawn it more times than I can remember and painted it 10 times. The reason I remember how many paintings is because I have called them Kaweah Post Office I, Kaweah Post Office II, Kaweah Post Office III, Kaweah Post Office IV. . . et cetera. Clever, no?

Here is #10, AKA Kaweah Post Office X in 2 stages. You may have to attend the Studio Tour this coming weekend to see it finished.

In order to keep each painting a little different, I paint it different sizes, from different angles, at different times of the year, and with different details. Sometimes I layer it (called “glazing” in Artspeak) and sometimes I try for alla prima (which means to finish all in one session).

This one is 10×10″, so it is slightly stretched out, and it will contain the historical marker, a new thing for me when painting. I thought the rocks looked fun – all those different grays to mix! Don’t know yet if they are fun, because I haven’t gotten to them at the time of this posting.

Poppies on the Easel

It is time to get some paintings finished for the upcoming Three Rivers Studio Tour. This is what is taking place in the painting workshop these days.

It’s a start to a picture that might work in my 2015 calendar, in addition to being available for the studio tour. Besides, it is just fun to paint with such brilliant colors!

I’m a California artist. What else would you expect me to paint? Oranges? Sequoia trees? You wouldn’t be disappointed. . .

Drawing Because I Love To Draw

After spending an entire year completely focused on completing one drawing after another after another after another until 268 drawings were completed. . .

What was I saying? All those after anothers got me lost.

I love to draw. It has been a long time since I drew simply because there was a picture I wanted to draw instead of a commission or a cabin related drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia.

See?

Grazing in Kaweah Country, graphite (AKA “pencil”), 14×11″, $250

If you live in Three Rivers, you’ll be wondering where this is. It is on Kaweah River Drive, at the place called “The Catfish Farm”. It might be called The Chess Ranch. Whatever you call it, the place is for sale. It is a huge piece of wonderful property, which can be yours for about $5,000,000. Yeah, five million dollars. Whatever.  Just write a check or something.

Makes this pencil drawing look like the bargain of the year!

Three Rivers Studio Tour

Do you know what “biennial” means? Nope? Maybe?

It means every two years, or every other year, or this year but not next and then the one after.

2014 is the year for the biennial Three Rivers Artists Studio Tour.

March 21, 22, 23, 2014

Click here to get the information about tickets. It is a little complicated, depending on how many days you want to attend or how soon you buy the tickets or how young you are.

I hope you can come!

I hope it rains and that there is green around my studio when you come.

This blog has been receiving upwards of 600 spam comments per day, so I am not accepting comments at this time. (You can comment, but I won’t be able to find it among the zillions of junky ads so it will be deleted along with the jillions of junky ads.)  If you want to tell me something, you may use the contact tab, or if you have my eddress, you may email me. 

It Snowed in Three Rivers

Of course it snowed in Mineral King too. You can see 2 Mineral King valley views on webcams here.

We might get snow about once a year in Three Rivers. It doesn’t stick, but it is beautiful while it is here. This was on Saturday, December 7. I was too busy to show you then. (The Stocking Stuffer Boutique went well – thank you for asking.)

My studios in snow

Trail Guy and I had to go for a walk and see how everything looked.

Looking downstream at the Kaweah River toward Comb Rocks

Looking upstream at the Kaweah River, toward the mountains (We say “the mountains” around here when referring to the Sierra Nevada.)

I like this view of the Kaweah River so much I painted it once. Wanna see? Here. (Yikes! I can’t remember if it sold or not!)

This tree would be a perfect subject for photography if it wasn’t for that chain-link fence in the background. A former neighbor once said to me, “Chain-link fences are the vernacular of Farmersville.” (That is a smallish town here in Tulare County.)

Snow, see?  It wasn’t on the other photo because it melted. (Captain Obvious here)

Hard to believe this scene is the May page of my calendar. I love seasonal variety.

Here comes the sun means there goes the snow. (Captain Obvious again)

Now instead of just looking toward the mountains, we are looking into the sunshine. (Okay, Captain, we get it!)

Manzanita might be the most beautiful wood in the world. It certainly is in the world of Three Rivers.

My studios, melting in the sunshine. No, they aren’t melting, the snow is. I know that!

Sierra Wonders, a Book For You

Sierra Wonders is a beautiful book of art, photos, essays and poetry about the southern Sierra Nevada. It was compiled and published by the Arts Alliance of Three Rivers, and edited by my friend Karen Kimball. It is full of work by people I know, and it is truly beautiful!

Nadi Spencer’s art is on the cover, which was designed by Kasey Fansett, both friends of mine here in Three Rivers.

 

Have a look at the table of contents:

 

HEY!! That’s MY pencil drawing at the top! (I also have 2 oil paintings inside).

The proceeds from the sale of this book go to the Arts Alliance scholarship fund to help aspiring artists get through college. (Hopefully they will find their way through college in a less meandering manner than I did. . . sigh.)

It is $25, unless you are a member of the Arts Alliance, in which case it is $20.

Here is the link to buy the book, Sierra Wonders. Karen mails them out almost immediately upon receiving the orders (and confessed to me that she checks Amazon at least twice a day).

GREAT LOCAL LAST MINUTE GIFT! Just sayin. . . 😎

Stocking Stuffer Boutique

12/18/13 – CALENDARS SOLD OUT!

12/11/13 – THREE left

Now there are 4 calendars – 12/10/13

ONLY 8 CALENDARS REMAINING ON 12/9/13!

Calendar Update – there are only 25 remaining and when they are gone, they are gone. First come, first served – no payee, no sendee. 

A little history:

There is an ever-changing association of artists and crafts people that is loosely based in Three Rivers. At the start-up, they called themselves the “Kaweah Artisans”. Great group, nice people. I begged and wheedled my way into the group back in the early ’00s. We put on several events a year, and eventually I felt as if I had saturated the market with what I had to contribute. So, I backed off my participation. Over time, only a few events remained in the line-up of the Kaweah Artisans. I’ve stayed semi-active, and this year they have been gracious enough to invite me to join them in. . .

The Stocking Stuffer Boutique

 

I’ll be selling knitted items, 2014 photo calendars, Mineral King tee shirts, notecards.

Others will be selling woven goods, the new book Sierra Wonders, gourds, metal kitchen goddesses, and turned wooden items.

THANKFUL

For more things than I can take the time to list (or you want to read), I am deeply thankful.

Kaweah River in autumn photo by Jana Botkin

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