Over the weekend, I took all my Mineral King themed paintings to the Silver City Store, which is where I worked in 1985 when I met Trail Guy and changed the entire direction of my life (from meandering and going nowhere to based around Mineral King.)
The first time I sold my art in a store was the summer of 1986, when I had prints made of my drawing of the Silver City Store. Now it is called Silver City Resort and it is much fancier.
Usually I take 6-10 paintings and some notecards to the store at the beginning of the season, and then restock throughout the summer. This year I decided to take everything all at once.
Manager Molly was very gracious in helping me fit things in. We pulled nails, pounded new ones, and scooted lots of things closer together. They have more merchandise than ever before—if you like to shop, you will definitely enjoy the store this year.
When it was all in place, I pulled out my little Canon Elph camera, and the battery was dead. I didn’t have the inferior phone camera with me, because there is no reason to take it up the hill.
So on the way home, we stopped by and I did some quick photos (had a replacement battery back at the cabin).
Two paintings sold over the weekend!
It’s not a gallery with white walls, shiny floors, and lots of space, but my art does well in carefully selected stores. Silver City is the first and best place I’ve ever done business.
P.S. Silver City is 21 miles up the Mineral King Road and is 4 miles below the Mineral King valley.
4 Comments
The top painting is how I always picture the Silver City Store. Yeah, Store. “Resort” is a fancy, schmancy word that described a golf course / restaurant / hotel on the Oregon coast, or something.
Anyhoo, here’s hoping that your entire inventory will be gone by October when the season is over!
Sharon, that would be fantastic! In reality, if inventory got that low, I’d be painting new pieces to add to the collection.
Your paintings look great in that shop, and so cool that two of them sold during the weekend! I love the one on the saw blade – that’s a really cool “frame” for the painting.
Michelle, that sawblade was one of the weirdest commissions I’ve ever gotten. The store is not elegant like a gallery, but it is where people gather to spend time and money on things while visiting Mineral King. Since I am here to earn a living and not to impress anyone, this venue for showing and selling is perfect.