Painting While I Am Waiting

While I am waiting for photographs from which to paint a commission of a house, I have to paint something.

Redbud Festival is coming, May 7-8, so I need paintings to sell. Small paintings, bright paintings: these sell well.

Sounds like fruit and poppies to me.

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This is 6×6″ and went fairly quickly. Now, a little citrus art. Orange oil paintings are always popular.

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That first poppy was fun. I’ll do another.

poppy oil painting

If 2 poppies are good, 3 poppies will be great!

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An orange oil painting, 3 poppy oil paintings, but no photos yet. Stay tuned. . .

Fruity

Remember seeing these commissioned oil paintings in progress?

1546 Orange 124

1547 Grapes VIII

1548 Pom 47

The customer was very happy and asked for more!

Remember these three commissioned oil paintings?

1545 Orange #123

1544 Pomegranate #46

1543 Lemon #19

This customer was also very happy and asked for more!

Here they are in their infancy.

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commissioned oil paintings

And here they are finished: detailed to the nth degree, signed, scanned, and now with varnish drying!

Peach Plum Tammie's Plum

 

As a Central California artist, I have access to wonderful fresh fruit. Every one of these was painted from photos that I took while the fruit was on the tree or of fruit that came from a friend’s packing house. 

Taste The Arts

 

Blooming Oranges #2, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $125

Taste The Arts

Saturday, October 11, 2014

11 AM – 5 PM

Downtown Visalia 

 

Taste the Arts is the name of a street fair type event in Visalia. It is very extensive, with lots of opportunities to try different methods of making art. There will be demonstrations in  spray paint, stenciling and murals, along with lots of artists exhibiting and selling their work.

Here is their link: Taste The Arts

I participated in an early version of this show about 2 years ago. The Arts Consortium is the most organized group I’ve ever had the privilege of working with, and I expect this event to be great!

Fall Shows Ahead

Last year I couldn’t do any shows in the fall because I spent the entire year drawing for The Cabins of Wilsonia (WHEN WILL IT BE HERE???)

This year I am painting again, because paintings sell best at shows. Truthfully, cards, tee shirts, and calendars sell best, but if one is an artist, one needs pure art to set the stage, provide the atmosphere, supplement and be a backdrop for the small stuff.

Here are paintings in progress:

The raven is for an upcoming show for which I lack information. The oranges are in progress.

My favorite bridge in progress on this 10×10″ canvas because I love to paint this. The rocks are always challenging, as are the arches. Each time I am sure that I am making a dog’s breakfast of the scene. Each time I persist, and then I almost break my arm patting myself vigorously on the back.

The beginnings of another Mineral King scene and some pumpkins that I have been reluctant to finish for about the past 6 years. If someone said, “I love that and want to buy it!” – that might light my fire to finally finish it.

Earning a living as an artist, particularly in a rural place like Tulare County (3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state) is a balancing act. It would be just grand to be able to paint anything I want and have a large population base from which to find the buyer. The reality is that I paint what people want because that is the way to please customers.

Even so, I continue to repaint my favorite bridge and oranges. Over and over and over. . .

What Else Would You Expect a California Artist to Paint?

As a Central California artist, there are certain subjects that dominate my painting life.

If you have read this blog for any amount of time, I bet you can guess.

If you are new to this blog, welcome! You don’t have to guess because I am about to show you.

These two 11x 14″ paintings, citrus (or oranges, if you prefer) and poppies (or poppies and lupine) are drying on the wall in my painting workshop. I think the poppies painting wants more foliage. I could ask it, but instead, I’ll ask you. My chances of hearing something useful are better coming from you.

The commenting process on this blog is annoying. I think if you comment, it will tell you it didn’t go through. This is because it lands in a spam folder and then I have to “moderate” the comment.

Anyone want to try?

Thanks!

Disproportionately Influenced by California Citrus

 

In conclusion, this is a California artist, disproportionately influenced (inspired, perhaps?) by citrus. Today I am probably out in an orange grove with my cousins, looking for Washington navels that may still be hanging in the center of the trees. Or perhaps we are inhaling the remaining scent of orange blossoms.

I Love Tulare County

For some reason, it embarrasses me to admit this. So, I put it as the title of this post – practice saying it, feel it, face it. (Say it loud, say it proud?) I am a California Artist and I love Tulare County! (Is it warm in here or is it just me?)

Oranges #121, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90, available here

My cousins visited from Northern California. She is from the Chicago area and he grew up  near Buffalo. (They are married so I consider him to be my cousin too.)

We spent part of a day in Sequoia. This is where they met while working for The Park’s concessionaire. (Here in Three Rivers we refer to Sequoia National Park as “The Park”.)

Sunny Sequoias XVIII, 8×8″, oil on wrapped canvas, $75, available here

Girl Cousin has inherited a portion of an orange grove where I spend the first 11 years of my life. (Don’t worry – we lived in a house, not under a tree.) So, we visited the grove. City folks say “ranch” and Citrus folks say “orchard” or “grove”.

Oranges #121, 8×10″, oil on wrapped canvas, $90, available here

 

Several thoughts:

  1. I expected that the day in The Park would be the most fun part of the time together, but
  2. The time in the citrus grove was the most fun.
  3. Perhaps this is because it was cold and wet and foggy in the Park and intermittently sunny in the grove.
  4. Or maybe it is because I had my eyes opened to how special it is to have grown up as the daughter, granddaughter and niece of citrus growers.
  5. Being a “tour guide” to Girl Cousin and Mr. Girl Cousin (sorry Bob – but you gotta laugh at that!) caused me to realize that I do know quite a bit about my county and about citrus. I was amazed by how much I had to say about it all. (I’m sure The Cousins were too.)
  6. In the course of these days together, it occurred to me that I do love Tulare County. We are poor, uneducated, fat and have very bad air* BUT we have Sequoia and we have citrus. So there.

P.S. Three Rivers might still be the best place to live in Tulare County, but my second choice is in an orange grove at the edge of the foothills.

*I have to point these things out so you all won’t move here.

Orange You Glad You Live in California (or Sorry That You Don’t)?

group of citrus oil paintings in progress
Morning sun in the summer dries oil paintings quickly.

Orange you glad you live in California? Or perhaps you aren’t so glad – the state is way over its head financially, we have both sales tax and state income tax, our gas is almost the most expensive in the country, and it is stinkin’ hot.

But we can grow oranges, and we can paint them. That’s what California artists do who get calls from realtors who sell lots of citrus orchards. Blessings on you, Oh Realtors of Good Taste.

In case you were wondering, my favorite color isn’t orange. Besides, it looks terrible on me. Not my color. Maybe that is why it is fun to paint.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Squeezing Out Some Citrus (Paintings, that is)

A good customer requested 14 paintings of citrus. He specified a certain number of Tangerines (aka Clementines or Mandarins), Lemons and Navel oranges.

Among the excitement of replacing paintings burned up in a cabin fire and replenishing the stock at the Silver City Store, I’ve been squeezing out these paintings.

Come on! You KNOW that was cute!

Tangerine oil painting by Jana Botkin
Tangerine, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collection
Tangerine oil painting
Tangerine, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collection
Lemon oil painting
Lemon, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collection
Lemon oil painting by Jana Botkin
Lemon, oil painting on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, private collection