Mineral King Coloring Book Has Arrived!

Yesterday, the Mineral King coloring book arrived. Heart of Mineral King is the title, and it has 12 pages to color, plus some wildflowers on the insides of the covers. (One of the 12 pages is the title page, and 4 of the pictures are from the previous book, Heart of the Hills.)

mineral king coloring book

A friend called me when I gave her a sample page of wildflowers from Heart of the Hills, because she wanted to know what color to make each one of the flowers. This made me laugh, because she had been coloring in another book, decorating owls in purples and pinks.

It also made me think that perhaps people would appreciate a hint. So this inside back cover page has a hint on the wildflowers.

MK 27 inside colored list

Here is a peek at a brand new drawing. This is Empire Mt. (actually it is just the rock outcropping which is very visible but isn’t the peak) with some of the very charming Mineral King cabins.

Empire

Heart of Mineral King is available at the Three Rivers Mercantile and Kaweah River Trading Co. in Three Rivers. It is also available here on my website, and if you see me around, from the trunk of my car. On Memorial weekend it will be available at the Silver City Store, 21 miles up the Mineral King Road.

This one is smaller, so it is $12 rather than $15. Such a deal – a custom coloring book of everyone’s favorite mountain place in Tulare County. (Unless your favorite mountain place is Wilsonia)

 

How to Order a Coloring Book

Heart of the Hills

Ordering a coloring book from my website is a bit of a project. If you have ordered, you know that I email to ask for your address, even though you entered all the info while ordering. My website is a little out of whack, and I don’t know why. Sigh. It just happens. Today I learned that it will cost $300 to update my website to make everything work properly.  Big heavy sigh.

 

If you want a coloring book and don’t want to go through all the steps, a check in the mail is fine – $15, and I will pay the mailing costs. I appreciate so much when shipping is free that I do the same for my customers/clients/collectors/friends.

 

Okay, just in case you decide to order from the website, here is the exact order of clicking steps.

 

  1.  Click on my Website
  2.  Under the For Sale tab – click Heart of the Hills Coloring Book
  3. Click on the coloring book. (If there are 2, click on the one on the right with the price beneath it. If it says there are no products available, hit your refresh button. If this doesn’t work, put down the computer and walk away.) This takes you to a new page (Why is this necessary?? Don’t ask me – I just work here.)
  4. Click on the purple Add to cart button. It takes you to a cart page.
  5. Click on Proceed to checkout. It takes you to a checkout page where it asks for your details. This is where you then go to Paypal, and it accepts your credit card even if you don’t have a Paypal account.

I don’t know what happens next, because I stopped there because I didn’t want to buy a coloring book from myself because I have them already.

 

Sounds as if I am babbling to myself. This is because I am babbling to myself. Technology often affects me that way. (Ick – that stupid “easy to use” Square at the Redbud almost turned me into a raving lunatic at the Redbud Festival, right there in public.)

 

I have a wise friend who reminds me from time to time that if you have a problem but you have money to fix it, then what you have is an inconvenience rather than a problem.

 

THANK YOU, EVERYONE WHO ORDERED COLORING BOOKS! This means I have the money to get the website tuned up.

 

But when do I have the money to get ahead??

 

Never mind.

 

This new coloring book will be available very soon, and I hope you will be able to order it easily from the website.

MKcolorcover

Coloring Book Report

Whole lotta reporting going on this week.

IMG_2811

While preparing for the Redbud Festival, I decided to add a few more oil paintings and finish the giant painting of the Oak Grove Bridge. Then I wisely decided my time was better spent elsewhere.

So, I began working on a new coloring book design. No telling how long this adult coloring craze will last, so I’d better make hay while the sun shines.

Here is the cover, version #1:

heart of mineral king

This is too hard to read, so I redesigned the cover.

MKcolorcover

Then, I finished all the crazy-making computer work, and sent it off to be printed.

NEW COLORING BOOK COMING SOON!

It will have fewer pages and thus will cost less than Heart of the Hills. THIS ONE WILL BE CALLED HEART OF MINERAL KING.

Please excuse me for shouting at you. This is very exciting and fun.

It should be available in two weeks.

Redbud Report Continued

Heart of the Hills

Yesterday I told you that fifty-eight coloring books, Heart of the Hills, sold during the annual Redbud Festival in Three Rivers.

Lest you think I could have just skipped the booth set up and plopped myself at a card table with a stack of coloring books, plenty of other items also sold. I even had the privilege of seeing some new friends from Fresno who came specifically for pencil drawings, which I had to race home and retrieve. So glad I live close, and that Trail Guy delivered my car to me, since I had walked to work that morning.

Cards, small oil paintings and tee shirts remain popular. But the coloring book stole the show.

My booth was busy almost the entire time, and sometimes I’d see someone sort of hovering around the edges. While I’d be talking with someone else, I’d just pick up a coloring book and pass it over the the hoverer, who invariably said, “How did you know that is what I was looking for?!”

I lied and said I had read her mind. (I hope no one got freaky about that.) It was just obvious to me, taking into account the tremendous popularity and publicity the coloring book is receiving.

Besides, I’ve been doing this show off and on since 1987, so I can read people pretty well.

Wow. It was a busy busy weekend, and I am so thankful to have had this pleasant and peaceful walk to work each morning of the show.

It is truly a blessing to live in Three Rivers.

IMG_2818

Are You a Colorist?

Are you a colorist? This is a word invented for adults who like to color in coloring books.

About 10 years ago, a friend in a high-powered, high-stress job confessed to me that she liked to color at work when it all got to be too much. I went online to find coloring books and found 2 books with very intricate geometric designs for her.

Within the last 6 months or so, coloring books for adults have taken off like a rocket. Many friends told me of either giving or receiving coloring books for gifts. Women in particular get a goofy happy look when they say, “I LOVE to color!”

I have many theories as to why coloring has become so popular with adults:

  1. Everyone has the desire to be involved in a creative activity.
  2. Coloring is a creative activity that requires no skill outside of what we learned as children.
  3. It involves simple decisions with instant gratification.
  4. The repetitive nature of it is peaceful and meditative.
  5. Life is complicated and stressful. Coloring is fun and easy.

Want a coloring book of Three Rivers and Sequoia and Mineral King?

I have one called Heart of the Hills.  There is a tiny heart hidden in every picture.

It is available at the Three Rivers Mercantile, Kaweah River Trading Company, Three Rivers Historical Museum, and on my website. (It is also available from the trunk of my car if you see me around.) $15 + tax.

first drawing

Doesn’t this little picture make you want to color? Go ahead. Become a colorist.

Coloring Book Delay

Well, oops.

Clearly I don’t know how to read online proofs.

The coloring books arrived, but they are printed on two sides of the paper instead of one.

“No big deal”, you say.

However, it is a big deal to me. The back of the book reads thus:

coloring book back

So, I asked the printer how quickly they can be reprinted and if there is a Stupidity Reorder Discount.

I’m sorry. Thank you for your patience. Anticipation. . .

Coloring Book Almost Here

Hey, the coloring book is supposed to arrive on Tuesday!! That means you can order it now, and I can mail yours to the PO on Wednesday.

The tricky part is that I don’t really understand how to control Paypal’s pricing. I have the book listed at $15, but sometimes it charges sales tax and sometimes it doesn’t. So you are on your own there. And I’ll pay the postage for you.

Ain’t life confusing grand?

Here is the link: Heart of the Hills Coloring Book

Heart of the Hills

When you go to that page, click on the coloring book. It will take you to a page to add it to your cart. Disregard the sentence about April 15.

After you add it to the cart, scroll back up to the top of the page and click on the word “Cart” at the top right. Or maybe the word “Checkout”.

I don’t know for sure, since I’ve never bought anything from myself. Guess someone will have to let me know!

Coloring Book Cover

Heart of the Hills

The order has been submitted, the proof has been approved, the job has been paid for, and now I eagerly await the arrival of the new coloring book.

It is listed on my website, but I can’t make it behave properly. When it is time to order your copy, try the website and if it won’t work, email me, call me, or post a comment in the blog to let me know you’d like to order one.

P.S. I even ordered envelopes so I can mail them out to people who don’t live nearby.

P.S. #2 This is a coloring book drawn and designed by me of Three Rivers, Sequoia and Mineral King to show off the best of our hills and mountains. Each drawing has a hidden heart, thus the title: Heart of the Hills.

New Coloring Book!

Are you aware that coloring books for grownups is a huge fad?

Huge! HUGE! Written up in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and even the Visalia Times-Delta. . . I have friends telling me they love to color. These are adults. And just over the weekend, the subject was in the Fresno Bee.

I hesitate putting the word “adult” in front of “coloring book”, because the word has been, well, adulterated. The word “adulterate” sort of means the same thing as polluted. You probably don’t need an explanation about this.

My new coloring book is pure and unpolluted. The title is:

Heart of the Hills

Why? Because I have hidden a tiny heart in every picture.

See if you can find it in this one:

first drawing

Hardly fair, is it? This is too tiny! Guess you’ll just have to wait until it comes out and get one.

Details for Heart of the Hills

  1. 19 drawings of Three Rivers, Sequoia and Mineral King
  2. Will be available around April 15.
  3. Suitable for colored pencil or marker
  4. Printed one side of the page only.
  5. Before tax price: $15
  6. Will be available on my website and at Kaweah River Trading Co. in Three Rivers
  7. Might be available for pre-order but. . .

.  . . I haven’t figured out why a person would want or need to pre-order.

If you think that would be a helpful method of ordering, please comment and share your opinion.

Something New Coming Soon

Something new is coming soon to Cabinart. This calls for an interview with Cabinart’s very own Jana Botkin.

Why do people say “very own” in front of someone’s name? Because they like to fill the airwaves!

Ahem. Let’s get on with the interview.

Interviewer: What is Cabinart?

(very own) Artist: The NAME of my ART BUSINESS!!

Interviewer: EXCUUUUUUSE me. So what is new that is coming?

(very own) Artist: Don’t rush me. First let’s review a few facts. 

  1. I work in pencil and oil and in acrylic when painting murals.
  2. Real life has edges not outlines. Cartoons have outlines. So do coloring books.
  3. Ink is one of the most difficult media to work with.

Interviewer: What is “media”? I thought that meant the news, talking heads, and spokes-holes.

(our very own) Artist: “Media” is the plural of “medium”, which is a word used for the material used to make art. Not the “ground” but the mark-making stuff:  paper isn’t a medium; pencil or graphite is. Canvas isn’t; oil is. A wall isn’t; mural paint is. Get the idea?

Interviewer: Are you stalling?

(Our very own) Artist: Nope, just ‘splainin’ it to you, Lucy.

Interviewer: “Lucy”?

(Our very own) Artist: You know – that’s how Reeeky-Reeecardo said “explain” to Lucy!

Interviewer: You ARE stalling.

(our very own) Artist: Nope, just letting the excitement build.

Interviewer: COME ON, ALREADY!

Very Own Artist: You are shouting at me. Do I detect a hint of impatience in your tone?

Interviewer: With that sort of evasive non-answering of questions, you could run for public office.

(our very own) Artist: No thanks. I have a business/career/job/jobs. (artist and editor – Did you know that?)

Interviewer: No more diversions or red herrings! What is coming soon?

Our Very Own Artist: 

A coloring book of original designs, based on the landmarks and scenery of Three Rivers and Sequoia! (yes, including Mineral King!)

More will be revealed in the fullness of time. . . stay tuned!