Opening weekend in Mineral King in 2018 was cold, drizzly, foggy and not conducive to any photos. Besides, my camera battery was dead.
The skies cleared briefly on Sunday evening. I borrowed Trail Guy’s camera for this:
Monday was glorious, sunny, bright, and warm(ish). I took this from our friend’s porch
Finally, here is the classic photograph.
And thus we begin another summer season in Mineral King.
Painting Drawing of the day:
The Mineral King official season begins around Memorial Weekend each year. The gate was unlocked and opened to the public on Wednesday, May 23. Since at the time of this blog post I haven’t yet been to Mineral King, I will show you some photos from years 2007 forward. Why 2007? Because that is the year I first used a digital camera. The weather varies tremendously from year to year.
The business of art is full of choices and decisions, and rarely is there a map or an instruction book. I can find things on the World Wide Web, but often the advice is contradictory, or geared toward folks who live in cities or sell in galleries. This forces me to do my own thinking, an exhausting proposition at times.
For the upcoming show on June 30, “ART: INSPIRED BY MINERAL KING”, I have been painting diligently since January. Many pieces have sold, so I just keep painting more.
Last week I made a small decision: I am not going to show photos of the newest pieces I’ve finished on the blog. Instead, I am saving them for the actual show. Afterward, I will post them here, hopefully with a SOLD sign on them.
This is a marketing decision. Might be good, might be dumb. As my dad used to say, “Time will tell”. (I prefer “More will be revealed in the fullness of time”.)
Then what shall I show you today? How about Piper and some weird white poppies:
It is almost cabin time in Mineral King. The road will open on Wednesday, May 23. Trail Guy was there last weekend, and these are his photos. The browns and grays are still dominating the greens, and there is some snow on the peaks but not in the valley. The last mile of the road is kind of messed up, but I haven’t driven it so can’t give you any specifics as to whether or not 4WD is required. I guess it all depends on how highly you regard your vehicle.
Today there are many topics to address, so we will have a long list.
See why I had to make a list?? And, in case you were wondering, I am not superstitious about today’s day and date combination.
Last summer I had a hankering to draw some new Mineral King pictures in pencil. I did four of them without a plan for reproduction or framing. Artists make art, and I am a Central California artist making art of the flyover center of California, my main source of inspiration (along with liking to drive and to eat.)
This spring I decided to test the marketability of these drawings as cards. These are packages of 4 different cards, 5×7″, blank inside with envelopes, $15 per package. There are only 9 5 packages available. Through this blog post and Saturday’s open studio, I will decide if these are popular enough to print in greater quantity.
This sort of thing is just part of the business of art. Make the art I want, and then figure out if there is a market for it. . .
This is the insert that goes inside the package of cards. The drawings are too small to really appreciate on the insert, so I’ve placed them underneath. Scroll on, Gentle Blog Reader.
What?? No Honeymoon Cabin?
Nope – sometimes an artist’s gotta do what she’s gotta do. (But she is willing to listen to customer requests, within reason.)
P.S. I thought at first that $15 was a little high-ish for 4 cards. Then I went inside a real store and looked at real cards that are sold one at a time. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I was astonished at the prices, so believe these are a bargain.
At the end of last week, I had 4 more finished Mineral King oil paintings, a 6×18″ was sold, and the 2 paintings on hold were still just waiting their turns. Now it is time to count up again, evaluate by subject and size, and decide if I need to keep the factory producing more Mineral King oil paintings.
Really, truly, I just want to draw. I love to draw. Have I told you this?
P.S. Look out the window at the shingle siding on the studio!
I went to Mineral King. Literally, this time. It was interesting to see in person what I have been painting, the winter version instead of the summer scenes.
Back to the easels. . . thanks for stopping by this week!
P.S. Last year at this time I was repainting the Mineral King mural and it was HOT out after a very wet winter; this year winter didn’t arrive until March. Weird.
This year I have set the goal of finishing all the Mineral King oil paintings well before the season begins. The Silver City Store has been selling my oil paintings since 2010, and it is good for them, for me, and for the customers. The past 8 years have provided a good idea of what sells and in what sizes and quantities. Why not look at this information and make a plan?
Phase I was finishing a large quantity of paintings in the month of January, some that were begun in December. The total was something crazy huge, like 2 dozen or so. I hadn’t planned on buying 4×6″ canvases or painting on 4 little boards that used to contain things like tomatoes, so the number went up. All this production forced me to figure out how to use my painting hours more efficiently, and in February, I am continuing with this plan.
(Do you need a nap yet? A cup of espresso?)
Phase II is filling in the gaps – do I have the right quantities of the best subjects in the most popular sizes? Nope, not yet. Here is how beginning another 8 paintings looks. It’s not that pretty, but it is not as gross as making sausage, I guess, although I’ve never witnessed that operation.
There are about 6 more subjects I want to paint. These are also Mineral King, but they involve new scenes.
If this seems a little repetitious to you, well, it is. It is a little repetitious to me to. That’s the thing about doing work for a seasonal business – it is repetitious because there are new customers every week, and they haven’t seen my paintings before. Or they saw them last year and want to add to the collection. Or, their friends saw their painting and wanted one too.
That’s me, talking to myself. Keep painting, Central California artist, keep painting!
I messed up and ordered 4×6″ canvases instead of 6×6″. This means I have some adjusting to do and some decisions ot make.
The first step is to see how it is to paint on this size and shape.
