Today is Halloween, and it is scary in Mineral King. This is how it looked on Sunday, October 26. This is a screen shot from the Mineral King Webcam.
Seeking Inspiration in Mineral King
As a studio painter, I rely on my camera and memory. I’m continually seeking the best light, the most advantageous angle, the brightest colors, the most details and anything else that can be recorded. What is inspiration? Something that motivates me to take photos, to paint, to draw.
It was another beautiful day in Mineral King. (Not gonna call it “paradise” because of the drought.) Here is the way I take photos for painting later while in the studio.
Nice light and colors, Farewell Gap barely visible and the peaks around it completely hidden. Plus, the stream isn’t visible.
Now you can see the Gap and the stream. I wonder how much I’d have to distort the perspective to include them.
This is nice. Vandever is fully visible and there is some blue reflection in the stream. The trees don’t really look like fall, but the lack of color in the foliage and low water indicate the season. Do I really need to paint the Honeymoon Cabin? Maybe this scene is good on its own.
I want a closer look at the water and rocks. The growth around and across the scene is certainly unruly. Real life is quite messy. Have you noticed that?
This is better. More water, more peak, less tree. Or is less tree an improvement?? I have a personal bias toward vertical scenes. It is hard to be objective. Objectivity just might be impossible.
Forget it. Let’s go for a walk.
Looking For Red Leaves in Mineral King
No red leaves at the Honeymoon Cabin.
No red leaves here either.
Let’s go hiking and see if there are any red leaves further up the valley.
Yellow tunnel ahead – no red leaves there.
Entering the yellow tunnel – maybe there will be red leaves on the other side.
Yeppers, just above Soda Springs!
And at Franklin “falls” – wow, we need rain.
What are these red leaves? I think I ask this question every year, but when the leaves are green, I pay no attention whatsoever to this plant.
There it is again!
No red leaves on Farewell Gap. Plenty of bronze.
Reddish leaves on the way back down.
These yellow leaves were glowing.
I wonder if people who are surrounded by red leaves go in search of yellow leaves?
Did you know that there really is very little red in nature? It’s true!
Feels Like Summer, Looks Like Fall in Mineral King
Last weekend the fall colors were beginning to show in Mineral King. Weird, because it sure still felt like summer. Rather than blather on about the endless heat, I’ll just shut my yap and share some photos.
See that reddish tree? I wonder if it the same one I spent a weekend chasing back in 2012. 2012 was certainly more colorful, but it is still early.
Instead of red leaves, there is weird red stuff on the bark.
Still lots of green in the leaves.
I’ll save the other photos for next Friday, because Fridays are for Mineral King on this blog.
Early Signs of Fall in Mineral King
The color and the light and the feel of the air changes in September. It is still green, but not quite as.
The deer get weird.
The squirrels get busy. This is a chicaree messing around with a red fir cone. They drop them like bombs in the early morning on the roofs of cabins. It is rude.
There is a hint of yellow beginning in the cottonwoods.
It is a peculiar change of color.
A reluctant change.
A hesitant change.
The currants aren’t as confused as the cottonwoods.
I don’t know what this is and never notice it in the summer, but it is a confident harbinger of fall.
The East Fork of the Kaweah has dwindled to almost nothing, and in fact, it does dwindle to nothing at one place in the upper valley. Very weird to see it just go away and then re-emerge a few yards downstream. I’ve never seen that before, but maybe I wasn’t looking. The drought is making us all hyper-aware of water in all situations. (I was playing in water coming out of a fire hydrant at home last week as we were testing water pressure – couldn’t stand to see it just flow without some sort of reverence or enjoyment!)
Farewell, Farewell (Gap) and I hope “farewell, Summer” soon.
New Mineral King Painting
It is still summer in Three Rivers, which means it is still nice in Mineral King. But, I have too much work to do, both in the studio and at home to be hanging out every weekend. Summer eventually catches up with me in the form of messes everywhere, incomplete stuff, unfinished business.
I am preparing for fall sales and shows (not that I have a ton, but it is all relative, and compared to what I do in the summer, the fall is cookin’!) This means I have to paint new paintings.
Because Fridays are for Mineral King and I don’t have any new photos or stories, have a look at a recently completed Mineral King oil painting.
Sawtooth XII, oil on wrapped canvas, 11×14″, $175
Sit, Knit and Split in Mineral King
When I didn’t have a cabin in Mineral King, I said I’d kill for one. My new boyfriend said, “There is an easier way.”
That was about 30 years ago.
I learned that there are multiple parts to cabin life. There’s the social aspect, the having 2 homes challenge, the trails, and just hanging around.
Hanging around suits me just fine these days. Seems that life down the hill, life in the studio, life on the computer, life in a drought while on the local water board, life in the book publishing world and life in general is wearing me out. Retail Therapy isn’t going to cut it. Instead, I go to Mineral King to just sit, knit or split.
Another Fine Subject of Central California Art
Call me butter – I’m on a roll.
Did you know butter is good for you? Yep. Everything we learned about animal fats and saturated fats is probably wrong. But that’s for a different blog.
This blog is about what a Central California artist finds to paint in a place like Tulare County, the 3rd least educated and 13th poorest county in the state.
Mineral King! I paint Mineral King! I blog about it, paint it, draw it, and live there in the summer whenever I’m not at home painting.
Sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack with that surprising news. Maybe you should eat more butter to prevent future heart attacks.
Sawtooth Peak is visible from the valley floor (San Joaquin valley, not Mineral King, but it is visible from there too, duh.) except when the Bay Area smog blowing down through Altamont pass is obscuring the vision.
Don’t you think my oil paintings begin with a rough first layer? I show you this in case you are a painter and think your paintings always begins with ugliness. You are not alone – take heart (and have some more butter).
I work from back to front. The sky is first because it is the furthest from us. Then comes the ridge and Sawtooth Peak. I climbed it once. I also got helicoptered off it once. Once was enough for each of those experiences. However, I will paint it over and over. When it sells, I’ll paint it some more.
There are certain subjects that I try to always keep around as oil paintings – Farewell Gap, Sawtooth, the Kaweah River, the Kaweah Post Office, oranges, and poppies. That’s Central California from the viewpoint of a Three Rivers artist. (one who loves butter)
It’s coming along. I might show you a time or two more before it is finished. Or maybe not.
Now I am going to cook an egg in butter.
(Note to self: don’t blog in the future when you are hungry.)
Trail Guy’s Latest Mineral King Hiking Photos
Trail Guy is retired so he hikes every week in Mineral King. I am not retired so I work. He photographs Mineral King so I post it on this blog.
Lucky Trail Guy.
Lucky You.
Lucky me, because I get to do what I love and (sometimes) even get paid for it.
If you let your cursor hover over each photo, it might give you the brief description.
After almost 29 years of marriage, we are starting to resemble one another (No, I am not growing a beard). He says all the time now, “Nice light!”
This is at the head of White Chief Canyon. Yep. We drink untreated water.
This is looking down on Franklin Lake from the trail up the Pass.
Did you know that Mt. Whitney is visible from Franklin Pass? I had forgotten. Now, I can’t remember if it shows in this photo or not.
These rock formations say “Franklin Pass” to me. Can you hear them talking? Must be the altitude. Actually I have not been on Franklin Pass since about 1983 or 1984. Too far for a day hike. Not for Trail Guy!
From left to right – a tarn (that is fancy mountain talk for pond), upper Franklin Lake, and the barest little edge of lower Franklin Lake. Lower is the one I did a mural of about 4 years ago. FOUR?? Must be having fun, because time is flying.
See? Trail Guy is getting all weird about shapes, light, texture, just like his artist wife.
A Mineral King Day Hike
Trail Guy led a group hike up to the Empire Mines last year. It was fun, informative, and a good time was had by all. So, he was asked to lead it again this year. I only took a few photos this time, because all my photos are looking repetitive. You can see more of them here.
Trail Guy hot-footed it down to the Sawtooth parking lot to see who was joining us.
There was a youth group from a church in Woodlake, all gung-ho and raring to go.
We were blessed by the presence of Interpretive Ranger Josh, who is very dramatic and very entertaining.
Three of our friends from the Sawtooth Six came along. I only photographed one of them, because he was with me and the other two were way out in front.
It was a nice day to be out on the trail.
Nice day to make some new friends too.
We went up to the bunk house, up to one of the mines, back down to the bull wheel, on to the road, into Timber Gap, and back down the trail. This is at the top of Timber Gap.
This is looking over Timber Gap into the Middle Fork drainage of the Kaweah River.
The end.
P.S. Last year’s hike is in 2 posts. I said more then. I have more to say when I’m not bowed up by worry over a book at a printer that does not return phone calls.