Sequoia, citrus, Mineral King. . . all the usual subjects one would expect from an artist in Tulare County. However, I have heard Morro Bay referred to as “Visalia West”, so maybe the beach scene is Tulare Countyish. (I wish). The pomegranate is colored pencil, something I haven’t tried or sold in many years.
I try to show this in sizes that are proportionately relative to one another here; closies count.
Just because, here are links to previous posts of Sold art.
Here are three new oil paintings of oranges (thank you, Captain Obvious). Each one is 5×7″, on a board or panel, and comes with an easel for easy display on a shelf, $60, and available through the Mural Gallery in Exeter. (Actually, only two are available because one is spoken for, but I don’t know yet which one.)
These two oil paintings of the Kaweah Post Office have been reworked, lighting corrected, detail added, fuss, fiddle, fix. The top one will go with me to the Holiday Bazaar (scroll down) at the Three Rivers Memorial Building on November 19 (unless it sells first, 6×12″, $125). The second one will return to Kaweah Arts for sale there: 8×10″, $125.
P.S. They always look better in person. I’ve decided to not embarrass myself again by showing you the “Before” version against the “After” version.
Farewell at Dusk, 10×30″, oil on wrapped canvas, $500
There is an ongoing topic among artists about whether or not it is right to paint in order to sell. In general, the two schools of thought are:
It is clear that I belong in School #2.
Sometimes I paint something because I love it, and then I have to paint it out because no one in the local market of buyers agrees. The recent conversion of a river scene to sequoia trees is a prime example.
Sometimes I paint something that sells, so I paint it again and it sells again, and so on and so forth. Here is a recent example of that situation. Six times? Seven? I lost count. Because it was so popular, I painted the most recent version in hopes of selling it at the Silver City Store this summer. (Nope. . . is it waiting for you?)
Sawtooth Near Sunnypoint IX, 12×24″, oil on wrapped canvas, $550
And the best of all is when I paint something just because I want to, and then it sells. But sometimes that feels disappointing because I wanted to keep it. (So what’s the problem? Just paint it again!)
Sometimes I paint something, it doesn’t sell, and then I have to figure out why not. I did that with this painting of redwood and dogwood, and it sold very quickly after the do-over. (I was tempted to name it Red Dog but knew that was a loser from a marketing standpoint.) 
The challenge with every scene, but particularly those I’ve painted many times is to make it the absolute best I can every time. No auto-pilot, no “phoning it in”, no sleep-painting. Focus, focus, focus.
As I often tell Nancy of Kaweah Arts, “I came here to earn a living, and I’d rather repaint a scene that bores me than be a waitress.”
The best way to not be bored while repainting a popular scene is to continually challenge myself to find a way to make it the best I can. Because. . .
(I don’t mean that I painted the building.) I am referring to the weather in my painting workshop, equipped with a fairly adequate swamp cooler, unless it is over 95 and/or humid.
Every year people say, “It has been such a hot summer!” as if that is news. Every summer in Tulare County is a hot one. My theory is that if it starts mild, you pay in September and October. This is the real world, muchachos, and you are in it.
Kaweah Arts had two oil painting versions of the Kaweah Post Office for sale. This is a quaint little old building three miles up the North Fork of the Kaweah River, which, until recently, was the smallest operating post office in the United States. Alas, it sold, and the new owner closed it. It is still cute and quaint, so I didn’t paint out the images on those canvases.
However, I decided that I could do a better job.
BEFORE:
One would think that I could just make this up without a photo after painting it about 20 times (if you count the do-overs, it is probably more). One might be right, but one isn’t going to know, because I won’t be attempting it AND I might not need to paint it any more.
DURING:
BEFORE:
DURING:
These are hard to photograph while on the easels. When they are dry, I’ll scan them for you (and for my records, of course.)
This is a first for the aloof Jackson. He has never inspected my work before.
(Improved) North Fork of the Kaweah, 10×10″, $150
(New) Two Big, 6×12″, $125
(New) Giant Tree, 10×10″, $150
The oranges are sold; the pumpkins are on standby, because if the other pumpkin painting doesn’t sell, this base coat just might become something else.
I fixed the two river paintings and then worked on another sequoia painting. It is good to have backup inventory for the places that sell to folks on their way to Sequoia. It is good to have backup inventory for all the places that sell my work, currently four, but Silver City will be closing soon for the season.
I have learned that the best sellers have light on the edges of the trees along with a burn scar. It doesn’t matter which trees I paint, or if I can tell you where they are in Sequoia National Park or even if they happen to be in Kings Canyon or Balch Park. Just big trees, sunlight, scar.
As usual, I’ll scan this when it is dry to show you. It is called “Too Big”, a 6×12″ oil painting on wrapped canvas for $150.
The heat backed off a little and two places that sell my work requested more.
I started with the river painting do-over.
It sat on an easel with its buddy non-selling river painting. . .
and got a facelift. . .
…but we will wait until the bruising subsides and the stitches get removed.
I mean we will wait until it is dry enough to be scanned before doing an actual comparison.
Sometimes when a painting has been hanging around for awhile, I have to ask myself a question that is hard to answer: What is wrong with this picture?
This painting has been hanging around too long. It is the North Fork of the Kaweah River in Three Rivers, looking downstream from what used to be known (maybe still is) as The Airport Bridge with Blossom Peak(s) in the distance.
This is what might be wrong:
Stay tuned to see if those changes fix the painting.
Yesterday we stopped at the Eagle Lake dam, a steep hike on a tough trail out of Mineral King.
Wait—isn’t there supposed to be a lake? Isn’t that the purpose of the dam?
Well, oops. The dam either didn’t get closed last fall or it got opened too soon this summer. Looks more like Eagle Pond.
However, these gentlemen caught quite a few fish (catch and release, using a spinner).
Little Sis replaced her cat ears with a Kevin jacket (ever seen “Up”?). We watched the raindrops on the pond while discussing circles, ripples, and shiny places.
The Farmer found a checkerboard as he explored the edges of the pond, formerly known as Eagle Lake. My guess is that some youngsters’ phone batteries died so some oldsters showed them this primitive, non-tech game.
The exposed rocks in the lake are bizarrely geometrical.
This is the “normal” view of the lake, looking back toward Mineral King.
And this is looking toward the upper end of the lake. 
I’ve painted it from a similar angle.
Enough recreation and lollygagging. Time to make like a cowpie and hit the trail.
The Farmer found this rock, and we all thought it would make a great paving stone but had the good sense to leave it as a concept rather than a reality. It is a weird geologic formation, not someone’s early attempt at mosaic.
Does this look like a trail to you?? I turned back toward Eagle Lake to take this photo, because even though I’ve hiked it many times, it still astonishes me.
Finally found some flowers. These are Pride of the Mountains. Sawtooth is in the distance, with its “shadow”, Mineral Peak just to the right.
Well, yea. A little bit of good trail bed.
Haha. Fooled you. Climb over these rocks, you mountain goat.
After the rocks, I stopped taking photos with the exception of two more of the scene that I have been struggling to paint for 2-3 years now. (Not gonna show you that sorry mess today.)
With 2 miles left to go, Little Sis ran out of gas. She asked for breaks about every 20 yards. That is the slowest mile I have ever walked on a trail, and we were quite relieved that her pa was waiting at the White Chief junction. They did a pack shuffle, and she rode the last mile on her pa’s shoulders. I chased Big Bro for awhile at a rapid pace, marveling that the child never ran out of steam, never slowed, never complained.
Those are two amazing children who accomplished a huge journey on foot.
Tomorrow, we will return to White Chief, our favorite destination.
If you can’t see the photos, go here: cabinart.net/blog.
Sales have slowed down a bit, which makes me concerned for my sellers and their businesses. However, I remain both busy and optimistic with some new projects pending. That will appear in another post.
Sequoias, some poppies remaining from spring, one commission, and the rest was Mineral King, of course. No pencil drawings this time.
But, summer isn’t over, not in weather, nor the calendar. Of course, the calendar says September 21 is the beginning of fall, but everyone knows that Labor Day is the other bookend to Memorial Day, holding together those weeks that remind us of the beach, fluffy reading, swatting mosquitoes, fireworks, watermelon, road trips, cowering in the A/C, and a sense of NEEDING to be off work.
Thus we conclude another peek into the (seasonal) business of art.