Last week I was a ninja-crazy painting factory, cranking out oil paintings of Mineral King. This is high season in the high country, and it is busy. Gotta get ’em done, visible, and selling. Sounds a bit like a mercenary, an artist of fortune. Nah. No fortunes are being made here. Just painting Mineral King. […]
Drying Mineral King
“Drying Mineral King” means drying the paintings of Mineral King. Want to see what that looks like? The paintings start on the peg board in the painting workshop. Then I begin scooting them around outside. The 2 of Sawtooth are currently on the tractor-seat stool outside the studio, getting direct sun and a breeze. The […]
More Painting Mineral King
Much of the spring and summer so far has been spent working on coloring books (or in Israel) instead of painting. Suddenly, painting Mineral King in oils has become my main focus. It takes some teeth-gritting intensity and, word-of-the-year, oh-so-tired-of-it, intentionality to stay focused. There is a book to reproof, a coloring book to finish, […]
Painting Mineral King
Yesterday I took a chill-pill to recover from the emotional see-saw of selling, not selling, selling, not selling, sold, not sold, it must only be my friends and relatives who feel sorry for me, OH MY GOODNESS A STRANGER BOUGHT MY ART. Don’t you just feel exhausted reading that last paragraphical sentence? (Anyone know a […]
Perilously Emotional See-Saw
For the past several summers, I have sold oil paintings of Mineral King scenes at the Silver City Store. This summer I took up 3 6×6″ and 3 8×10″. Each time I go to Mineral King, I stop by the store (we think of it as “The Store”) to see how the paintings are selling. […]
More Painting Mineral King
Feeling like a factory worker or a cog in a wheel, I mixed up some sky color oil paint so I could begin painting Mineral King. Five 6×6″ paintings, on the conveyer belt. (on the stereo, if you must know. Yes, I listen to a stereo that plays CDs. I drive a manual transmission, have […]
Painting Mineral King
In the summer, the Silver City Store, 4 miles below Mineral King, sells original oil paintings for me. (For them too, because obviously they have to make money. Duh.) The subject has to be Mineral King, (more duh, thank you Captain Obvious) and I paint the same scene over and over and over. Sometimes I […]
More Paintings in Place
“Painting” singular, in place, is more accurate. Yesterday I showed you paintings hanging in friends’ homes, friends who collect my art specifically, or collect the art of local artists in general. Some buy it because they love my work and then they become friends, some buy it because they love me. It’s nice to be […]
Paintings in Place
Art marketing gurus tell artists that we need to have photos of our artwork hanging in customers’ homes. Customers or clients? The marketing gurus say “collectors”. I think “client” sounds pretentious, “collector” sounds presumptuous, and “customer” sounds like good plain English. However, around here, the word that usually fits is “friends”. I think this looks stunning […]
Three Rivers House Commission, Finished?
Is the oil painting commission of a Three Rivers house finished yet? These are some close photos of detail that I added to the painting. Step back a bit for the whole view, including the beginning of sycamore leaves. “The beginning” meaning the start of the leafing out of the tree. When all these other things […]