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 […]
Sit On It
Have you heard that thing “Sitting is the new smoking”? Hogwash. Been thinking about chairs recently. My cabin neighbors are replacing some living room furniture, and it would be awful if their old pieces went to the dump. My couch needs recovering, so why not cover theirs from the ’40s and dump mine from […]
Too Twee
Last year about this time I lost my long time friend Jennifer, or “Jennifah” as she said her name, being English. She taught me so much throughout our friendship, including fun words. Among those words, “twee”–cutesy, sweet, precious– was one of the most useful. When S sent me the photos of the barn where we […]
Pick Something You Love
When Trail Guy and I went to our friend’s barn to choose our kittens, I was struck by how appealing the outer wall of the barn looked. Alas, I didn’t have my camera with me. (Just hush up about smart phones, will ya?) 2 weeks later, another friend, the amazing S, emailed me a photo […]
Do-Over
Whenever someone approaches me about an old drawing or painting, I first hope the picture isn’t too embarrassing. Then I hope that the customer will allow me to repair, replace, and rework anything that is no longer up to my always improving standards. While at the Redbud Festival, I met Karen, who is a new […]
Name That Drawing
Want to help me name a drawing? First you get to read how the drawing came about. Chickens are a popular subject in life and in art. They will make an appearance in my 2019 calendar, and I chose these 2 photos to work from. The black dude on the lower left has too little detail, […]
Field Trip or Procrastination?
While working on the umpteenth pencil drawing of the Kaweah Post Office, I was struck by how stupid it is to guess at what is around and behind the little building. Why am I struggling with an incomplete photograph when all I have to do is drive about 4 or 5 miles and see the […]
New Mineral King Cards For Sale
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 […]
Oranges, Completed, Sold and Delivered
That last step after the photoshop thing only shows a subtle difference, but I wanted you to know that the business of art includes thinking ahead toward how a piece can be used besides just selling the original. And the original is sold and sent! That makes me happy for three reasons: it is going to someone […]
Just Another Workday
One day a week or so ago, I painted in the morning and drew in the afternoon. This is what it looked like: Then I moved into the studio. It was a sunny day, so I raised the blind and saw this: And thus we conclude another workday in the life of this Central California […]