We Took a Walk in Three Rivers

Glory, hallelujah, I love what passes for winter here in Three Rivers.

We were not alone.

This is not a Big Foot print; it is a big foot with big toes and claws. 

Green has begun, and the sycamore leaves are still present. 

Say what?? There was another pile of brush with a less fancy sign that also said Quail Hotel. There is a No Vacancy sign lying at the base of the sign. These look like fires waiting to be lit to this wildfire-conscious Three Rivers resident.

We meandered to a point to see if my mural was visible. Yes, it was, sort of. You had to know where to look. Can you make it out?

Keep coming, rain and snow, because I love the green. (Yes, I know the hills are still brown, but if you squint real hard, you can pick out some baby grasses.)

 

Mural, Day Two

Trail Guy stopped by to check on my progress and suggested that I place my bucket under the drip to see how much is coming off that pipe in 24 hours. Well, 20 hours, because I have been working about 4 hours a day. It started sort of hot again in the sun yesterday and by the end of the session, I put my ragged flannel paint rag on. (It’s an old shirt, one that belongs in a rag bag except that I need it.)

I wonder if puffy white clouds would look good on this wall. Those unpainted spaces could become clouds.

More will be revealed as more is covered.

 

 

 

Refreshing the Mural, Day 4

At the end of Day 3 on the South Fork fire station in Three Rivers, I left thinking “oh, them barren heels.”

Excuse me??

When I was a kid, a couple of Mom’s Alabama cousins stopped by to visit us on their first trip to California. One of them kept saying, “Them barren heels!” Translation: compared to the hills of Alabama, our hills looked bare to her.

On Day 4, I fixed them barren heels.

Let’s have a little review:

2009, when the mural was new.
The yellow faded, leaving everything that used to be green now in varying shades of blue.
Refreshed in 2020, this time using a yellow paint that is more lightfast.

Next, I’ll need to stop by in the afternoon light to take a better photo of the mural.

Thank you for following along as I turned the faded tank mural back into one that makes drivers on South Fork Road smile.

 

Refreshing the Mural, Day 3

The left side begins the day in shade, but it involves some looking into the sun while painting.

The flag flapped around, casting disturbing intermittent light and shadow on the tank.

The hills need more detailing, more texture, maybe some color changes.

I added smears of various yellows and oranges to indicate fields of poppies, fiddleneck, and mustard.

One more session and it should be finished enough for me to sign my name and sigh with relief that another mural in Three Rivers is looking good.

Mural Refresh Day 2

The weather continued to be cool, which allowed me to keep moving ahead on the water tank mural at the Tulare County fire station in Three Rivers.

On Day 1, I noticed goatheads because they came right through the bottom of my apparently worn-out Crocs.

On Day 2, I took a big sheet of cardboard to put beneath me on the ground. Good thing, because I sat and knelt to work on the flowers.

First, the right side before the sun got too intense.

You can see the tremendous degree of fading here, particularly in the poppies.
Poppies first.
I really like the color combination of poppies against the strong periwinkle blue, which has to be painted over with green.
Lots of time on the cardboard, working green around lupine and poppies. Although the lupine are almost still a good color, they needed another layer of paint.
Time to move to the left side, which was still shady.
I was on a schedule, so I just slammed out some green. The details will have to wait until another time. You can see that the lupine are almost the right color in their faded state.

On Day 3, I hope to finish detailing the flowers and grasses on the left side, and then spend time adding detail to the ridges of hills. The lake might be just fine as is. 

Refresh

in 2009 I painted a mural on the water tank at the South Fork fire station. This is Tulare County Station 14 in Three Rivers.

I mixed the colors using red, yellow and blue, plus white. About 2 years ago, the mural company stopped recommending that particular yellow for outdoor use. 

See why?

The yellow faded, turning everything that used to be green into varying shades of blue.
Oops, I think this green is too dark.
This is lighter, but I’ll have to try more areas first to know how things need to be.
Couldn’t resist trying that brilliant spring green. It really emphasizes the fadedness. (I know that isn’t a word, but I can’t think of the right one.)
I just started slapping various greens on in a somewhat random fashion so that I could compare the darknesses.
Now there is more to work with, so I can start making adjustments.
The blue ridge behind the farthest green needs to be a bit darker, but first I’ll finish the greens.

There – see the darker blue now? Colors are supposed to fade as they recede into the distance. That is part of what helps us know what we are seeing.

Now the sun is too high to continue.

When the sun shines directly on a mural, the paint dries too quickly on my palette and in my brushes and I can’t do my best work. So, this shall be continued. The grasses and flowers will take quite a bit of time, and the lake might need another coat. Then I’ll probably start drawing with my paintbrush, making up ridiculously detailed areas because that is the most fun part to me.

 

Side Two

I  was concentrating so intently on this side that I forgot to take photos until this stage. All that remains is studying it for awhile to see what needs to be refined.

Unacceptable Ugliness

While walking in my Three Rivers neighborhood one morning, I saw this bit of ugliness and got an idea. The neighbor, who has graciously allowed the water board to put this booster pump on his property, agreed with my idea.

What is this ugly thing in my neighborhood? Entirely unacceptable. However, it is fixable with the help of a very capable neighbor.
The very capable neighbor built and delivered this.

Side one.

It is fun to use all these colors. 

Side two and the final touch-up are ahead.

It’s Still Spring and Still Beautiful

If you aren’t quarantined or under voluntary house arrest, I recommend taking a walk. You might have to be confined to your own neighborhood, but it is Spring, and much is in bloom.

Here are some photos for you to enjoy, without unnecessary chatter.

shooting star
Caterpillar phacelia (THANK YOU, LEAH!)

not bush lupine
California poppies

little bitty lupine
baby blue eyes
bush lupine
redbud
redmaid
bird’s eye gilia

Who knows?
owl’s clover

A friend sent me this:

One final thought to cheer you up: As soon as The Thing appeared in our lives, all robo-calls disappeared! Is there a correlation? Don’t know, just thankful and relieved.

A Day of Variety

Sometimes it is a little hard to work from home. There are many other things requesting attention, opportunities to be productive in other ways, chances to just lollygag around or find other occupations. Last week I had such a day.

It began with wandering outside while drinking coffee and seeing a bit of pruning, and then finding Tucker in my herb garden.

See why I want to be outside this time of year?

Notice that these flowers are in the primary colors.

Next, I made plans with a friend for a walk at the lake early in the afternoon, and that made me willing to dive back into work, knowing my time was limited to paint. Sometimes deadlines help me to focus.

This was dry enough to begin detailing until it was time to gather up my friend and head to Kaweah Lake. (Oh-oh, I can’t remember if it is Kaweah Lake or Lake Kaweah again; what’s with the mental block on this subject? This may be why we’ve always called it “The Lake”.) We just walked in the lake bottom, not close to the lake except where it covered the pretty bridge.

The lake level is rising slowly. We walked to beneath the Horse Creek Bridge, and the mustard was striking.

After our walk,  I was able to paint a bit longer on the Mineral King cabin oil painting commission. I think I can get even more detailed on this, but it needs to dry a bit more.

And thus we conclude a day of work combined with distractions.