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The Two Mister Blacks

Mister Black is the name I give to the ravens I paint. There are two so far, painted because of the Raven Festival in Three Rivers.

Three Rivers does something special-ish on the first Saturday of each month. A new theme is chosen each month, and for October, it is ravens.

The amazing Nadi Spencer had the idea of a raven theme and took it a little further than just a normal First Saturday. October is a busy month for me, so I haven’t been around for the festivities.

However, I have done a painting for 2 years now. This is the first Mister Black.

1443 Mister Black
Mister Black, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, sold
1549 Look Out Mr. Black
Look Out, Mister Black, oil on wrapped canvas, 6×6″, $55

In this is this year’s version he was looking out from atop that pole (which was actually white and fiberglass.)

At Sierra Subs and Salads in Three Rivers is a show of the raven artwork. You can learn more on the First Saturday Three Rivers page.

Gotta go paint now!

An Artist Lives Out Her Donation Convictions

Kaweah P.O.

This is an article I recently published on LinkedIn.

I am perpetually fed up with artists getting asked to donate to good causes. In May of 2014,  I posted “An Artist Bloviates about Donations” on LinkedIn. My hope was to encourage fund raisers to find other methods besides asking those who are often at the bottom rungs of the financial ladder.

Under the list of “Reasons to Donate”, #1 was “An artist loves the cause and wants to help.” I currently have a cause I love and want to help.

Tulare County, where I live, is poor, rural, and in Central California. It is far from Los Angeles, San Francisco or the Silicon Valley. We are not rich either in money nor in landmarks.

One of our favorite historic structures is the Kaweah Post Office, a tiny wooden structure just outside of  Three Rivers. It is 125 years old and still in operation!

Because we are also not currently rich in rainfall, many of our trees are very stressed. A giant oak above our little Kaweah Post Office lost a limb which smashed the roof and porch of the landmark we love.

The building is publicly appreciated, but privately owned. There is insurance, but it comes with a large deductible.

So, I am auctioning the above oil painting on eBay. In keeping with my principles about artists not giving away their work, I will donate half of the proceeds toward the restoration of the Kaweah Post Office. 

A few notes:

1. Kaweah is the name of the rivers of Three Rivers. (South, Middle and North Forks of the Kaweah make up the three. . . never mind about the Marble and East forks – our forebears had to draw the line somewhere!)

2. It is pronounced “Kuh – WEE – uh” (not to be confused with “The River Kwai”)

3. The auction listing is “Original Oil Painting of Kaweah Post Office”.

4. The painting is 10×10″ on wrapped canvas, ready to hang.

5. The auction went live at 12:02 on September 29 and remains up for 10 days.

Now, let’s see how this bloviating artist’s version of raising money turns out!

 

Stocking Stuffer Boutique

What is a “boutique” anyway? It isn’t a bazaar. Is it like “luncheon” as opposed to “lunch”?

The dictionary uses the words “sophisticated” and “specialized” to explain a boutique. (Nope, didn’t look up bazaar – I saved that for you.)

Sophisticated? Me? har har har har har. . . I’m from Tulare County, a Realistic Regionalist from Ruralsville.

Specialized? Yeppers. I specialize in Tulare County images. Nikki specializes in high-quality hand woven items. Karen specializes in clay mono-prints (hunh?? Guess you’ll have to come see for yourself.) Anne specializes in lathe-turned wooden items. Sam specializes in gourds. We are specialists!

Stocking Stuffer Boutique

Saturday, December 6, 2014

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

41831 Sierra Drive (at the downstream end of the Kaweah Commonwealth Bldg.)

 

Another Three Rivers art event, on First Saturday Three Rivers!

Perfect Gift Boutique Post-Game

Perfect Gift Boutique Post-Game? Remember when the terms “pre-game” and “post-game” weren’t used? It is a sports/television term. “Wrap-up” also works, as does the stuffier sounding “evaluation”.

The weather was beautiful, so the day after Thanksgiving was a busy one. It was a little hard to be indoors, but I managed to corral my independent streak and behave professionally. The opportunities to interact with and sell to the public are rare, so I need to be focused.

The second day had less traffic, so the conversations were longer. I met so many interesting people, sold lots of art (the hottest item was the calendar), and even did a bit of photography and a little knitting in between.

I know. . . blah, blah, blah, just show us some pictures!

There were eight of us showing and selling out work. We call ourselves “The Kaweah Artisans”, a loose association of makers mostly from Three Rivers, each working in different media.

Sam sits and sews in the sunshine. She is working on one of her fantastic gourds.

Carole works in metal and clay, making whimsical and often highly detailed decorative items. Very unique in the true sense of the word – no 2 are ever the same, and no one else does what she can do.

Told you it was pretty out!

The Three Rivers Arts Center is such an interesting venue. It has stone and wood details all over the exterior. It is beautiful in a rustic manner, using stone and wood that appear to be from the area. I don’t know who did all the work, but I find the place to be simply fascinating.

The Perfect Gift Boutique

First of all, in case anyone is wondering, I am thankful. Very thankful for many things. Didn’t want you to wonder, since I’ve turned Thanksgiving into a commercial here on my blog.

(This is because I forgot to post it on Wednesday. Besides, who reads blogs on Thanksgiving anyway??)

The 13th Annual Perfect Gift Boutique will happen on Friday and Saturday of this week!

Friday, November 28 and Saturday, November 29. Three Rivers Arts Center, North Fork Drive (just across the bridge, first building on the left), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

These are some of the returnees from previous Perfect Gift Boutiques.

Ahem. Me too, but maybe you figured that one out all on your own. 2015 calendars, paintings, cards, prints, Mineral King tee shirts.

Have a look at some little cuties I’ll have with me – these are original oil paintings on canvas, 2×2″, $15 each.

Three Rivers in Fall

Today I want to share photos of Three Rivers in Fall with you because in spite of the drought and the sense of endless summer, there is seasonal beauty here in this fine corner of Tulare County.

Happy Birthday, Shirley Goodness!

(Why do I say “Fall” instead of “Autumn”? Because I witnessed leaves falling from a tree today.)
 
The best color is in the non-native Liquid Ambar (yep, that’s the way it is spelled for the tree) and the Chinese Pistache (also not a typo!)
Wild Grape?

Bazaar in Photos

I live within walking distance of the Bazaar. This is what I saw on my way to work Saturday.

When I got there, I was relieved to see that my booth did not look like a garage sale., which is a concern each time I set up in a different location. Even though booth sizes are almost always 10×10′, the lighting, the walls, the traffic patterns and the amount of work I have changes, so I don’t have a standard floor plan.

We had steady traffic all day. As usual, it was mostly people I know with a handful of new folks. It is so interesting to me that there are people in a town as small as Three Rivers that don’t know one another! Often it is because they only live here part time and/or they live far up one of the canyons.

There were regular raffle drawings and a live auction. I actually gave a 2015 calendar to the raffle – me, who does not give away her work! Got caught up in the excitement or succumbed to peer pressure, perhaps. . .

It was nice out on the patio. The doors are open all day long, so if it is cold, it is cold everywhere. Back in the olden days when we had winter, this was a cold cold show. Not so this year.

There’s my amazing friend Nikki, weaving in her booth. I am showing this to you so you can see that the Chinese Pistache trees outside weren’t yet in full color, and that there were vendors outdoors too.

These beautiful wood items turned on a lathe and polished to a remarkably smooth sheen will also be available at the next show, The Perfect Gift Boutique, which will be on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend at the Three Rivers Arts Center.

P.S. I sold a ton of calendars, but there are more remaining. Remember, when they are gone, they are gone. $15 includes tax and mailing if you need that done.




Bazaar, Not Bizarre

The annual Senior League Holiday Bazaar will take place on Saturday, November 15 at the Three Rivers Memorial Building from 9-4. Maybe. The marquee in front of the Memorial Building says 10-4. This means that if you come at 9, you’ll get first chance at all the best stuff!

This is how it looked on the morning of Tuesday, November 11. Don’t you just want to come to see the Chinese Pistache trees in full color?

There is a jeweler who brings the cutest Christmas earrings I’ve ever seen and she sells them for a peanut butter sandwich! (This is a figure of speech my Dad used when something was seriously underpriced. You don’t have to brown bag it to buy her earrings.)

Some years there is a fabulous selection of homemade jellies and jams for what it would cost you to make them yourself, MINUS your labor!

My 2015 calendars Beautiful Tulare County will be there, $15 including tax. Such a deal – you might want to buy several (but remember, when they are gone, they are gone.)

I still have some Mineral King tee shirts, a few photo books (Mineral King in Photos – $45, Three Rivers in Spring – $30) and new oil paintings. (This year a few knitted items will be sold by my friend Sophie, a weaver, spinner and knitter of extraordinary skill.)

Here are a few photos from previous years.

@0c*wNSzRya^

 

Nikki Crain at her loom

Home Improvement

A dear friend manages vacation rentals. A few years ago, she was asked to take on a home that needed a ton of loving care, and she had to provide it on not just a shoestring, but a frayed shoestring. (This means she had almost a zero budget.)

Because we love to do projects together, she asked for my help. Together we figured out how to rearrange furniture, do things with paint, color, pictures on the wall, fabric, rocks and pine cones.

It was an amazing transformation, and the house became a successful vacation rental.

Now the same owner has handed over another house to my friend. Of course she called me and of course I said yes. (HEY! Does this mean I am a Vacation Rental Consultant?) As a Central California artist, I am used to people needing help and not having much to spend. I don’t know what I’d do if someone actually had a real budget with real money in it!!

The upstairs loft resembled a dorm in an orphanage (not that I’ve ever seen such a room, but I read plenty of orphan stories as a child.)

I sketched layouts, wondered if we could dump various pieces of furniture, lose a few beds (there were seven or eight), get better bedspreads, buy a trunk for the foot of each bed, rip out the carpet, paint, something, anything.

My managing friend eked out a small budget from the owner. We found a few treasures at a yard sale, pulled the faded ’70s art off the walls, discussed furniture, found a nice rug at World Market (found many, but only bought one), messed with paint colors and ideas, and finally came up with a good plan for that loft.

It was a ton of work.

This is where I came in for some real work as opposed to just coming up with ideas.

We’d love to have ripped out the carpet, but the budget was just too eensy. If you want to see the whole house, here is the link. Click here.  It was voted Best Vacation Rental in Three Rivers this year, BEFORE my friend and I went to work on it! (It might be wise to book it before the owner figures out that he can raise the price.)