Snowing, Snowing

It's been snowing and very cold. Today the thermometer didn't get to 30 and we had lazy falling snow flakes for a short time this afternoon.

This is snow on the hood of the 4-runner.... jelly roll anyone?














I



I headed up river to the levy to take a picture of one of my favorite spots.


Winter


Remember this photo from "Autumn on the Klamath River?










Both taken from pretty much the same spot.

I'll do this again in the spring.....

A couple die hard fishermen. They'd been out for a few hours, and had caught one small fish. They came in at the park. Guess that was enough fun for one day.










See you soon.
luv/jo
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First Klamath River Snowfall in the Morning Light of December 15

Lilly Lu







One of my favorite spots in the Park






Cute little birdhouse hanging from snowy limb.



Look at all that mistletoe in big oak.








Beautiful morning in the Park.

/joB

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We made the front page.....

I am pleased that Yreka's Liberty Arts featured my art along with two sculptures to promote the December show.

This was the front page of the December 11 paper advertising the December 5 thru January 3 show.

You'll recognize "Autumn on the Klamath River".

Thank you Liberty Arts!


luv/joB

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First Snowfall at Klamath River - Dec 14, 2008

It started snowing Sunday morning....

We were invited for dinner up Walker Road and entertained thoughts throughout the day that we might not make it up Doris and Ed's driveway...


But we locked 'er up (we lower the awning on the trailer when we're anticipating snow - because of the weight)

and headed up the road...






....and we made it.

This is Doris on the back porch greeting guests as they arrive in the snow.


This was our Turkey Shoot turkey dinner. We shot dice and took chances on splatter boards and I finally shot a high enough combination to win that turkey away from other neighbors. Last year it was Karen, next year Doris....
We gotta keep up the tradition.


It bacame night and we headed for home following Rita in her 4-wheel drive Toyota down the drive way and onto the county road in about 2 inches of snow. It was an uneventful drive.... very white, cold, and pretty.

Thank you Karen and Doris for all your work serving us a wonderful traditional Thanksgiving dinner... and it was delicious!!

luv/joB

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Stages 4 & 5 - Klamath River Mural - Installation & Varnish

On November 19, we loaded the painting into the 4-Runner, met Frank at his house, and headed down river to the community hall for the installation.

As I was cleaning the back of the sign for the hanging, the urethane that Frank had put on the wood, flaked off like dust. The afternoon sun really did its job. This side of the sign is exposed to sun from mid morning til sunset. It was at this point, I decided to seal and varnish the painting even tho many muralists claim they just leave the acrylic open to the elements. However, they often pick spots where their murals aren't brutalized by this much sun.

The installation.


You can see, if you click to enlarge, sun damage even on the front of the sign.

This is George Benson and Frank Cardoza, AKA, the "Mayor of Klamath River"drilling holes to secure the painting.












Voile'



After all the planning and anticipation, "Klamath River at Klamath River California" is installed and hanging for our community to enjoy.

It was a daunting project for me, not only because it was the largest painting I have done, 82" x 30", but mostly because my intention with this endeavor was to express the joy I feel living on the Klamath River. Describing the majesty of the Siskiyou Mountains with their rivers, creeks, and streams is beyond words. Hopefully the painting conveys this feeling to her viewers. Ahh...


Back to reality:

Now for the varnish regimen.

I used Golden Acrylic products for this project. Their Soft Gel (Gloss) has various uses, but in this case it's as an isolation coat to protect the paint itself from being grabbed by the varnish - should the varnish need to be removed and replaced. Two soft gel coats have been applied as of December 1.

The weather has been very cold in the mornings (high 20's to low 30's). But the afternoons have been getting into the 50's and 60's; so the isolation coats dried well.

I was inclined to just leave the isolation coat as a barrier against the weather until spring when things warm up. (as a side note, the weather was one reason the painting took so long to do, waiting for the 40 to 70 degree window where the curing and drying time is best.) So now, we are at a crucial stage and the weather continues to be a challenge.

December 3, I called Golden Paints to gain some confidence regarding the varnish. I was told by Ulysses that the isolation coat remains somewhat soft and pliable and it would not be a good idea to leave it un-varnished, as it will collect dust and dirt. Since the area is surrounded by a gravel driveway, it WILL be dirty and dusty all around the picture.

So off we went down river to the sign sight - me and my "expert varnisher" George, who has done maticulous varnish work on Teal (our sail boat).










The painting has a richer - more in depth look, now that it is shiny and sealed.

Before -

After

(That's a heavy shadow on the left)


I also applied Nacerous White to the mountains so that at certain angles, they look snow-covered.

It is December 7 and upon last check the first coat of varnish was a little "soft" feeling, not tacky; but soft. So we'll give it all the time it needs to cure. This morning it was 26F when we awoke, yesterday 22F. So the drying time is really slowed and putting on another coat will only delay drying even further. So we wait.

That, my friends is the saga of the mural at the Klamath River Commiunity Hall. It was installed before the Turkey Shoot held the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Many of the people who saw it that day and since have commented thru smiles that they like it and its "colorfulness". Thank you for the accolades!

luv/joB

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Stage 3 - Klamath River Mural

This is stage 3.

Highway 96 swings onto the painting at the left. In keeping with the concept of warm colors in sunlight, the road is in pink tones. It keeps bother me. I'm just not too crazy about it, and the water line of the river on the right is too harsh even tho I was trying for cool color in the shadow.

When I open the door to the studio and approach the painting, my eye stops at that tree on the left in the green grass and shrubs along the road side, and it looks like a triangular pointed blob.

I worked on toning down the road, and it seemed I kept making it worse. So I asked my neighbor and good friend Shirley Fisher, an accomplished artist, to give me her input.

"The road is not right, and the water line needs fixing". So grateful to get good considerate critique. .... Also interesting that these were the parts she spotted also.

So back to the drawing board.



Here I'm in the process of getting rid of the road.

As you can see, we have planted grass on the road bed.




I used the palette knife to put riffles in the water along the shoreline and this also served to soften the edges where the shrubs border the river.


(This was a cloudy day and since I had to use the flash, the picture is a little washed out, but I think you can see the general idea.)

It is at this point I was reminded of Helen Van Wyk the renown oil painter, artist and teacher, who shared mantras referred to by her students as "Helenisms". The appropriate one here is: "A painting is a record of a series of corrections".

Here also is a quote that echoes in my mind when I'm stuggling as I was here. "Painting isn't fun!" she would say, "It's a battle between you and that canvas as you try to turn its flat 2-dimsenionalness into a 3-dimensional being!"

www.helenvanwyk.com/HelenVanWyk

Edgar Degas has a similar quote" “Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.”



After many of those "corrections", I brought "Klamath River at Klamath River California" out into the sunlight (well semi sunlight), and this is how she looked in my front yard sitting on the picnic bench.



In the next blog, you will be treated to the installation.

luv/joB

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