Monthly Archives: July 2013

Think About This

The Cabins of Wilsonia will not be a history book. As an artist rather than a historian, I am interested in how things look right now. My goal with The Cabins of Wilsonia is to capture a snapshot and provide an overview of cabin life in the early part of the twenty-first century.

The text will be stories and thoughts from cabin folks. I want those who live cabin life to tell about it. I can tell about cabin life in Mineral King, but in Wilsonia I am an observer. My experiences there are limited, and I come there with my work face on rather than for rest and recreation.

I’ve made a list of questions to help you think about cabin life. The list is now on a separate page on this website. The page is called Questions to Ponder.

If you think of other things to share about cabin life that are not on the list, that is good too.

Historians spend much time reconstructing history, gathering, interpreting, organizing and preserving the past. Maybe the work I am doing here will make the work of future historians a little bit easier.

Together we will make a book that will one day be a historical treasure about a place that already is a historical treasure.

Your Opinion Requested

When you design your own book, it is hard to know when to stop messing around with the design.

While in Wilsonia last week, I spent time at a cabin that I have already drawn. I wasn’t sure the angle was the best one, but at the time it seemed to be the only one.

 

wilsonia cabin

 

I was wrong. Now, I have to decide if it needs to be redrawn. Perhaps I should have left my camera at home for this trip. Decisions, decisions. . . where is the big boss to tell me what to do?? Oh – in the mirror? Hmmm, she doesn’t look adequate for the job. . .

wilsonia cabin

May I have your opinions on this?

Thanks. You can comment by hitting “Leave a Reply” or email me at cabinart at cabinart dot net. (I wrote it out that way because someone somewhere sometime said you shouldn’t put your eddress in your blog or all the robots and spiders and trolls will bother you. Better safe than sorry!)

A Bonus Day in Wilsonia

I have a very dear friend who is a member of the Tulare County Historical Society. She graciously invited me to their July meeting because it was in Wilsonia. Of course I said yes! (Remember my shock and pleasure at discovering Wilsonia is in Tulare County?)

Tul. Co. Hist. Meeting

Tulare County is very small. Without knowing who would be there, look at this list of people I re-met: some cabin folks from Mineral King; my first employer; someone I used to know from doing a giant arts/crafts show; someone who used to own a print shop where I got some of my notecards printed (back in the olden days when people wrote to each other on paper); the mom and aunt of some girls I used to ride the elementary school bus with; my old friend Alan; the brother-in-law of a friend; the most premier historian in the county (that is sort of a duh); a guy I met in 1985 while waiting in an ophthalmologist’s office (he says we met before that at Silver City, but he claimed it was in the ’50s and I wasn’t born yet).

The renowned historian was kind enough to introduce me and asked me to tell about the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia.

Wow! I really appreciated that. Self-promotion and marketing is just weird, awkward and sellsy, so any help that comes my way is highly appreciated.

 

A Whole Street of Cabins

Here is the last drawing to meet my July quota. I got ahead so that I could enjoy some time off. You didn’t think I’d just flake away without doing my work, did you? Wouldn’t be able to have 230 completed drawings by December 31, 2013 with that attitude!

pineBefore I actually spent time in Wilsonia, I contemplated how I might be able to get 200 something cabins drawn. I envisioned pictures like this, with multiple cabins in a single drawing.

Hahahaha!

There are maybe, just m a y b e four places I’ve been able to do this.

Can anyone name the street? First one to comment on the blog with the correct answer gets a prize!  Neal won!

Sooner or Later, It Had To Happen

In order to not burn through so much paper, I often draw 2 pictures on the same piece of paper. So many of the drawings for The Cabins of Wilsonia are small. I usually draw larger than the size it will be in the book because things look even better when reduced. (Hmmm, is this a diet advertisement? Nope1) But, I don’t want to draw any larger than necessary, because there are many many drawings still ahead, and the larger they are, the longer they take.

two pencil drawings on a page

two pencil drawings on a page

I’ve been procrastinating on the job of trimming the drawings. It is a little boring, and there are so many remaining to be drawn that it hasn’t seemed necessary to begin trimming. However, I finally faced up to task, got out my guillotine-type paper cutter and all my packaging materials and dove in.

cut

Oops. It was stuck to another drawing and I whacked them together without knowing this was underneath. Glad it was already scanned. (always a bright side. . .)

Perhaps it is time to take a break, get some perspective, catch my breath, plan, rest and rejuvenate.