Several times a year I participate in small art and craft boutiques, fairs, and festivals. I faithfully take original drawings of Wilsonia cabins and The Cabins of Wilsonia. Sometimes they actually sell. I spend a fair amount of time telling people about Wilsonia, that it is an architectural treasure here in Tulare County.
See? Okay, a teensy bit blurry, but I wanted you to know that I am faithfully letting people know that cabin communities matter.
A friend recently sent me this photo.
What a place of honor! Of course, it could have been just set up for a photo shoot, but still. . . this cabin looks to be the perfect combination of rusticity with elegance. And knowing my friend, I’m sure it is fabulous!
You too can have your own fancy looking book called The Cabins of Wilsonia. (But you’ll have to find your own table-top easel.)
Book talk? What means that?
It means that if I want to sell books, I need to take them to groups and talk about them. So, my first event of that nature will be for the Tulare-Kings Genealogical Society, this coming Thursday evening.
My entire point of the book, The Cabins of Wilsonia, is that Cabin Communities Matter.
There isn’t much to brag on in Tulare County in terms of architecture. There’s my favorite bridge (on the Mineral King Road), the Fox Theater in Visalia is quite handsome, and there are various homes around the county that are respectable. What I think is truly remarkable is our cabin communities, particularly Wilsonia.
You knew that already because I spent 4 years making a book about it.
So, it is time for me to begin promoting my book. Here is the first event of that nature:
The Fourth of July is a busy day in Wilsonia. It starts with a parade at Grant Grove at 11 a.m. In the afternoon beginning at 1 there is a silent auction of really neat stuff at the clubhouse. At 1:30 is an ice cream social, also at the clubhouse. Then at 6 in the evening, there is a potluck and the silent auction concludes at 8 p.m.
I’ll be there with my neighbor/friend Robin, with boxes of books and the original drawings. (The drawings will be at the cabin where we will be staying in the Masonic Tract).
This drawing will be in the silent auction:
It kind of gives the false impression of a cabin isolated in the woods instead of a cabin surrounded by 213 other cabins in a delightful community known as Wilsonia!
The Cabins of Wilsonia books are now available in Wilsonia.
Neal Mixter is kind enough to take on the task of selling them whenever there is an event at the clubhouse. The “Village” – Wilsonia Village Inc. – will be making some money with each sale.
I plan to be there on the Fourth of July for the ice cream social, potluck and silent auction. I will also bring the unsold original drawings, but you’ll have to find me later to buy those.
Meanwhile, the book is available on Amazon and through my other website. It isn’t for sale on this website because putting a shopping cart on my blog is above my pay grade. 😎 (That’s smart-aleck-speak for I don’t know how!)
I was invited to participate in an event at someone’s home with a group of authors. The address was provided, so I asked Mr. Google how to get there.
Mr. Google misdirected me. My phone isn’t smart, but I am, and I found the house. (Was it a plot to keep me away??)
You know that saying about “keeping up with the Joneses”? In this neighborhood, these folks definitely were The Joneses – what a fabulous front yard! There were meandering paths, areas of river rock in different colors, almost unmowably shaped patches of perfect lawn, serpentine curbing dividing the spaces, an area called “the orchard” with a variety of fruit trees, pots of blooming zinnias, a small fountain, a blooming mimosa tree, Chinese pistache trees, and that’s just the part I remember! Oh, colored umbrellas, lots of colored umbrellas, red, yellow, green, blue, and probably others too.
The 10 or 11 other authors had paperback books that sold for $10-25. There I sat with The Cabins of Wilsonia for $80. Ahem. I sold one, sold some notecards, and met some wonderful people.
You never know. . . some of them own cabins in other places, one may need an illustrator for her next book, one was the mom of a former drawing student who reassured me her boy didn’t go bad (he was on the edge when he was in my classes and I was worried), and it WASN’T HOT OUTSIDE!!
All in all, it was a pleasant afternoon. Next time, as I pull out of my driveway and have the camera conversation with myself, I’ll go back and get it.
Since self-publishing has become relatively easy – maybe if it doesn’t involve 278 drawings and learning to use Adobe InDesign and Photoshop and a scanner and finding a printer and choosing your own paper and designing your own cover and dealing with a company that bids improperly and blames the customer – then perhaps it is easy. . . I wouldn’t know about that sort of self-publishing – but I digress.
Since the boom of self-published books, there are many people with their own book to sell. There are many just in Tulare County alone, which is rather astonishing given the fact that we are the 3rd least educated county in the state of California.
Excuse me. There I go again. . . What I meant to tell you is that I have the privilege of being included in a group book signing event in Visalia at someone’s home. Here is the invitation, because YOU are invited.
The Cabins of Wilsonia is my book. You probably knew that. 😎 It has many drawings, because it is a story of a cabin community told in pictures and quotes from cabin folks.
Mr. Google, who knows all, can tell you how to get here. I will be asking him myself.
The Redbud Arts and Crafts Festival is a long time tradition in Three Rivers.
This is redbud in bloom, which happens in March, not May!
Booths outside.
Neat furniture!
Interesting pottery!
More outside booths!
Inside booths!
This year I will have my books, The Cabins of Wilsonia for sale, along with the original drawings, some framed and some unframed. And, I’ll bring some oil paintings and some Mineral King tee shirts, along with note card packages.
Let’s have a few specifics:
WHEN: Saturday, May 2, 10 AM – 5 PM and Sunday, May 3, 10 AM – 6 PM
WHERE: Three Rivers Veterans Memorial Building, 43490 Sierra Drive, Three Rivers (about 1 mile upstream from Reimer’s AKA “the candy store” on the right as you head uphill)
WHAT: Art and crafts, shown and sold by those who make their own products (no “buy/sell” items allowed at this show), music, food, raffles
WHY: Because it is fun, spring, special, and Mother’s Day is coming
MORE INFO: Arts Alliance of Three Rivers
P.S. I accept cash and checks but not plastic because my phone is not smart like that.
Nice afternoon. Nice place. Interesting authors. Low attendance. Good practice.
I didn’t realize there would be a schedule for each of us to do a reading.
Reading?? Ummm, did anyone notice that my book is a picture book?
Think fast, Central California Artist! I just said that I am an artist, not an author and The Cabins of Wilsonia is a picture book. I showed a few pages, told of the idea behind the book which is to present a realistic look at cabin life today, told about getting people to talk about their current cabin experiences, read my favorite quote in the book, and then I read the conclusion.
The other authors were so kind, and asked interested questions. We had great conversations all afternoon among the 5 of us and the visitors. It was a privilege to hang out with the big boys and girls!
Next time I’ll take my camera so you can see what a nice place it was. (I might take some knitting too.)
It began as an event with 2 authors (I am an artist, not an author, but you get the idea?) Now there will be 5 of us with our books. They are Louise Jackson (a dear friend, fellow Mineral King cabin owner, historian and accomplished writer), Shirley Ross (don’t know her), Betty Luceigh (a poet), and Bill Clark (nice man, don’t know what he has written.)
Have you ever been to the Three Rivers Historical Museum? It is a very fine location.
I plan to set up outside on the patio by the fountain and pond. This will give me a nice view of the backside of Paul Bunyan.
Hunh??
Guess you’ll have to come!
The Three Rivers Historical Museum is across the street and downstream of Reimer’s, AKA “the candy store”. If you are heading up the hill, it is on your right before you get to the candy store. Paul Bunyan, a giant redwood statue carved by Carroll Barnes stands guard in front.
See you there?