Tag Archives: Wilsonia

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?)

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.

What’s Going On Here?

List Lady Here. A progress report, thoughts on building a book, and new information about the arrangement of Wilsonia streets for you:

This cabin on Park Street/Lane/Road/Avenue (just kidding on the last one!) is an architectural design repeated throughout Wilsonia. There were 5 cabins like this. Now there are 4, and one has been remodeled so isn’t immediately recognizable as the same design. Do you know which cabins these are?

All the drawings are finished for June. Yes, you read that right. This is so I can do all of July’s drawings in June. What’s going on here? July is going to be extraordinarily busy for this California artist. If I don’t draw ahead, I’ll fall behind.
I found someone who calls himself The Book Designer. He is a book designer. (Duh.) He helps people self-publish their books. (If they pay him.) I feel greatly reassured that when the time comes to make some difficult decisions such as cover design, typestyles, and finding a printer, The Book Designer will be my new best friend.
Has anyone else besides me noticed all the streets in Wilsonia that begin with “L” are going east and west? This is confusing at times. When I think of all those L streets, I’m flipping through my mental Rolodex, reciting Laurel, Lily, LeConte, Lupine, Lilac. . . sometimes they are alphabetical, sometimes they are random. But I just figured out that they ARE alphabetically arranged in Wilsonia, beginning in the southern end of the community! There’s an AHA! moment!

Ready to Draw Again

I got tired. I kept trudging along, pounding out the drawings.

Then, my good friends Sophie and Louise invited me to spend a day in Sequoia. We did Sequoia kinds of things – Crescent Meadow, Tharp’s Log, lots of big trees, lunch at Wuksachi, but our main objective was to find dogwood in bloom. We were too early for Sequoia, and knowing better, we went to Grant Grove.

Too early there also. Duh.

Sophie and Louise are both authors of local books, great encouragers and supporters of my project, The Cabins of Wilsonia. (Sorry to be so redundant – it helps Mr. Google find this blog, so I’m told.)

The first time I went to Wilsonia was in 2008 with these two dear friends. We drove around tentatively, and confirmed my decision that Wilsonia was too big and too far away and that I wouldn’t be doing a book of the cabins there. 😎

This time, I could hardly contain my excitement – “This is my favorite cabin!” “Go left here!” “That’s my favorite cabin!” “The nicest people in the world spend the summer there!” “This is my favorite cabin!” “That cabin is one of the oldest – doesn’t it look like a Mineral King cabin?” “Go right here!” “This is my favorite cabin!”

They began counting how many times I said a cabin was my favorite. I realized that Wilsonia has snuck into my heart: the folks, the location, the architecture, the project.

I’m ready to go back to the drawing board and tackle the 2nd 3rd of this year. Or is that the 2nd third? or the second third?

Never mind. I’ve got drawings to finish.

How to Draw a Book, Chapter 3

Will anyone care enough to buy this book?

Is this cabin on Cedar? Or is it on Meadow? The map says Cedar, so that is the chapter where it will appear in the book.

Last time we determined that people will indeed care about a book called The Cabins of Wilsonia. Today we will think about whether or not enough people will care to make the project worthwhile. It would be stupid to spend 3 years on a project, not earning any money while I am doing it, and not earning any money at the end. I try to not be stupid. This is a good policy, don’t you think?

There are several places I hope to find people who will want the book.

1. Cabin folks, their families and friends. In 1998, Jane Coughran and I wrote and drew a book called The Cabins of Mineral King. We printed and sold 1000. There are around 60 cabins in Mineral King, as opposed to around 200 in Wilsonia. Clearly, more than just cabin owners and their associates bought the book!

Who were those other people? Do they exist within the circles of Wilsonia?

2. The tribe who loves Wilsonia, Grant Grove, Kings Canyon. Mineral King has a tribe of folks who love the place. These are mountainy people, history buffs, hikers, campers, people from Tulare County, people from all over the world.

Wilsonia is next to Grant Grove, in Kings Canyon National Park, also visited by people from all over the world. The road is much easier than the road to Mineral King and it leads to other places too. It stands to reason that the visitation is substantially greater. I don’t know the numbers.

The comparison sort of works, although Wilsonia is off the main highway and isn’t necessarily a part of the visitors’ experience. So, although that might be a source of customers, it probably won’t be a large segment.

3. My people. I have been earning my living as a pencil artist, oil painter, teacher of drawing, and muralist since 1993. Through those years I’ve developed a small following. Makes sense that a percentage of those who like my work and bought my first book are likely to buy a second book. Certainly would help if I knew what that percentage will be, but alas, I am an artist, not a clairvoyant.

4. People who love local history, love to draw, and/or have a thing for cabins. This group is diverse, hard to find, and random. I can find the local history buffs through the Tulare County Historical Society, but the rest might depend on good old Mr. Google, who knows everyone and everything.

The cost of almost everything goes up (except the latest in technology – I remember my dad paying $90 for a calculator the size of a shoe back in the ’70s!). So, whether or not anyone will care enough to part with their hard earned dollars depends on me – DO YOUR VERY BEST WORK, TOOTS!

Oh my goodness – the pressure – bring on the dark chocolate!

Where is Wilsonia?

You know that cliche’ “You learn something new every day”?

I’d like to learn more about this chair on Fern Street.

I recently learned that Wilsonia is in Tulare County!

Who cares? Me, the folks at Tulare County Treasures and of course, the county tax collectors.

I care because my art career and business focus on the beauty of Tulare County. It felt sort of wrong, outside of my area, losing my focus, infringing on other artists’ territory to draw a book on the cabins of Wilsonia. Yes, I am cabinart, but there are many gifted artists in Fresno County, where I thought Wilsonia is. (was? what is the right way to say this??)

What is Tulare County Treasures? You can read about them on the link above, but since you are here, I’ll tell you. This is a group of volunteers who know and love the good things of Tulare County. They are authors, historians, artists, and leaders. (I attended their first meeting but realized it would be stupid for me to add any more to my life. Just wanted you to know I rubbed shoulders briefly with local big shots. Please be impressed.)

They are gathering information and photographs, building a website, making maps and a brochure to the places in TC that are special and open to the public. They asked for permission to use some of my artwork of Mineral King and Wilsonia. Silly me, I said yes before thinking “WAIT! Wilsonia is in Fresno County!”

Then I asked Gus and Neal, my go-to-guys for all things Wilsonia, and both of them confirmed that Wilsonia is indeed in Tulare County!

Who knew? (The tax collector, but who cares about that stuff?)

So, I am thrilled, just thrilled I say. One of my little obstacles to the legitimacy of this book has been shattered, obliterated, vaporized, G O N E, and now this Tulare County/California artist is ready to DRAW!!!

Did you know that about Wilsonia??

How to Begin Drawing A Book

If you are a studio artist, one who works inside a building at a drawing table with a giant magnifying light and a T-square, you begin with photographs.

I must have photographed this cabin 2 dozen times. Each time I was certain the light was better than the last.

In the summer of 2011, I stayed in Wilsonia 3 different times.

The Jeffrey Shooting Stars were so gorgeous, and that is not something that I can depict in pencil.

Every day (except on the two when I was really sick, but let’s not talk about that) I was walking the streets of Wilsonia. I needed to become familiar, really familiar with all the cabins and all the streets.

Did you know there are 21 28 streets in Wilsonia? Did you know that there are 212 cabins?

That’s a lot of walking, and a lot of cabins, and a lot of photographs. I was in Cabin Artist Heaven – every where I looked, there was something wonderful and new to see, photograph and draw.

You might be new to my art. If so, you might not know that my art business is called Cabinart. I began drawing the cabins in Mineral King, working strictly in pencil.

I love to draw!

Any questions so far? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! (At the top of the post, it says “Leave A Reply”. You can click this and ask or tell me anything you want me to know.)

The Second Wilsonia Cabin I Drew

Okay, if you start counting with the Gordon’s A-frame, then the Coll-Inn Too is #2 and this is actually #3. But since I can’t remember drawing the Gordon’s cabin, I still think of this as #2.

My friend Sara called to see if the Wilsonia folks could auction or raffle a certificate for a drawing of a cabin at one of the annual meetings. Since I am CABINART (that is the name of my studio because originally all I did was draw cabins), I said yes. She bought a certificate for an 8×10 drawing, and it raised some money for the community.

Jack and Alitta were the recipients, and they were both delighted and delightful!

The First Wilsonia Cabin I Drew

I thought it was Gus and Barbara’s “Coll-Inn Too”. Turns out I drew Pat Gordon’s A-frame on Chinquapin before I knew anything about Wilsonia! I don’t remember, didn’t take any photos, have no memory of it. I’m grateful to Pat for reminding me that I drew her cabin!

However, the first cabin I REMEMBER drawing is the Coll-Inn Too. I don’t remember how Gus found me. He emailed me photos, I asked for more. He emailed those. I asked for more. He send more. I probably asked for even more. For some reason, maybe because I was too busy or too lazy or don’t charge enough for commissions, I didn’t drive to Wilsonia and look at the cabin with my own eyes.

Despite all the difficulty I gave to Gus, we had a great time communicating about the details of his cabin. He and Barbara had a zillion notecards printed with the image, and it is rumored that thank you notes are sent for any and all reasons so they can get those cards used!

I did make Barbara’s happy bear look grumpy. We discovered that he does look grumpy from the angle I drew him! She forgave me, and we are friends. 😎

Welcome to the Cabins of Wilsonia

This blog is the go-to place for current information on the upcoming book “The Cabins of Wilsonia”.

Here I will show you drawings in progress. But I won’t show you all of the drawings, because I want you to have some surprises when the book is published.

I will keep you updated on how far along I am in the 230+ drawings for the book, I’ll share some of my photos, your stories, and the inside business of self-publishing a book while simultaneously earning a living.

It is my hope that you will enjoy this blog and share it with family members, friends and cabin neighbors.

You will be able to comment, ask me questions, and read what your fellow blog-followers think.

You can see that I’ve chosen the Finck’s cabin as the header for this blog. This is because it cropped well to fit the space well. (On the original drawing, there are taller trees.) I may change the top drawing from time to time, because sometimes I just like variety.

The Cabins of Wilsonia

A picture book about a cabin community