I only know of two bay windows on Wilsonia cabins. WAIT! I just thought of a third – it is on the newest cabin.
As I designed the book and chose the pictures to include, there was a continual balancing act between the common and the uncommon. Bay windows caught my eye because they are uncommon.
WAIT! I just thought of more: one on Cedar and one on Kaweah.
Here is one on Park and one on Tyndall.
At the beginning of 2013 I thought there were 230 drawings necessary for the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia. (Sorry to sound so repetitious – it is supposed to help Google locate this blog for people seeking info on Wilsonia, cabins and the upcoming book.)
85 of those 230 were finished, so it seemed possible to complete the remaining 145 within the next 12 months.
Then I redesigned and recounted.
This drawing is a result of redesigning. I thought the page was complete, and then I saw this very interesting view of a gable. It has some weird things on the front – horizontal bars with weird loopy metal deals hanging off the bars. Unidentified items present challenges – put them on and risk getting them wrong because I don’t know what they are or leave them off and have the cabin look wrong to the cabin owner? In this case I chose the first option.
The book currently requires about 270 drawings, and as of November 1, I had 45 left to complete. This is twice the number I expected to have by that date. I’m not going to make my deadline of December 31. If this was a job, would I quit? If this was a job, would I get fired?? If this was a job, would I be able to ask for more time or more help or to hire an assistant?
At least the number is down to 2 digits. Maybe I can have them finished by the end of January 2014.
Not this year, but maybe next year, depending on the response. I didn’t mean to tease you!
Hmmm, this would make a good calendar page. . .
This year I have a calendar with my photos of the most beautiful places in Tulare County. It is selling well – $15 includes tax and shipping. You can see and order one here.
Calendars are risky business for two main reasons:
1. Short window of selling time
2. There are zillions of freebies out there.
As I puzzled over whether or not to make and sell a calendar this year, one idea was to feature the Wilsonia cabins on each page. Photography won out, but I’m still mulling over the feasibility of a Wilsonia cabin drawing calendar.
P.S. I just found another cabin with a bay window – it is on President’s Lane!
I haven’t talked too much about the fact that I teach people to draw. These are semi-private lessons, 4 people at a time, one hour per week in Exeter. This has been happening for 20 years, and through the years I have learned how important it is to be honest. If we who draw can’t tell each other the truth about our work, who else will? And because we all want to improve (yeppers, even me, the Teacher), we need to hear from one another. Critiquing one’s own work is very very difficult – sort of like trying to proofread one’s own writing.
I showed this drawing to my students:
One of them said, “It looks like you just scribbled in the background”.
True, I did. I scribble in all the backgrounds. However, it usually looks like a forest, not scribbles.
I don’t let them get away with something that looks sloppy or scribbled, so they don’t let me either!
I redid it. Can you tell the difference? (The background, not the cabin.)
. . . at least they won’t be drawings in the upcoming book, The Cabins of Wilsonia but they might be drawn or painted for other purposes. Making decisions is a continual part of building a book. Sometimes I think I need a supervisor who will tell me what to do so I can question her decisions instead of always talking to myself.
I didn’t get much knitting done because when I go to Wilsonia, I am working, rather than being on vacation. However, when I am in Mineral King, I knit a great deal! Well, I don’t actually knit great deals. I actually knit sweaters, socks, and scarves. Actually. (There – have I ruined the word “actually” for you?)
Even though I continue to photograph this scene over and over because of the color of the umbrella against the wood color, a version of this will appear in the book, The Cabins of Wilsonia. (please forgive the repetition of the title – it is to assist the ubiquitous Mr. Google in finding this blog for new readers.)
A version of this might also appear in the book. All the greenery is a real booger to draw. However, I am a master at drawing boogery things.
Stop laughing.
Okay, go ahead and laugh. I want this blog to be fun!
As I explore Wilsonia, meet people, and bother them about their lives at their cabins, I realize I am experiencing my own version of cabin life. Here is the continuation from Monday’s post.
10. Meeting the delightful owners of Leaky Hollow and learning of their lives, both cabin and “real”. What gifted and creative people, and such an interesting cabin!
11. Meeting Carol in person! She called me out of the blue last year, and it was a privilege to meet her and hear about all the cabins in her family.
12. Talking to someone (who did not introduce himself) about the roads of Wilsonia. He was in disbelief when I told him that many of the cabins share the same address numbers, differentiated only by the road names. He said it wasn’t possible. Clearly, we have different maps!
13. Listening to a presentation by Eric Blehm, author of The Last Season, a book about the search for a missing backcountry ranger. I had no idea that a similar search was taking place in Mineral King at the very time of his presentation. It didn’t turn out well either.
14. Visiting with Joanne, who finally has a cabin after years of only having a lot. What a wonderful lady!
15. Having breakfast with my hosts – cornmeal pancakes!
16. Working out details with the cantankerous, clever, unique and hilarious Dennis, whose wife is a saint, about how to draw his cabin. I am still amazed to have discovered them, because I bunked with their daughter at summer camp in the 5th grade.
17. Meeting Norm, who was very polite in spite of the fact that I failed to recognize him later when he was wearing a hat!
18. Working out details of how to draw another cabin with the very interesting Corky and Larry. Truly nice people with a life of variety. We enjoyed our conversation very much, because it is always refreshing to meet people with shared values.
19. Meeting Mary Anne and re-meeting Mary Ann, who was very kind and understanding about how I am designing the book. Wilsonia is full of very classy people.
To be continued. . .
The goal of The Cabins of Wilsonia is to present a picture of cabin life in Wilsonia. It can apply to cabin life in a mountain community in general, and of course I am hoping it will appeal to a broader audience. But, that would be a side benefit.
I had a cabin life in Wilsonia for 4 days in August. Here is what my cabin life looked like:
1. Staying in the cutest cabin in the entire village! (Yes, I am a little biased.) If I stayed in any other of my “favorite” cabins, (the count is now probably up to 8 or 10), I would say that one was the cutest. “Cute” is a dumb word for a cabin, but I’m hoping you get my true meaning – charming, perhaps? Captivating? Enchanting, even?
2. Dinner outside with Gus, Barbara, Uschi, Charlie and Dutch, followed by great conversation around a campfire. A small group is such a good way to share ideas because there aren’t multiple conversations happening at the same time. We brainstormed about the upcoming Wilsonia centennial (Anyone know if it will be 2018 or 2019?? For sure?) and discussed the Park’s ownership of 12 cabins.
3. A tour of the newest cabin by the owner, Dutch, revealed some very very beautiful details by the master craftsman, Mark Vetter, whom I have not yet met.
4. Oops, a tree holding power lines crumbled, causing the closure of roads surrounding 14 cabins. This resulted in a fun visit with Penny and Gwen and Dolly and Jessie (the latter 2 are dogs), in which I got to see Gwen’s very authentic cabin interior and a fabulous quilt that was put together by the Wilsonia sewing ladies. (Not called that – maybe called the “Quilter’s Guild?”)
5. Learning about 3 logs that cross the meadow by Hazel, Laurel and Brewer streets. Every time I learn a new connection, I understand the layout of Wilsonia just a little bit more thoroughly.
6. Realizing there are some beautiful things that will not make it into the book, and deciding to share those photos via the blog.
7. Running into my friend Russ from Three Rivers! He regularly visits and maintains a friend’s cabin, and is definitely in the market for one of his own. (Have one for sale or know of one? Please email me so I can put you in touch with Russ!)
8. Sampling gooseberries – yes I’ve had them before and they are weird and too much trouble!
9. Realizing the book needs more pages, accepting the fact that there will be more than 230 drawings now, and redesigning. It is weird to sit at a Wilsonia cabin and work on the computer, but easier than at home when I know I could and should be drawing AND having the phone ring in the middle of deep thought. It is easier to work away from the studio. Who knew that cabin life would include computer work?
To be continued. . . my cabin life is apparently very very full!
Ever used one of those talking GPS deals when you were driving? If you go a different direction from the instructions, the female robot says “Re-Cal-Cu-La-Ting”.
That’s me, a female robot. A recalculating pencil picture production person.
When I visited Wilsonia in August, I was a little unnerved by how many changes I wanted to make to the design of The Cabins of Wilsonia. I added pages, added cabins that I previously didn’t believe would fit, details that I hadn’t noticed before, and even decided to redraw a couple of completed drawings.
WHAT?? AM I NUTS?
I might be by the time this is finished.
It was my plan to finish all the drawings, 230 of them with a little head start of 78, by the end of 2013.
Now that I have 5 months remaining, it seemed like a good time to assess my progress. This time I added in all the little decorative pieces too. Maybe I just wanted to feel overwhelmed, or maybe I like pain or maybe, just maybe I wanted to impress myself with the magnitude of this project.
Actually, it isn’t a project. It is a
According to my current count, there will be 269 drawings in The Cabins of Wilsonia PLUS the cover, and I’m sure a few more places will crop up that need decorative touches. I have 186 finished, which means there are 73 remaining if I am to accomplish my goal, with the moving carrot dangling out there.
73 divided by 5 equals approximately 15 drawings a month.
‘Scuse me for a bit. I need to go lie down. Maybe have a hit of chocolate, or knit a few rows, or just talk to Perkins, my Wonder Cat The Survivor. (Just heard a bunch of horrid coyotes yipping outside the studio as I type this.
Remember that book by Art Linkletter Kids Say the Darndest Things?
I don’t. I just remember the title. Who was Art Linkletter anyway?? (We didn’t have teevee until I was in 5th grade so I had to sneak-watch at Grandma’s or a babysitter’s or a friend’s. . . Now I never watch. Don’t ask me anything about teevee because you will be simply astonished by my ignorance.)
Sorry. I got lost.
On someone’s cabin porch . . . that location keeps the deer from eating the flowers.
On my recent visit to Wilsonia, I interviewed people about cabin life. I had a list of questions to get people thinking.
One or two people answered a specific question, but mostly they just started talking. I’d listen, and suddenly I’d hear a gem. They’d be talking, and I’d be scribbling as fast as possible.
We all talk a little messier than we write, sort of jumping around and repeating a little, maybe a little out of sequence at times. Because we are conversing, we can ask one another questions for clarity. When someone repeats something, it is for emphasis, or perhaps to remind himself what he is trying to convey. Very few people report their ideas or experiences in sequential order, so it takes some intense listening to figure things out.
People talked, I listened, scribbled, translated, and then read it back. We all laughed, and then I asked permission to use the quote and their names in the book.
Here is my favorite so far:
We would have invited you to breakfast, but it was too cold.
I wrote it exactly as he said it, and we all knew what he meant. The inside table only seats 2 people; when there are guests, everyone eats outside. This quote takes a little different translating than the ones where people are relating a story. (Were you wondering what it meant?)
Cabin life is a fun and lively and interesting thing.
Do you remember back in the olden days of film cameras? Not everyone had a camera, and those who did, used them sparingly.
I was a bit of a dork, because I had 2 cameras going at a time and kept them in the trunk of my car. One was for color prints, and the other was for either black and white, or slides.
Slides?? Are you kidding me? What useless little items they have become.
But, I digress. Now we are all photographers.
When I carry my camera around Wilsonia, I am recording moments and details of cabins for the purpose of drawing. (Hey Mr. Google, the book will be called The Cabins of Wilsonia). These photos need to have great light, good composition, and visible detail. With my computer, I can straighten out sloping cabins (okay, it was me who was sloping with the camera, but you know what I mean), lighten shadows, darken blown-out highlights, increase contrast, and crop. (I love cropping. It was the best thing about working in a dark room back in the days of film photography.)
If someone has commissioned me to draw their cabin outside of the book project, my photos are much more specifically for documentation. I photograph the cabin from several angles, and pull in the details of each angle with the telephoto lens. I have to photograph things that are hidden behind trees, photograph the tops of the trees, back up, get close, and figure out anything that might be a little hard to understand from a photo. (What a weird chimney base. I wonder why those shingles are different sizes. What’s up with those sagging boards?)
As I walk around Wilsonia to become more familiar with each street and cabin, I continue to see beautiful shots that just wouldn’t translate into pencil drawings. They are simply beautiful – colors, light, things that might make nice paintings.
That’s a weird thought – does this mean that pencil drawings aren’t beautiful?
Nope. Some things look best as color photographs, some as black and white photos, some as pencil drawings, and some as paintings.
Different is just different, not qualitative.
End of lecture. Here is your reward for hanging with me to the end:
P.S. This umbrella is a beautiful green that the camera couldn’t pick up no matter how much I messed with it on the computer. Maybe it would make a nice painting. . .