Guardian at Wood Ranch

This was painted on location at the Don Wood Ranch in Danville. This big eucalyptus seemed to be standing guard as it stood at the entrance to the ranch on the driveway.  The size is 10x8" oil on canvas.  Beauty can be found in almost anything.  For me that day the gnarly bark was my muse.  Just calling for me to paint it.  The ranch was full of barns and silos, old fences, out buildings, windmills, etc.  Almost too much to take in.  I tried to simplify for the day and start with just one tree.  Keeping my brain from overloading.  Look for this painting in the Pioneer Gallery in Danville as the historic Danville show will be going up soon.

                                                                                                                                                                         

Copyright Infringement

Diablo Summer  30x48" oil on canvas  ©2003 Catherine McClure Lindberg

Last Saturday a small local paper in a nearby city ran an image of the above painting without my permission. It was a great spot, right on the back page of the paper, taking up 1/6th of the page. Nice size.........  Although there was no credit to me at all.

I phoned the paper yesterday and spoke with the art director.  I informed him that the image belongs to me and that I own the copyright.  I also explained that the public notice of copyright is posted on the front of the painting but is conveniently cropped off in the printed image in the paper.  He was appalled that someone on his staff did that. He actually had the newspaper on his desk and was just waiting for the artist to call. The first thing he said, was "What can I do? How can we fix this?"  This guy is new at this job, having come over from a big paper. He told me that he obviously has some rules to go over with his staff and journalism etiquette.

The paper is going to run a thumbnail image of the same painting and an explanation with full credit to me.

Everyone is happy, problem solved.  Never let anyone get away with using your art with out permission.  Many thanks to those who recognized my work and drew it to my attention as I don't live in that  city and may have never seen it or knew about it.

Hazardous Waste & Tightie Whities!

Today I decided to clean out my Silicoil Brush Cleaning Tank. It is basically a wide mouth jar with a metal coil in it.  It has been years since I last cleaned it!  The paint residue gunk had risen so high that it was almost above the coil.  It was mostly wet gunk and not enough usable odorless thinner.  

I went outside, got a rag from the garage and dumped the gunk out. I used a palette knife and scrapped out all that I could and then wiped it clean with paint thinner.  Well, the gunk and dirty rags were all contained in one pile that I later put in a plastic bag and tied shut. But this is hazardous waste. I need to take it to the hazardous waste disposal facility and explain to them what it is.  Now here is the tricky part........

When my husband retired from the Coast Guard, we retired all the white underwear to the rag bin.  They make great rags ..........  even the tightie whities ....... Except I never put them in my paint box or else they end up out with me when I go plein aire painting.  That is embarrassing when you are talking with someone who has approached you and you reach for your rag to wipe your brush. Your tightie whitie that is.  Talking and gesturing with my hands as I do when I talk, with a tightie whitie waving around..........  a dirty tightie whitie........... Not pleasant.  So, they are for home use only.

Back to the hazardous waste.............  I have a bag full of diry tightie whitie rags to drop off at the hazardous waste facility............... oh joy......... I have some explaining to do.........

Plein Aire @ Wood Ranch, Danville, CA

This morning I went out to the Don Woods Ranch in Danville, CA on Tassajara Rd. to paint with a handful of other plein aire artists. What a wonderful opportunity to be invited to this private property.  I got a personal tour of the property by Don himself. He has lived on that ranch for 73 years.  It has been in his family for a very long time.  It is truly a step back in time.  There are many out-buildings, barns, wagons, windmills, water silos, grain silos, and cabins on the property.  Some really cool dilapidating  old cabins that were used by friends and relatives that would come over for the weekend or week from the big city of San Francisco to spend time in the "country."

Here are a couple photos of me painting the eucalyptus tree and driveway to the property. I will post the painting later when the paint is dry enough to handle and photograph.

Diablo's North Gate

9x12"  Plein Aire oil

This is actually an "indoor" plein aire painting.  I have a request from a client to paint a painting similar to one she purchased from me last spring.  The request was to use the same colors, size, frame and possibly something from the North Gate side, since she lives near there.  Well, every thing is so gold right now that I luckily have this wonderful photo in my files that I took last February when I was painting in that area.

I was sitting at the Pioneer Gallery in Danville last Sat. and I like to paint while I am there, so I started this piece from the photo there in the gallery. You can see the start of it on my easel when I photographed my newly made pochade box.

Quick Plein Aire

Everything is so gold and dry right now.  September Gold I like to call it.  This is a small 8x8" plein aire piece of the local area near Livermore.  So fortunate to know the ranch owner and have access to his acres of property! The painting is still wet, so it had a little glare when I photographed it this morning.

Finished Pochade Box

This is my newly handmade pochade box.  See the post below for how and why I made it.  It is set up and attached to a new light weight tripod I just bought that only weighs 2 lbs.  My box also weighs 2 lbs, so that is pretty manageable in my backpack when I am out hiking around looking for a good location to paint.  The outside of the box measures about 10 1/4 X 13 1/2". So it easily fits in my pack.  My tripod collapses and folds down to 17 1/2" So it fits as well.  The box mounts to the tripod with a T-Nut that I installed in the bottom of the box.  You hammer it in to a pre-drilled hole. I had to glue a small piece of wood inside the box, as it was not thick enough to accept the T-Nut. It works fine! See photo below of T-Nut.

T-Nut installed in the inside bottom of pochade box.  Used for mounting box on a tripod.

Pochade Box

Because I have no desire to pay between $300 and $400 for a pochade box to use plein aire painting, I thought I would try making my own box.  Below are photos of the work in progress.  I like it.  Now I want to refine it.  I don't own all the tools necessary to make it properly.  I cut the square wood for the top and bottom with a circular saw.  I need a table saw.  As straight as I tried to cut it, it is not perfect and the hinges and latches don't line up right.  This box is my prototype.  I have used it in the field several times now.  It weighs only 2 lbs.  It fits in my backpack and holds a small palette, brushes and my rag and palette knife.

I am going to make a new box using the proper shop equipment if I have to beg, borrow or steal them. No, I have no degree in Engineering as I was asked by one who saw my box.  My degree is in art.  I just needed a smaller light weight box and had no desire to pay the going rate for one so I figured out what I needed and a way to make it. Due to size limitations on photos, I will have to post the finished piece separately.

Pochade Box lid and bottom
Inside lid showing spring mechanism
Close-up of spring mechanism
Inside lid cover with slots for metal "L-hook" for canvas support
Hinge made out of a toggle bolt