Written by Jana Botkin
In digging through my stacks (figuratively speaking, since they are digital) of Mineral King pencil drawings, I came up with some of the commissioned cabin drawings to share with you today. The most common style of architecture on Mineral King cabins is board and batten. One of the examples today is shingle-sided.
This is the little Mixter cabin, now owned by Mary Megalli. Jan Fleek asked me to adjust reality a bit, so perhaps this isn’t exactly the way you’d see West Florence behind the cabin. When someone commissions me, they become my boss and I just simply obey.
This is the Deitz cabin, formerly known as the Buckman cabin. It wasn’t a commissioned piece, just a view I love. It is titled “Dawn’s Early Light”.
The Dixon cabin is very photogenic, and its occupants allowed me to touch up this drawing that I originally drew in 1992.
The Pinkham cabin, formerly known as the Brundage cabin, lost a large chunk to an avalanche in a year I have forgotten. The space that used to be their living room is now a huge deck. This piece was commissioned by a Pinkham cousin as a thank you to the current owner for sharing the space with his family.
The Cochrun family cabin has a porch with rocking chairs, perfect for watching folks pass by on the road.
The Dula-Martin cabin, AKA Martin-Dula was knocked off its pins in the not so distant past, put back together, and graced with the fanciest awning cover in the entire community. This drawing was achieved with lots of sneaky photography sessions, many sketches and emails, and finally, the commissioning pair provided me with a photo they had from many years ago. Like many cabins it is well-suited for porch sitting.
Jana Botkin is a lifelong resident of Tulare County, a farmer’s daughter from Ivanhoe, and wife to Michael Botkin for 33 years. Using pencils, oil paint, and murals, she makes art that people can understand, of places and things they love, at prices that won’t scare them, always wanting to provide visible reminders that Tulare County is a place to be proud of. She has been a full time artist since 1993, working from her Three Rivers home studio. She has published two books of local cabin communities, The Cabins of Mineral King (with Jane Coughran)and The Cabins of Wilsonia, five local coloring books, and Mineral King Wildflowers: Common Names. Jana accepts commissions, teaches drawing lessons, and blogs about her artful life five days a week on her website, www.cabinart.net.