Time once again for the Sierra-Cascade Environment and Resouces Fund to raise money for forestry education at the Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference 2020. Mary Livingson and I are ready for our duel art competition. This year the theme is Trucks versus Truck. In one corner we have two Kenworths, one vintage and one new up a against a shiny new Peterbilt. May the best truck or trucks win!
The fundraising dinner has about 50 items to be auctioned. We are in the middle of the auction. Our paintings auction in a unique manner at this event. They auction together. The winning bidder gets to select the painting he/she wants and the other painting goes back on the block, or they can take both paintings at the winning bid price. This is looking like an anything can happen auction. It’s always exciting!
The Auction is tomorrow night. I’d love to know which you like best. We’ll let you know who wins!Hey, I’ve seen that truck somewhere before!Hmm…that looks familiar.
Blue Ridge Heritage by Mary Livingston The 2019 winner! Photo courtesy of Mary Livingston.
Every year Mary and I compete in a head to head competition to raise money for Sierra-Cascade Environmental and Resource Fund for the Sierra-Cascade Logging Conference. We each create and donate an original painting for the auction, and may the best painting win. They are auctioned at the Lumberjack Banquet and Education Auction. More on this below. Each year the loser has to write the auction report. We affectionately call it the “Loser Report”. Spoiler alert! Last year I was the loser so I’m writing the report. I’m almost a year late and we are preparing for the the 2020 Auction, which is happening this Friday! So without further adieu here is the 2019 Losers Report.
Last year I prepared a painting honoring a beloved logger in our community that had just passed away. His name was Jim Headrick. He was highly respected and well loved by those that knew him. A sentimental favorite. I titled it “Bull of the Woods.”
Bull of the Woods by Tim Livingston. Photo courtesy of Mary Livingston.
Mary was involved in preparing a clandestine painting of another respected logger in our community, Larry Strawn. She had been recruited by a friend and business partner to Larry named Delbert Gannon. Delbert secretly snuck Mary into Larry’s office to pilfer his prized photos for reference. Larry nearly caught her making her escape from their equipment shop, but she cleverly eluded him. When she created her piece she sneakily hid the identities of the people in the painting while it was on public display in the days before the auction. She titled it, “Blue Ridge Heritage.”
Hmmm…something is fishy here. Photo courtesy of Mary Livingston.
The way this auction works is that both paintings are auctioned at the same time. The winning bidder gets to choose the one he/she wants and the other painting goes back on the block to be auctioned again, or the winning bidder can choose to take both paintings at the winning bid price. This had never happened before.
The night of the auction came and the paintings were revealed! Larry knew he’d been had. We knew Delbert was going to be bidding on the painting of Larry to gift to him. However, Delbert didn’t know before that night that Mary had included him in the painting too! She surprised them both. We didn’t know who would bid for “Bull of the Woods.” The bidding began and was running up quickly. As it got near got near $5,000 the bidding began to slow. Delbert had yet to bid. Mary and I looked towards Delbert and wondered if he was going to bid. Then at $5,400 the auctioneer yelled “sold.” Johnny Miller of John Wheeler Logging had won the auction. When asked which painting he wanted, he said “I’ll take them both!” Delbert looked thunderstruck. The painting he planned to purchase was lost! Meanwhile, Johnny presented “Bull of the Woods” to Liz, Jim Headricks widow. It was very touching. Immediately after the presentation Delbert entered intense negotiations with Johnny to convince him to donate “Blue Ridge Heritage” back to be auctioned again. Mary and I were vigorously debating as to who was the winner and who would have to write the loser report. Then Johnny graciously donated Mary’s painting back to the auction and it went back on the block. This time Delbert was the successful bidder at $5,000. He then presented the painting to his friend Larry. It was one wild auction.
From Left to right Johnny Miller, Larry Strawn, Mike Mitzel, Delbert Gannon and artist Mary Livingston. Photo courtesy of Steve Jolley. From left to right, Johnny Miller, Liz Headrick and artist Tim Livingston. Photo courtesy of Steve Jolley.
As a result both paintings originally sold for $5,400 individually, but Mary’s painting resold for $5,000. My painting brought $5,400 and hers fetched $10,400. The total to the Sierra-Cascade Environmental and Resource Fund from the paintings was $15,800. I think that makes them the big winner!
Coming up very soon, the painting submissions for the 2020 Sierra-Cascade Environmental and Resource Fund. Here we go again.
This pen and ink was inspired when I was headed to a logging job near Trinity Lake in Northern California. It appeared in the children’s book Timber In The Working Forest, by Mary A Livingston and illustrated by yours truly.
It’s been a quiet week around the osprey nest. They’re hunkered down and sitting on the eggs. It’s a good week to share another one of our locals. I ran into this youngster out behind the log decks. I can never guess what animals I may bump into around the mill. Wildlife will exploit habitat wherever they find it.
If you like opossums and you want a great children’s book about an opossum I highly recommendOh No! Baby-O. Written and illustrated by Mary A Livingston.
Circa 1940’s, loggers use a two-man chainsaw to fell a large Douglas-fir. Pen and ink.
It’s time for Mary and me to create a piece of art for charity once again. Every year we do something for the Sierra Cascade Logging Conference Forestry Education Auction. This pen and ink is my exploratory drawing for my painting. I like the direction it’s going. The tree and the background still needs some tweaking. I was helped out by the Forest History Society. They have an excellent photo library of vintage logging scenes and were kind enough to allow me use it for art reference.
Last year at the auction Mary and I each provide a piece of art. To liven things up we competed against each other. It was a big success. You can read about it here on Mary’s blog, And The Winner Is!In fact it was so successful that we are going head to head again this year. We’ll both be working on our paintings this weekend. I can’t wait to see the competition this year.
Originally posted on Sneaking Bliss: Today marked a milestone for our Golden Retriever pup, Phanny – Saturday Night Redtail Phantom. We took her for her first pheasant hunt. Initially, she thought we were just out for a stroll, enjoying a…
Saturday Night RedTail Ducks Ahoy – Sailor 
THE FORESTER ARTIST 