Rita's Rocks

Studio Akimbo
559 658-2663
info@trowzersakimbo.com

Artist's Comments

This watercolor was begun, on location, during a Yosemite Western Artists plein air outing I hosted at my home. I finished it in the studio from photos I took that day. A house was first built on our property, by the Alves family, in 1949. For many years the Alves raised chinchillas (among many other things) on the land, when it was learned that the climate and elevation here were perfect for the purpose. A new home was built at a different location in 1960 and the original home reduced to a barn and greenhouse. We purchased the place from a trust in 2001 and spent 3 years remodeling it, before moving in. As Mr. Alves had passed on and Mrs. Alves was confined to a convalescent home, we depended on locals, who assisted us during the remodel, for information about the property. One of the many charming existing features of the place is this rock stairway. While attending a Sierra Art Trails dinner, last year in 2014, a charming woman randomly plopped down at the small table where my wife, Betty, and I were sitting and we introduced ourselves. As we were describing where we lived, a surprised look appeared on her face. "I'm an Alves," she said, "Rita Alves, I grew up in that house." She asked if the rock stairway she'd build still existed there. It does and is now known as "Rita's Rocks."