The Purple House

The Purple House

oil on canvas, 12x36

Please contact me for price and delivery options

Like my painting itself, these new paintings sort of showed up out of the blue. There were hints of them early on, in how much I loved certain paintings in an "unfinished" stage... but for the most part, these paintings have simply appeared and declared themselves, and left it to me to make something of them. 

It's pretty clear that these are a good addition to my portfolio, in terms of sales. Of nine paintings that have sold in the past two shows, seven have been these minimal ones - and I have not priced them cheaply. 

I need to find out how to be sure they are a good addition in terms of heart and soul and the character of my painting. I need to apply myself, learn what works in these and what doesn't. Learn how to make them interesting and evocative and exuberant, when they are so lean and so spare. Learn how much is enough, how much is too much and how much is not enough. 

I like knowing that I'm facing these challenges, and finding these answers. Any reactions you all have, I'd love to hear them, too. 

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IT'S BEEN SEVEN years since my mother died, and I miss her every day. 

Many days, when I think of her, I miss her but am able to focus on how wonderful she was, and how lucky I was to have her as my mom. She enriched my life every day, with her insights and her laughter, her honesty and her courage. She'd call me to tell me some funny thing and make me laugh, or share some sad thing with me to ease her pain. She'd call to ask me about a recipe, tell me about a movie, let me know that someone had died (nearly inevitably, someone I didn't know or didn't remember), or tell me about a house she'd seen that she might love to live in. I still find myself reaching for the phone now and then to call her with some bit of news. 

A couple weeks ago, I was in the studio, painting, when I was hit with a wave of grief about her. The studio is the former boat garage, and I paint in there with the garage door, the back door and all the windows open. I was crying loudly, wailing really, when I realized that the propane guys had come into the yard to make a delivery. How Mom would have laughed at me, and at the looks on their faces! 

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Dogs of the Day

The Fatheads, as they are lovingly called, are Vinnie and Patsy, cousins of George and Zack, 

dogs of my good friends Cynthia Battista and Kevin Ireton. 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com!