Four in Hand

Four in Hand

Oil on black canvas, 40x40

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

I started this painting at home, and finished it in a parking lot in East Texas. Or maybe western Louisiana, I can't remember which. It was right near the border, though. 

When I was at home, the day before I'd planned on leaving, the realization that I needed a dog of my own hit me suddenly and hard. I'd been intrigued by little Koko (you can see photos of her here), but wanted to meet her before arriving at any decision. So I finished the flowers on this piece, put it in my handy-dandy drying/protection rack in my van, and set off, a day early. 

After meeting Koko and falling in love with her, I headed west, looking all the way for a quiet, safe place to set up and paint. Finally, somewhere near the border of Texas and Louisiana, I saw a new-looking but deserted little strip mall. I pulled in and set up my easel and began painting. Five minutes later, a giant pickup pulled in. It was the owner of the strip mall, wondering just what the heck I was doing. He peered around the side of the canvas, nodded a little nod and gave me permission. 

I finished the painting about five minutes before it started raining! And I love it, I have to say. 

*** 

World Health Organization be damned!

***

Dog of the Day 

I met this dog in Arlington, VA. She had belonged to the mother of the woman who had her. That woman said that when her mother died, the dog had gone gray overnight. 

***

A Final Thought 

"I want to touch people with my art. I want them to say, 'He feels deeply, he feels tenderly.'" 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Chaim's First House

Chaim's First House

Oil on black canvas, 20x20

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

Well, I drove all the way out to Texas only to run into weather that canceled the first of my three planned shows, and is now making the second look very iffy. After spending several days feeling at sixes and sevens, frustrated and rudderless and indecisive, I've canceled my other two shows, and I'm going home. 

On the way, I'm going to stop in North Carolina. Of course, I am picking up Koko. I'm also going to scout some galleries in Asheville, and see if any will represent me. If any of you have ideas of Asheville galleries that would like my art, please let me know! 

I had a good, good summer of shows with nice sales, great people and drives through beautiful countryside. It was a tiring summer, too, traveling and setting up and doing shows in the blazing heat. The deaths of Jojo and Zoe took it out of me as well. 

This decision, reached with much difficulty, feels right to me. Finally. 

***

On the Way

Really, truly, yes, these are signs I saw on the drive out here. I think it might be great to live in Bat Cave, but I'd never ever want to live in Chunky! Would you? 

***

Dog of the Day

Of course, it's little Koko. She's spayed now, and vaccinated and microchipped, 

and in a few days, she will be coming home with me. Yay! 

***

A Final Thought

"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, 

and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." 

- Leonardo da Vinci

The Marsh - Me, a Guest in Another Blog - and Welcome, Koko

Tuesday Morning on the Marsh

Oil on black canvas, 16x16

At Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center, CT

The salt marsh was the first thing that attracted me to Wachapreague, and it continues to call to me. Every day, the marsh says something new. The colors, the wind, the way the light reflects. The tips of the grasses, the shift in colors from gold to red to green. The rich dark musty smell of the mud. The whitecaps that show on occasion. The water turns indigo in the winter, turquoise in the summer, gold in the right light of dusk. 

And even more than how it looks is the life of the marsh. Birds of all sorts light there, to catch their food, build their nests, swim and sleep and do what birds do. Animals and insects gather in abundance, and live and die, enriching the muck and adding to the ecosystem. 

Sometimes in the mornings, when the tide is low, the smell of the marsh is overpowering. Some people can't stand that smell; I love it. It's the smell of life going on, eternal and unchanging and always changing, too.

***

RECENTLY, I RECEIVED an email out of the blue from Sadie, who writes a blog called Sadie & Co - Her and Her Dogs Plus the Cat. 

Sadie is a fellow artist and animal-lover, and she found this blog and asked me if I'd be willing to answer a few questions, and show my art, on her blog. Of course I said Sure. 

Here's the link: http://herandherdogs.com/2015/10/20/carrie-jacobson-art/

Thank you, Sadie! 

***

Dog of the Day, Dog of the Future

I have adopted Koko, the puppy you see here. I just missed Jojo too much. I missed her love and companionship, and I was adrift without it. Peter found Koko, in the foster home of Christine Stark, who also fostered Abby. 

Christine lives near Asheville, NC, and I arranged my trip to Texas to cut across North Carolina near Asheville. We met in a WalMart parking lot, on a cold morning. Koko was shy, timid, not wanting to come out of her crate at first. But after we'd met for a while, she began to jump around and play, smother me with kisses, nip me with her puppy teeth, and we began to fall in love. 

I have left her with Christine, and I'll come back on my way home and get little Koko, and we will start our lives together. She will never be Jojo; she will never replace Jojo. But she will follow my sweet girl, and she will be my new companion.  

***

A Final Thought

"I saw an angel in the marble and I carved until I set him free." 

- Michelangelo

Ricky and Lucy Go to Texas

Ricky and Lucy

Oil on black canvas, 36x60

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I'm excited to be heading to Texas early Tuesday for three shows, and of course, I'm bringing cowscapes with me.

The first show - Huffhines Art Trail -  is in Richardson, just outside of Dallas, and it takes place this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Then I head to Houston, for Paragon's Houston Fine Arts Festival, Oct. 31 (10 a.m. to 5 p.m.) and Nov. 1 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m.).  Hope it's a treat, not a trick.

My final show of the season is the Winnsboro Fine Art Market, in Winnsboro, Texas. This show takes place Friday, Nov. 6, from 1-7 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 7, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

So if you live in Texas, or you're going to be in Texas - or, heck, if you just want to GO to Texas! - come and say hello to me, and Ricky and Lucy! 

***

A friend just got chickens. Aren't they adorable? 

***

Dog of the Day 

It's Phelps, and he's a fun cat. I've stayed at Phelps's home many times, a

and he's always been a little interested, and a little friendly. 

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

***

A Final Thought

"An artist is not paid for his labor but for his vision."

 - James McNeill Whistler

The Deep, Red Earth

The Deep, Red Earth

Oil on black canvas, 20x60

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

I left for Texas early, on Monday, so I could stop near Asheville, NC, to meet a dog. I don't know if she will be the right dog for me, but something about her face called to me, and so I will meet her.

It's early to be bringing another dog into my life. I am still crying for Jojo, and still missing her, and Zoe, too. Heck, I miss all the dogs who have passed from my life. But Jojo was the dog of my heart, and I am lost without her.

I don't know what it says about me that I need to be loved with the unmitigated and unembarrassed enthusiasm with which Jojo loved me. She adored me without boundary or hesitation. Her joy when I came home was huge, every time. She had no dignity. She would leap and bark and cry, lick me all over, race through the house, cavorting and bounding, jumping on the furniture, taken over with joy. And I was every bit as happy to see her. We started every day together with pure happiness to be in each other's company, and ended every day the same way.

I miss Jojo and I miss this sort of renewing, reassuring, simple relationship.

So I will meet this little dog today, and I'll see. We will both know if it's right.

It makes sense that she - unnamed and unknown - is the Dog of the Day. I'll let you all know what happens.

***

A Final Thought

"Art is the stored honey of the human soul." 

- Theodore Dreiser

New Paintings in the Galleries!

Ducky

Oil on canvas, 16x16

Center Framing and Art, West Hartford Center CT

In the past month, I've distributed a bunch of my new paintings to my galleries. I thought you might like to see what's where. To track down more of my paintings in galleries, please check out the "Available" page on the Jacobson Arts website. 

Trio

Oil on black canvas, 20x20

J. Gallery, High Point, NC

Chillin'

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

JWV Artists, Charlotte, NC

Bonnie and Clyde

Oil on canvas, 20x20

Harbor Gallery, Norfolk, VA

Painter Farm

Oil on canvas, 12x48

Current Reflections Gallery, Wachapreague, VA

Here are addresses and links for my galleries: 

Center Framing and Art

 56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT 

www.centerframingandart.com 

J. Gallery

J. H. Adams Inn, 1108 North Main St., High Point, NC

www.jgalleryhp.com

JWV Artists

By appointment, Charlotte, NC

www.jwvartists.com

Harbor Gallery

1508 Colley Ave., Norfolk, VA

www.harbor-gallery.com

Current Reflections Gallery

Main Street, Wachapreague, VA

www.facebook.com/CurrentReflectionsArt

***

Dog of the Day

How could you not take these guys for a walk? 

Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? 

Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

*** 

A Final Thought 

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Route 13 Barns, Large Version

Route 13 Barns (large version)

Oil on black canvas, 48x48

Please click here to email me for price and availability

I loved the small version of this painting so much that I made a larger version. It's a barn on Route 13 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, where we live. I'm drawn to it again and again. Every time I see it, I photograph it, and I've painted it a number of times. 

In this one, the rows of planted whatever in this painting are even more  brightly colored, even more oddly three-dimensional than they were in the first one, or in any of the ones I've made.

I looked at this painting for a long, long time this weekend and realized that I don't really know how I painted it. Don't know how I made those rows look so 3-D. It's something about stroke, and color and rhythm - and something more, something I can't quite name. 

I vanished into the painting of this one, letting sadness go and healing come. There was a lot of work in this painting, a lot of time. A lot of letting in God or the nature or whatever you call the higher power that I believe brings the inspiration and the magic. 

And sometime soon, this painting will bring that magic and inspiration to someone's home. I'm looking forward to seeing where it ends up. 

***

One good thing about the days turning cold is that I get to wear my new hat.

My friend Elizabeth Buebendorf made it for me. Isn't it great? 

***

Some happy buyers, above and below, who visited my studio 

in Wachapreague recently, and had their choice of paintings.

 If you'd like to come by and see my new art, please drop me an email!

If I'm there, I'd love to see you. 

***

Dog of the Day

I'm a good dog. Aren't I?

***

A Final Thought

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. 

Art is knowing which ones to keep." 

- Scott Adams

Daisy - and a Revelation

 Daisy

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Please click here to email me for price and availability

The Paradise City show was great for me in terms of seeing people I know and like, and meeting new people who appreciate my paintings. I've enjoyed meeting new artists, too, and, of course, seeing all the amazing art and craft items on display.

A few people picked up commission pieces, some large, so I made money (yay!) - but I did not sell very many paintings just off the wall to strangers.

At the end of the day on Saturday, I was picking up my friend, jeweler Cynthia Battista (check out her stuff by clicking here), and I said hello to the lamp-maker across the aisle. He asked how my sales had been, and I said just OK.

I asked him back, as you do, and he said, "Well, I won't know for a year."

And in that moment, everything changed for me.

He was so right! When I looked back at my day, my week, my year, my career in this amazing world, nothing is of the instant. Nothing is really of the day, or of the show.

People fall in love with an image in the moment, sometimes,  but often, that's just the start of things. They fall in love with the colors, the texture, the light, the movement, the journey I'm on, or with something neither of us can identify. I fall in love with their vision, their imagination, the stories they share with me about their lives and about the thoughts and memories and hopes that my paintings evoke. It's a relationship built on color and texture and excitement and possibility, and it unfolds and deepens, and the right paintings come, and the sales come with them.

So, yes. Ask me in a year, and I'll tell you how this show went.

***

Along those lines.... I met Susan a few years ago at Paradise City, and she (and her family) fell in love with my paintings. We saw each other at the shows over the years, and in the spring, she commissioned me to make this Big Cow painting for their new house. They picked it up on Saturday - and they are happy buyers, indeed! 

***

Dog of the Day

I found this tiny sculpture (and a bunch of other hilarious and charming little pieces) at the booth of someone (or someones) whose work is called Arthead Studio. I was never able to get to the booth when the show was on to meet the artist - but isn't this fun? Check out more pieces by clicking here.

***

A Final Thought

"Inspiration does exist but it must find you working." 

- Pablo Picasso

The Road Home

The Road Home

Oil on black canvas, 24x36

Please click here to email me for price and availability

In just a few minutes, I'll be getting in the car to head north for the Paradise City Arts Festival, this weekend in Northampton, MA. 

The show runs Saturday through Monday, and it's one of the high points of my show year. There's wonderful 2-D art, great jewelry, the most beautiful furniture ever, and very cool clothes, clocks, glass, sculpture and wood. Much of the work is very expensive - as long as we have dogs, we will never spring for furniture like what I see at the show - but it's inspiring to look at, and it's an exciting festival in which to participate. 

All that being said, this will be the first show I've done since Jojo and Zoe died, and my first foray into a sort of public space, where my own expectations are that I will engage and enthuse and transmit my excitement about my paintings. I believe I can do it, but it will be an internal stretch to bridge my sadness. I also believe that I need to do it, that it will help me get closer to the joy of living again. And I am truly excited about my paintings. 

Another wonderful thing is that my friend, the amazing jeweler Cynthia Battista, will be in the show, too. You can see her jewelry by clicking here.  We won't be set up very close to each other, but it's always good to do a show with a friend. 

I'll be in the Morgan Barn, Booth 409. Cynthia will be in the Arena building (the big building), near the Gazebo, at the far end. I think her booth number is 642. 

*** 

Fatal Beauty

This stinkbug somehow got part of one of my paintings on him. I know it will kill him, 

and I do feel bad about that, but he's very beautiful, all in color. 

***

Dog of the Day

 I ran into this woman and her four dogs in Mystic, during the show there. The dogs were all so different, and so funny, and they got along great together.

***

A Final Thought

"The emotions are sometimes so string that I work without knowing it. 

The strokes come like speech." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Swirling Sky

Swirling Sky

Oil on canvas, 36x36

Please click here to email me for price and availability

A while back, I made a series of paintings in which I left much of the canvas blank. I loved this look, the pure white blank space, to be filled in by your imagination, or your memories, or your dreams.

And people did just that, when they saw the paintings. The houses were standing at the edge of a cliff, or in the middle of a snowstorm, or nestled into dunes - and there were more stories, more ideas. It was great to hear them, and to talk about these paintings with people. 

But in the end, I stopped making them. It was very hard to sell them. While lots of people got it - and I sold quite a few of them - many didn't, and didn't understand why they'd pay good money for a painting with almost no paint on it. And I do understand that. Also, no matter how careful I was, the beautiful white canvas picked up smudges and dirt from the shows. 

Recently, I exchanged pieces with Judith of JWV Artists in Charlotte, NC, and got my biggest blank-canvas painting back. This past week, I filled it in - and ended up with this painting. I have to say I like it even better than the original. I love the thick, undulating dunes, love the swirl of the clouds in the sky, love the contrast of the two parts together, linked by the houses. What do you think? 

You can see this painting and other new pieces at the Paradise City Arts Festival this weekend in Northampton, MA. The show runs from Saturday through Monday. Click here for more info! 

Here's the original

***

Really? Wouldn't you think about changing the name of your town? 

*** 

 Here's the flier I've been working on for the 101 Dogs project. If you click on the flier, you should be able to read everything. Otherwise, click here to check out the project on the Jacobson Arts website: http://www.jacobson-arts.com/#!101-dogs/ci93

***

Dog of the Day

My friend Tiffany told me this story. A guy she works with had to euthanize his dow two years ago, and has missed him ever since. The guy wanted an American bulldog, and applied for an out-of-state rescue - and never got a response of any kind, not even an acknowledgement of his application. 

Tiffany told him to be patient, that the right dog would come along and would find him. Sure enough, this dog came in to the local shelter. He got a wash and a dry and went home with Larry to see how it would work. I haven't heard back, but something tells me it was Meant To Be.  

Rooney - and 101 Dogs Is Live

Rooney

Oil on canvas, 16x16

commission

The 101 Dogs project, which is now up and running, puts my love of art and dogs - especially rescue dogs - together, and it is bringing joy back into my life. 

I rededicated it to Jojo and Zoe, and I have to say that working on the web page, Facebook page, flier, press releases, button, totebag, notecards, stamps and other items are helping me get through my sadness.

In the project, I'll make portraits of the first 101 dogs who share the lives of people who sign up at $375 or more. The people will get the portraits, a book or poster of all the dog paintings in the project - with their dog on the cover, or in the center of the poster - and a variety of other items. People sponsoring me for less than $375 won't get original art, but will receive a variety of thank-you gifts bearing art from the project. And anyone who sponsors me at any level will have my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation. 

Please click here take a look at the 101 Dogs page on the Jacobson Arts website - and please consider sponsoring me. If you've been thinking about having me make a painting of your dog, this would be a perfect time to do it! (Here's the link, if you'd rather copy and paste: http://www.jacobson-arts.com/#!101-dogs/ci93). 

***

I HAVE LOTS of exciting new paintings, and I'll be bringing a lot of them to the Paradise City Arts show this weekend. 

The show takes place in the Three-County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It's a terrific show, with plenty of lovely art, beautiful, fine craft, good food and music, too. There's a fee to enter, but you can get a discount coupon at the Paradise City Arts website. Click here! 

I'll be in the Morgan Barn. Please come and say hello, and see my new paintings. 

***

HURRICANE JOAQUIN has left the area, and the flooding has nearly stopped. The photo above was from Saturday. Sunday's high tide was even higher. I took a video of a guy who just had to drive down flooded Atlantic Avenue... and then had to stop to make way for some ducks. Here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYXQlbtOcRg

***

Dog of the Day

It's Maggie, who lives down the street and decided she needed to bark her head off at me. We used to call her the fake Jojo, because she looked just like Joey, but with brown eyes. 

***

A Final Thought

"The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives

 or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep."

- Paul Strand

Three Sold Pieces

 These paintings have all sold, but I thought you might like to see them.

I've always liked looking at fields of grasses, watching the way the wind blows through, bending the tops of the plants, making a gold or silver or soft-green path. I had a series of grass-focused paintings this summer, and I plan to keep making them.

The little longhorn made me laugh. The painting is 6 inches by 12 inches - I usually make longhorn paintings that are 15x60 or larger.

The sunset is one that came from my project with my friend Candy. I really like the warm glow I captured.

                                                 ***

A Final Thought

"The artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, 

far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep." 

- Paul Strand

Tom's Barns - and a Wild Day on the Coast

Tom's Barns

Oil on canvas, 30x30

Please click here to email me for price and availability. 

I've been delighted by the skies I've made lately. I like the colors and combinations I'm discovering, and by the way the sky and the land complete and reflect each other. I like the arrangement of barns in this painting, too. 

If you'd like to see this, and my other new paintings, I'll be at the Paradise City Arts Festival next weekend in Northampton, MA. This is a marvelous show, with fine art and beautiful fine craft - ceramics, furniture, clothing and fabric, glass, clocks and lots of jewelry. It takes place in the Three County Fairgrounds, just off I-91. 

In addition to the artists and artisans, there's good food available for lunch or snacks. You can find out more about the show, get directions, and find a coupon for a discount on the gate fee by clicking here. 

I'll be in Booth 409, in the Morgan Barn (the small barn). Please come by and say hello! 

***

 As many of you know, we live in Wachapreague, a tiny town on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The Atlantic is just down the street. A salt marsh and barrier islands mitigate the power of the ocean, but the storm this week brought major flooding to the Shore and to Wachapreague. In all these photos, water is covering roads.

 ***

Dog of the Day

Saw this husky at a show in Richmond this spring.  Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

***

A Final Thought

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." 

- Henry David Thoreau