Calendars, Tote Bags, Pillows - and a Discount, Too!

 Hope you all had wonderful Thanksgivings, filled with family and friends, love and warmth and an abundance of delicious food! I was lucky enough to celebrate with family in Connecticut and Rhode Island, and then come home and celebrate with Peter and the gang.

I spent part of the time making calendars for 2016, and they're on sale Sunday and Monday, at my store on Lulu.com - http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/carriejacobson. On Sunday,use the code TWOMOREDAYS at checkout and get 30 percent off. Monday, use the code ONEMOREDAY and get 25 percent off! The regular price is $13.88 each.

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I HAVE SOME FUN items on Fine Art America, too, like shower curtains, pillows and tote bag you see here... there are also note cards, mugs, coasters and I don't remember what else - all emblazoned with your favorite paintings.

You can click here to reach my page, or go to fineartamerica.com and search for me! I'm adding paintings all the time - if there's one you particularly love and it's not there, drop me an email and if I can put the painting up for you, I'm happy to do so.

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AND CONTINUING in the self-promotional vein, the 101 Dogs Project is a great idea for a present! For $375, you or your giftee will receive a 12-inch-by-12-inch oil painting of your dog, a book or poster starring said dog, and some other items, too, depending on your sponsorship and your choices. Part of the money you give me will go to one of four dog-related groups, or to a dog-related group of your choice. And for a bigger sponsorship, you will get two paintings, or a bigger one! Check it out by clicking here, or go to jacobson-arts.com and poke around a little.

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Dog of the Day

I bet this German shepherd puppy is pretty much all grown up now! 

I took this photo in the summer, at the South Norwalk Art Festival. 

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A Final Thought

"One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself." 

- Leonardo da Vinci

Jumping Rope

 Jumping Rope
Oil on black canvas, 24x36 (diptych)
Please click here to email me for price and shipping information

I'm having an absolute blast painting people in general, and specifically, people in motion. And generally, I don't see artists showing paintings like this.

LeRoy Nieman did, if you remember him. You can see some of his action paintings here, and some of his paintings of the Olympics here. I see painters with figurative work, but by and large, the figures are posed, or at least stationary.

Maybe this is because people don't like and don't buy paintings of action? Maybe it's because jurors don't like paintings like these and don't let them into shows? I can't believe it's because other painters just don't paint them. What do you think?

I will say, these are the scariest paintings I've made, and the most challenging.

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MY PAINTINGS LOOK great in Center Framing and Art's Christmas window! And as you can see, the gallery is moving. They're going just around the corner, but it's going to be a big change, after 42 years in the same spot. And it's going to be interesting to see what happens to West Hartford Center, when so many of the businesses leave. 

Until Jan. 1, Center Framing and Art will remain at 56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT. Check out their website here.

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Dog of the Day

This guy was working as hard as he could to defend his car! 

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A Final Thought

"An artist never really finished his work; he merely abandons it."

- Paul Valery

Hammy - and 101 Dogs!

Hammy

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Available at Center Framing and Art

56 La Salle Road, West Hartford Center, CT

I hit a deer the other night, on my way home from Virginia Beach. It was dusk, and I always look out for deer, especially at dusk and dawn, but this one came out of nowhere, virtually jumping into my van on Route 13. 

She died instantly, and I feel so terrible for having taken this beautiful life, no matter how inadvertently. I was uninjured, thanks to my very heavy, very large van. The front of the van is smashed in, the bumper dragging, one of the lights not working. But I was able to drive home.

The incident has drained me in my soul. Makes me feel like some part of me died, along with that deer. I am sincerely grateful that it was not worse.

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THE 101 DOGS project is up and running, and I hope you'll sponsor me and get a painting of your dog! I'm offering it first to people I know, and so if you've told me you might like a dog painting, you've probably received an email from me already.

It's a really fun project, benefitting dog-related charities, and allowing me to stay home a little more this summer, and make dog paintings!

Prices for original oil paintings start at $375. You can be a part of the project for less, receiving items printed with dog paintings. I can still finish a few paintings and get them to you in time for the holidays. Otherwise, if you want to give a sponsorship as a holiday present, I will send you a nice gift certificate.

You can check out the entire project by clicking here to reach the 101 Dogs Project page on the Jacobson Arts website

Find out about how it works by clicking here

Find out about the dog-related recipients I've chosen by clicking here

Questions? Drop me an email at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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Dog of the Day

Saw these guys in Columbus this summer. Great blue eye on that one on the left! 

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A Final Thought

"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, 

but their inward significance." 

- Aristotle

Hitting the Slopes - and Gallery News

Hitting the Slopes

Oil on canvas, 24x36

Available soon at Center Framing and Art

When Lori at Center Framing and Art (56 LaSalle Road, West Hartford Center, CT) suggested I paint a snowboarder and a skier in action on a slope, I was interested and a little scared. I've never painted anyone skiing - or running, jumping, skating, swimming - and on and on. But she was sure I could do it, and I do know how to ski, and of course, that helps. 

So I set off to make this painting, and I have to say, I really love it. Of course, it's a mile from the abstract-y paintings I was experimenting with last week - but there's no rule saying you can't experiment in a couple directions at the same time. 

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BIG GALLERY NEWS! The Jack Richardson Gallery, in nearby Onancock, is now representing me, here on the Eastern Shore. 

Jack is a painter himself, and has a nice gallery on a small street in Onancock, a pretty village just up the road. He represents a few painters, and it feels like I've found a pleasant home for my work on the Shore. 

That's not all the gallery news, either. Center Framing and Art, in West Hartford Center, will be moving in January from the space it's occupied for 42 years. The person who owns that building, and several others in the area, is going to make them into a condo, so Center Frame has to go. Lori, who runs the gallery, has found a new home just around the corner, on Farmington Avenue (next to Max's Oyster). The new place has better parking, and good visibility - so she's excited, and I am, too! 

 Above, Jack Richardson in his gallery. Below, "Route 13 Barns," (one of my paintings) takes center stage in its new home.

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Dog of the Day

 

These two were defending their car, in Jerrell, Texas.

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A Final Thought

"No great artist ever sees things as they really are.
If he did, he would cease to be an artist."

- Oscar Wilde

Third Side of the Road - and Excellent Gift Ideas

Side of the Road C

Oil on black canvas, 16x16

$288.75 until 11/16/15, then $385

Click here to see this painting and two similar ones on the Fast Nickel page

So the bold revolution continues! The painting above, the third in the series, is closer to what I have in my mind. It's not clear in my mind, exactly, because it's a feeling I'm visualizing, not exactly a painting.                                                                                                                                                                             Things that I like about this one, things that I think are bringing me closer to what I'm after, are the size of the image, the added brilliance of the color that comes with that larger image, the reductive steps I've taken in this one, and the trunks and                                                               branches of the trees. 

Here are the first two of the paintings in this series. Please let me know what you think. Which do you prefer? And if you can put it into words, why? 

And don't forget, all three of these are on sale, at $288.75, including shipping. 

This price is 25 percent below my regular $385 price, and will be good through Nov. 15.

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IF YOU'RE LOOKING for a fun and different holiday present, please consider one of my paintings on a bag, pillow, shower curtain - and any number of other things you can imagine. 

You can find these, and many others, by clicking here to reach on my page at Fine Art America.  If you want to explore the site - there's tons of work by lots of artists, and it's really fun - go directly to fineartamerica.com and browse, or search for artists or subjects. It's lots of fun, and there are just the best gift ideas ever there. The quality of the products is very good, too. I ordered many of them this summer, just to make sure. If there's a painting you love, but it's not on the site, please click here to email me, let me know what it is, and chances are, I will have a good photo, and can upload it. 

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Dog of the Day

Saw these doggies in Omaha this summer, one in the front basket, one in the back. 

They were loving the ride, and the attention, too! 

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A Final Thought

"There is no blue without yellow and orange."

- Vincent Van Gogh

"There is no blue without yellow and without orange." (Vincent van Gogh)

Two Sides of the Road

I find myself in a time of transition, in life and in my painting, and I welcome it. 

The deaths of Jojo and Zoe in September truly rocked me.

I miss Zoe, and don't want anyone to feel that she was a lesser dog, or that her death didn't touch me. She'd lived with us for 15 years, at least, and she was a good dog. I loved her, and I miss her.

But it was the death of Jojo that cracked my heart. Through that crack, now that Koko has come home, light is shining on new things, new ideas, new approaches.
  

I've decided that I must be bolder. Bolder in my life, in my decisions, in my choice - and maybe most of all, in my painting. 

I made the two paintings on the left on subsequent days. They are paintings of an autumn scene, in a nothing place, just on the side of the road somewhere in North Carolina. 

There's nothing wrong with the first one - except that it's not how I want to paint now. 

Instead of painting the scene, I want to paint truly the feeling. I don't want to make 20 marks if one will do. I want to paint the pulsing autumn colors, the way the light bounces off the trees and falls deep and blue into the shadows. I want to paint the feeling that this is the last gasp of summer, the final, glowing moments of the sunshine and warmth of summer. I want you to reverberate with the feeling, break into the smile, gasp at the beauty of nature, rather than see a nice painting of autumn trees. 

It's hard to do this - especially since I like the first painting! It's a good painting, and it would look fantastic on someone's wall! 

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IF YOU WANT to buy either painting, they're available for five days at a 25 percent discount from their regular $385 price - the Fast Nickel price, which is good through 11/15/15, is $288.75. And this time, I will pick up the shipping. 

You can find the Fast Nickel page of the Jacobson Arts website by clicking here.  Or go to Jacobson Arts (www.jacobson-arts.com), and look for the Fast Nickel page. 

Maybe this will even teach me how to spell "nickel." 

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Dog of the Day

Christine Stark, who fostered Abby and Koko, is now fostering six puppies. They're pretty adorable! If you're looking to adopt a pup, send me an email and I'll get you in touch with Christine. She lives near Asheville, NC, so it's a ways from most folks - but it would be a worthwhile trip, and a fun one, too. I promise!

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A Final Thought

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

- Pablo Picasso

Red Dirt Farm

 North Carolina Red Dirt Farm

Oil on black canvas, 20x60, $1200; shipping to be determined

I was one of 25 artists invited to the Piedmont Plein Air Paintout in High Point, NC, in September. It's in a beautiful part of the country, and I had time before the event to drive around and take it in. I'd hoped to paint on site before the event, but ditches and wind made that impossible, so I took lots of photos and have begun painting from them. 

In this piece, what pulled me most was the patchwork of red dirt, plowed for mowing, and crops ready and nearly ready to be harvested. I like the way the buildings sit on the land, too. And in my painting, I love the swirly sky.  

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SINCE I RETURNED from Texas with a van full of paintings, I've collected them in a store on my Jacobson Arts website. (Please click here to reach it). 

If you're a reader of this blog and you buy a painting, I will refund you 10 percent after your purchase. Shipping will be extra, but if I'm going to be near your area, I'm happy to deliver a painting in person, for free! 

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Saw this on the wall of a parking lot in Austin. Isn't it beautiful? 

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Dog of the Day

Yes, it's Koko. I am smitten, and Peter is, too. Abby (the big dog, above) is thrilled that we brought her a playmate. Smokey likes her well enough, and Woody is his usual grouchy self. So Koko is fitting in perfectly, and is helping me remember Zoe and especially Jojo with more joy than sadness, and far more gratitude than loss. Thank you, Koko!

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A Final Thought

"Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one." 

-Stella Adler

Autumn in Chimney Rock

I've stopped in North Carolina for a while on my way home, with Christine Stark, who fostered Abby and now Koko.

Christine lives on a mountaintop, currently with 11 dogs, most of whom are up for adoption. She's near Lake Lure, which is close to Asheville, and is a center for leaf-peeping tourism.

I went out and painted the other day, late in the afternoon, with the sun slanting through the trees and absolutely lighting up the fall colors.

If anyone is looking for a place to have a nice fall vacation, I'd suggest this area. And if anyone is looking for a good dog to adopt, get in touch with me and I'll put you in touch with Christine!




Left: Autumn in Chimney Rock
Oil on black canvas, 12x36
Please click here to email me about price and availability





Below, Koko waiting at the door.

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THE TRIP TO TEXAS was sort of a disaster, but it's OK. I learned a number of lessons from it, and they're valuable enough to have made it worth my while. 

I had some fun, interesting experiences, too. One was my time at Tannehill Ironworks State Historical Park in McCalla, Alabama, not so far from Birmingham. I didn't get to see the ironworking part of the park - a blacksmith demonstrates and teaches his skill - but I did get to see the amazing Halloween decorations. 

Nearly all the people who have RV spaces in the park decorate their areas for Halloween. And it's a big park. Randy, the park security man, told me that they close the park to cars at a certain point on Halloween, and just let the kids go around. And, he said, thousands of kids would come. 

And above, here's my cot in the van, all made up for the night's camping. 

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Dog of the Day

Saw this guy in Asheville, NC. He was pretty seriously defending his car. 

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A Final Thought

"To send light into the darkness of men's hearts - such is the duty of the artist." 

- Robert Schumann