Summer Song

Summer Song

Oil on black canvas, 30x30

Please click here to email me for price and shipping/delivery info

People have sometimes asked me to add detail shots of my paintings, so here are a few. It's interesting to me that when I do these detail photos, I see stuff that I didn't even know was there! Aren't they fun? 

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Big Sky Painting Trip

IN OCTOBER, I'm heading west to paint! I'm hoping to make it to Wisdom, Montana, where I took my first painting trip. The only painting I can find from that trip is below - and I am amazed at the difference between the way I painted then and the way I paint now. Still, I love this painting. The landscape near Wisdom (above) is spectacular - and I am not limiting myself to it. I plan to paint in Wyoming, too, and South Dakota, if all goes as planned. 

Soon, I'll start a page on my website, Jacobson Arts (jacobson-arts.com). I'll be making paintings for sponsors, and also for shows. I already have one sponsor! Prices will start at $125 and go to about $1000. If you know you want in, and you want to reserve an early choice, please feel free to email me now (carrieBjacobson@gmail.com). Sponsors will choose their paintings in the order they sign up. 

Here is just a mention of another trip, for your planning purposes. I hope to be traveling to Alaska in January to paint the Northern Lights. More about this soon! 

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Dog of the Day

Dog in the front basket, dog in the back basket! I saw this guy at the Omaha show this year, and remember him from last year. The dogs looked like they were having a blast. 

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A Final Thought

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, 

see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." 

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Waterfall with Birches

An artist I me on Facebook, Cynthia Rosen Malter, has been painting waterfalls recently, and really enjoying them.                                                                                                         Inspired by her, and realizing that there are no waterfalls here on the ultra-flat Eastern Shore, I set out to find some waterfall photographs, and then to paint them.                                                                                                                                             I had an absolute blast. It's so fun to paint them! I don't know how Cynthia does it, but what I've done in the two I've painted is put everything in except the waterfall, and then put that in last.                                                                                                                                                                                                  Of course, that means that at the very last moment, I could ruin the entire painting! Yes, I could scrape off any mistakes, and I do that regularly, but I think that in the case of waterfalls, that scraping-off would show.                                                                                                                                        So these are fun, challenging and scary paintings to make, and that's a combination that I always enjoy, and one that always motivates me. I can hardly wait to start another one!                                                                                                                                                    ***                                                                                                                                                THE WACHAPREAGUE VOLUNTEER Firefighters Carnival takes place every year at the end of June and the beginning of July, and supports the volunteer firefighter company here in town.                                                                                                                                                                    The fire department owns the rides, and their bones are up in town all year. The firefighters put the seats and what have you on for the carnival, and open up the buildings for games, raffles and food items. 

Usually, I can't go, because I'm on the road doing shows. But this year, I was able to go, and so we did, when Erika and Paul were here. We had a great time! It was a lovely, cool night, and we walked over, strolled the grounds, played some games, listened to a pretty good band, and ate fair food for dinner. We saw people from town there, and there were also people from all over the Shore. It's a thing to do, in a place where there's not always much to do. Fair-goers were all ages, all races, and as far as I could see, all having fun. 

We walked back, and fireflies lighted the growing dusk. It was a pretty perfect time. 

 

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Dog of the Day

It's Archie, looking out the window of my brother's house in Hartford. Want your pet to be the Dog of the Day? Send a jpg to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

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A Final Thought

"Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, 

for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. 

You will have created something." 

- Kurt Vonnegut

Tetons Homestead

Tetons Homestead

Oil on black canvas, 12x12

                                                         

I had been planning on driving to Wyoming and Montana after the show in Omaha, but all sorts of things seemed to be conspiring against my going, and so I came home. I am planning on a painting trip to those western states in the fall, when it is sure to be incredibly beautiful.

But the thought of the West has blossomed in my head, so I took the opportunity to make this painting of a gorgeous log cabin in the Tetons. I'd love to live there, with the sky huge and open above me, and the mountains standing strong behind me, reminding me every day of the force and power that formed our earth.

I don't think I'd like to live there in the winter, though.

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MY FRIENDS Pat Hart and Carol Burnham are going to reopen Seaside Antiques and Art soon, right here on Main Street in Wachapreague, and that's very exciting. It was more than a year ago when a truck rammed into the side of the store, knocked it off its foundation, ruined most of the items inside, and meant the store's closing for many months. 

Pat and Carol had the front half of the building removed, a new porch added, and the inside redone, and they are ready to open soon! They have wonderful antiques, ranging from inexpensive to very dear, all chosen with love and care. And they have art by local artists, including me and, soon, Peter. 

I believe July 1 is the opening date, so if you're in Wachapreague, take a look and see. 

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Dog of the Day

It's Doc and Lulu, in their favorite spot, between the couch cushions and the couch back. They will stay this way, feet in the air, heads totally buried (how do they breathe?) for hours. 

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A Final Thought

"I dream my painting and I paint my dream." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

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Seven-Barn Farm

Seven-Barn Farm

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $125 

Years ago, when I started making the 10x10 paintings, they were what sold first, when I went to shows. At the better shows, I could always count on five or six of them selling - these paintings are original oils, and less expensive then what many artists charge for prints. But starting last year, people stopped buying the 10x10s. Happily for me, they started buying bigger paintings. 

But the not-buying of 10x10s has continued, and has sort of mystified me. Of course, as the paintings stopped selling, I more or less stopped painting them, which has meant that most of my available 10x10s are of the southwest. And not everybody wants paintings of the southwest, especially if they live on the East Coast. 

So I've started a new series of 10x10s, with farms and mountains and salt marshes and who knows what else. I am curious to see if they begin to sell again. I'll let you know. 

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MY FIRST CHANCE to test my theory on the ground, so to speak (as opposed to on the internet) will be July 9-10, in Wickford, RI, at the Wickford Art Festival. This is a fine-art-only show that takes place on the streets of Wickford, a quaint New England seacoast village. I'll be in Booth 82, on Elam Street. Hope to see you there! 

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IF YOU'RE TRAVELING anywhere this summer, be prepared to be delayed by road construction. I went to Cincinnati and Omaha and back, and encountered construction - mostly bridge repair - on every road I traveled. Interstate 80 was the worst, with construction pretty much everywhere. 

I have to say that I got a good look at some of the bridges being worked on, and they were scary. This one, which I believe is in West Virginia, is nowhere near the worst. One bridge being worked on in Ohio was literally crumbling as I drove across it. 

All those news stories about the state of our infrastructure? They're right, and not exaggerating. 

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Dog of the Day

AT THE PARADISE CITY Art Festival, I was part of a surprise involving this painting. Great fun! And here is Boy himself, looking at the painting. I think it's a scream that the dog in the painting is bigger than the dog in real life.  

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A Final Thought

"If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: 

I am here to live out loud." 

- Emile Zola

Missouri Side Road

Missouri Side Road

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, $125

Yesterday, I took my beautiful work clothes, collected over two and a half decades in newspapers, and donated them to the second-hand store. 

This was a big, big deal for me, particularly in a year where the shows have so far been fairly lackluster. Even with all my hope, and all my desire and drive, even with all the support of my friends, family and collectors, even with all that, there's been a little snag of doubt way back in my brain. If this didn't work out, I could always go back to newspapers - and I still had the clothes I'd need to do that. 

Now, I don't. Now, I am truly launched, spirit, soul and wardrobe, into this artist's life, this road I've already been walking for years. My clothing and doubt burden lifted, my stride is lighter, my path more open, my sky and future even brighter. 

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MY NEXT SHOW is July 9-10, in Wickford, RI. I'll be on Elam Street, Booth 82, close to where I have always been during this show. 

The Wickford Art Festival is a fine-art only show, which makes it a little different than most of the shows in which I participate. There's no jewelry, no clothing, no functional pottery. So it's fine art, and it's fine fun. And Wickford village itself is beautiful - a quintessential New England seacoast town. 

Hope to see you there! 

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Dog of the Day

It's Baby Girl, who lives in Arivaca, AZ, with the Richardsons. I bet Baby Girl has been staying inside these past few days. A friend in New Mexico posted a photo of her dashboard thermometer, showing the outside air to be 124 degrees. Yikes!

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A Final Thought

“I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I can not transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls.” 

― Anaïs Nin

The End of My Pirate Days

The End of My Pirate Days

Oil on black canvas, 36x48

Please click here to email me for price and availability

Click here for the lyrics to the Mary Chapin Carpenter song I used as the title for this painting

Under a brutal, blazing Omaha sun, 97 degrees and feeling like 107, I learned that my dear old Smokey would be gone by the time I arrived home. Smokey was at least 14, and a recent vet visit had shown a mass in his rectum. He stopped eating while I was away, and Peter said Smokey went downhill quickly. 

He was a wonderful, noble, silly dog. He looked like a bear, and had a ferocious bark, but was as sweet as a dog can be. Peter found him in a shelter while we were living in New York state, and while Smokey hadn't responded to any men while he'd been at the shelter, he took to Peter right away. I drove up to get him, and when I got him home, I opened the door of our station wagon and Smokey slipped his collar and took off, bounding through the melting March snow. 

I chased him - the wrong thing to do, I now realize - and Smokey fell in the rushing, icy Neversink River, racing shoulder-high behind our house. I went in, trying to get him, but the river was too strong, too cold, and I hauled myself out, wailing, sure that our new dog was drowned, and it was my fault. I was weeping when Peter caught up with me, and pointed to a tiny island across the river. 

Wet and bedraggled and certainly freezing cold, Smokey had made it to the island and was standing there, looking terrified forlorn and anything but fierce. 

I jumped in the car and took off. A Folun Gong group owned thousands of acres across the river from us. At their large, gold gates, I spoke into a speaker and somehow made myself understood. They let me in, and guided me to the island where Smokey was waiting, and I got him into the car and bundled him up and brought him home. 

Smokey had no idea how to play. He'd spent his life chained outside a house, with his brother, with whom he fought constantly. He knew nothing. But Jojo took one look at him, decided he was her best friend, and set about teaching him how to play. With his chow-stiff back legs and slight lack of coordination, Smokey was never the play-maven that Jojo was, but he learned, and they had fun and stayed the best of friends. 

Smokey used to sleep on our bed when it was lower, and he was more agile. When we moved to Wachapreague, he stationed himself in the doorway to our bedroom every night. I always thought he was protecting us, his humans, but when Jojo died, Smokey stopped sleeping there. All this time, he'd been protecting her. 

For weeks after she died, he'd stare at me whenever I came home, and he'd have a quizzical, hopeful expression on his face. Had I found Jojo? Had I brought her back to him? For the rest of his life, I believe, he looked for her. 

And now, he's found her. I think of them together, at the Rainbow Bridge, romping and frolicking, side by side, happy together, waiting for Peter and me.

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Happy Buyers in Omaha

In spite of the brutal heat, I had a pretty good show in Omaha, in terms of sales. In terms of seeing friends and meeting people, it was a great show. Here are some happy buyers with their paintings. 

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Friends, Too

And here are some pix of friends I got to see, and spend some time with, at the show

 

Fran and Doug took me out to dinner, above. 

Karen and Sherry took me out to breakfast, below. 

Below, Taylor and her fiance visited; she fell in love with my paintings last year, and has been a big fan and supporter ever since.

Friends of my friend Manja Yirka visited, too, below!  

My big hat was a big help... And below, a beautiful dragonfly spent hours and hours on a Pony Express painting, then more hours just hanging out on the wall of my tent. 

Above, he bought a painting, but only after spending a lot of time looking and considering. This buyer's care for an interest in my paintings really moved me. At one point, he turned around and said to me, "There's no one like you. No one paints like you." That meant a lot. 

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Dog of the Day 

It's Smokey, of course. Above, the puppies adored him from the moment they met him. In the bottom photo, Koko also loved Smokey. That big, slow-moving dog, that thick, soft coat, his chow patience and shar-pei looseness, all conspired to make him loving and truly lovable.  

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A Final Thought

"Any fool can be happy. It takes a (person) with real heart

 to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep." 

- Clive Barker

Boy - And Good Times at Paradise City

Boy

Oil on canvas, 12x12

Part of 101 Dogs project! 

I was part of a wonderful surprise at the Paradise City Arts Festival a couple weekends ago. 

Last year, in Omaha, I met a lovely woman named Fran, and we hit it off right away. We were similar in many respects, and had a number of shared experiences that shaped our lives and personalities. 

Fran bought a painting, introduced me to some of her family, and we kept in loose touch. A couple months ago, she called and asked me to make a painting of Boy, a beloved little poodle owned by Fran's sister Rose and her partner Terri. 

Rose and Terri live in Northampton, and Fran and I landed on the same idea at the same time: I'd make the painting, hang it on the wall of my booth, and surprise Terri with it. (Rose had to be in on the surprise, for photos and to make sure the women arrived at the show, etc.). 

At the time, I said that it would be extra great if Fran could come out from Omaha to be part of the surprise. She'd love to, she said, but she had a wedding to attend on the Sunday of the show, so it wouldn't be possible. 

I made the painting, and happily, it dried in time. I hung it in my booth and waited. 

A couple hours after the show opened, I looked up - and there was Fran! For a moment, it didn't compute. Then I think I shrieked, and ran up and hugged her, astonished and delighted. A moment later, Terri caught sight of the painting and stammered, "That looks like... that really looks like... That's Boy!" 

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THIS WEEKEND, I'll be at the Omaha Summer Arts Festival, in beautiful Omaha, Neb. I'm in Booth 134, just about where I was last year, and I have lots of exciting, new paintings that I hope will go to new homes this weekend! It's going to be very hot, so if you come to the show, please be prepared. 

The show is Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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THERE ARE LOTS of things that make shows successful. In addition to the wonderful surprise I wrote about, Paradise City was filled with other delightful meetings and connections. 

Amy Davidoff and Penny Winn came to the show, and we had dinner together afterward. Ames and Penny were friends from college, and we hadn't seen each other since. It was such a treat to get together with these amazing, smart, talented women, and continue a friendship that had begun 40 years ago. Forty years!  That's Amy below and Penny to the right. 

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Happy Buyers! 

I had lots of Happy Buyers at Paradise City! 

AND I HAD Happy Bidders, too! This family put in the winning bid on a painting I'd donated to the Kestrel Land Trust, which has been conserving land, waterways and farms in the Pioneer Valley for decades.  Below, more friends visiting in the booth! 

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Dog of the Day

FAITHFUL READERS of this blog know that the Dog of the Day isn't always a dog. But it's NEVER been a giraffe until now! I saw this amazing sculpture at Paradise City... here it's being loaded up for its trip home. Wish I could have seen the looks on other drivers' faces! 

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A Final Thought 

"It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done." 

- Vincent Van Gogh