Morning's Glory

Morning's Glory

Oil on black canvas, 36x60

Please click here to email me for price and availability

Cheryl Wheeler, in "Summer's Almost Over," sings "Summer's almost over, and the weeds have won at last..." and I don't know about you, but that's where we are. The gardens are happy and the flowers are blooming, but the weeds are happier, and through all the heat of the past month, have triumphed. They haven't choked out the flowers yet, but it is only a matter of time. 

This painting seems to capture all the glory and thrill of summer, when the sun is clear and the air is warm and the afternoons seem that they will last forever.

You can see this one - and several other new pieces! - live and in person this weekend in Pittsburgh, PA, at the Shadyside Art Festival! It's the 20th anniversary of the festival, which is one of the top ones in the country. I don't know my booth number yet, but will post it here on the blog, and also at Jacobson Arts  as soon as I find out. 

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IN OCTOBER, I'm heading west, to paint in Montana, Wyoming and perhaps South Dakota. I can't wait! It's one of my favorite parts of the country, and because of my schedule, I haven't been able to visit in years - except in the dead of winter, which is not the best time... 

I still have sponsorships available for the Big Skies Painting Trip! For $125, you will get an original 10x10 plein-air oil painting, regular blog postings about the places I visit, the people I meet, the dogs I see... and some goodies from the road. You can sign up for bigger paintings, as well. Click here for more information, or check out the Big Skies Painting Trip on my website, Jacobson Arts.

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I THINK THIS this sign is pretty funny. I also think the sign just past the George Washington Bridge, "New England, Exit 4" is funny. It amuses me to think that one exit could take you to an entire, huge area. 

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Dog of the Day

The two with the white noses? They got into a bag of flour. Ah, puppies. 

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A Final Thought

"The purest and most thoughtful minds are those which love color the most." 

- John Ruskin

This quote was sent to me by a faithful blog reader. Thank you, SaraBeth! If you have an art-related quote that you love, please send it to me at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com. Thank you!

Light Beneath the Clouds

Light Beneath the Clouds

Oil on black canvas, 20x20, sold

I have three big projects going now, and another very exciting one in the works. I can't tell you about that one yet, but I will when it's all finalized. In the meantime, here are the three that I'm working on: 

• 101 DOGS - In this project (which is about halfway done), I'm making 101 paintings of dogs, in honor of my dear Jojo and lovely Zoe, who died in September, two weeks apart. For $375, you get a 12-inch-by-12-inch oil painting of your dog and a book or poster of all the paintings when the project is finished. I'm giving money from each purchase to a dog-related group, as well. For more about the project, click here. 

• BIG SKIES PAINTING TRIP - In October, I'm heading to Montana, Wyoming and perhaps South Dakota, to make plein air paintings of these beautiful Western states. Sponsorships start at $125, and include regular blog postings, goodies from the road, and paintings when I return. Sponsors choose their paintings in the order in which they sign up! For more information, click here. 

• 2017 WACHAPREAGUE CALENDAR - I'm about halfway done with this one, and I'm loving how it's turning out. It's a calendar of 12 scenes of our little town, and it will be available soon, for a reasonable price, from me, and from Seaside Antiques and Art, right here in town. If you know you want a calendar or two, you can stop in at the shop and put an order in, or drop me an email at carrieBjacobson@gmail.com

Cornflowers

Oil on black canvas, 10x10, sold

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Dog of the Day

WE HAD A big black chow at one point, named Frank. Peter had gone to the pound with our daughter, who was looking at a lhasa apso. Erika came home with that dog (whose name is lost in my memory right now), and also Zoe, who, years later, came to live with us. Peter came back with Frank, who'd been trembling and barking and troubled with diarrhea in the pound.

Frank was a great dog, gentle and sweet and very funny. He looked fierce, and he could be fierce, but what he mostly wanted was to rip up a chew toy and lean against a human. He was a great dog and I still miss him. There's something very special about a chow, something deep and rich and noble, and then on top of that, at least in our experience, something silly. This guy made me think of Frankie.

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A Final Thought

"I was not ready for abstraction. I clung to earth and her dear shapes, her density, her herbage, her juice. I wanted her volume, and I wanted to hear her throb." 

- Emily Carr

Reggie

 Reggie

Oil on canvas, 12x12

101 Dogs project

I'm still way, way behind in my blogging, so expect a few multi-painting blog posts! Hope you enjoy seeing a few paintings at once.

I'm behind because I've been away at shows, and I've had a great time. Thank you, all of you, everyone who came, braving terrible heat, terrible traffic, terrible road construction and terrible rain, to say hi, see my new paintings and even buy some. Thank you!

At the Mystic Outdoor Art Festival, a couple showed up, interested in my paintings. Turns out that he had bought a couple pieces from me a couple years ago, and she had grown to love the paintings, as she'd seen them over the years.

But she had never been to an art show! So they agreed to go to the Mystic show together. They studied the website, looked up my work and the work of other people, and off they went. As they were walking in from parking, she saw the cowscape on the back wall of my tent, from quite a distance. They didn't know it was my tent, but she fell in love with the painting, and bought it!

The delightful interaction reminded me again what a miracle it is that anyone would buy art from a living person. This woman trusts herself enough to know what she likes, with no guarantee that that painting will be worth more, or worth anything, 10 years from now, or 20 years from now. She was willing to spend her hard-earned money on one of my paintings, because she loved it. Her enthusiasm and joy fill me with the same, and help make this journey possible for me - and I think it's vice-versa, as well.

All of you are helping me on this journey, by reading my blog, sharing it, writing to me, coming to the shows, thinking about art, dreaming about your own desires and hopes, and accompanying me on the journey. Thank you!

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A Few Recent Paintings

Bella

Oil on canvas, 12x12

101 Dogs project

Want to learn more about the 101 Dogs project? Click here! 

For Ed

Oil on metal, 16x20

commission

Tom and Rudy

Oil on canvas, 20x20

commission

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I'M SURE THAT if you live in Dayton, Ohio, this is old hat, 

but I think that "Needmore Road" is right up there with "Happy Avenue." 

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Dog of the Day

I met this guy way back in February, in Arizona. He looks fierce as can be, 

but made sure that chair was between him and me. 

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A Final Thought

"There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people." 

- Vincent Van Gogh

Keeping the Light - and the Big Skies Trip

Keeping the Light 

Oil and gold leaf on black canvas, 30x30

Please click here to contact me for price and availability

I'm off in a bit for Minneapolis, and then Mystic, CT, and I'm excited about going to a new place, seeing new stuff, exploring an area of the country that's new to me. 

Packing for this trip put me in the frame of mind of packing for my western trip, in the fall. I can hardly wait to get on the road and head for the mountains. I'm thinking the days will be crisp, even chilly, and the nights cold. Perfect travel and painting weather! 

I'll be exploring and adventuring in Montana and Wyoming, and maybe South Dakota, too. This is a sponsored painting trip, meaning that people will buy paintings before I leave. I'll write a special, sponsor-only blog, stuffed with photos and stories of places I go and people (and dogs) I meet. I'll post my paintings and photos of my paintings in the landscape. When I get back, I'll post all the paintings on a webpage, and sponsors will choose their paintings in the order in which they signed up. 

I've done this several times before, and the trips have been fun. Sponsors tell me they've enjoyed the missives from the road, and that they love the paintings, too. Click below to read about my past trips, and click here to find out how to get involved in the Big Sky Painting Trip. Sponsorships are $125 for a 10x10 painting, $300 for a painting 16x16 or 18x18; $500 for a 20x20 or 24x24. 

• To Tubac and Back!
• California Calling Painting Extravaganza
• The Origins Painting Trip

Jubilee / sold

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Dog of the Day

Here's little Kaja, dog about town, visiting the post office with one of her humans. Kaja gets the best walks of any dog in town. Sometimes her humans are on foot; sometimes they ride a three-wheeled bike, and drink their morning coffee as they go. 

Kaja trots along, head high, tail up, happy and confident, totally ignoring the ridiculous amount of frantic barking and yowling emanating from 18 Bayview Avenue.

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

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." 

- Pablo Picasso